Streets of Fire is still a personal favorite. Many will go out of their way to poke holes in Walter Hill’s vision of a 50s Rock N Roll biker movie set in the early 1980s. However, that misses the point. A fantasy is a fantasy because it exists in a world undefined. You might see familiar touchstones, but the resemblance is passing. Between Dan Hartman blaring on the soundtrack or Rick Moranis playing a hard-ass, this isn’t your typical B-movie.
Yet, I can’t pinpoint what about the story I love. The opening is great, but I’ve seen that kind of setup before. So, I must just love Diane Lane singing Nowhere Fast. Willem Dafoe is great where he gets used, but there is nothing that memorable. So, why does it hold up? Well, because it was the first ‘cool’ movie that many in my demo got to see.
I’m kinda over Steelbooks. It’s neat to see Shout re-release popular titles in cool collector’s cases, but it’s just an aesthetic. Much like my love of Streets of Fire, the steelbook exists as a pause moment in what is pleasing, yet not what is needed. Does it make it bad? No. However, I don’t fault anyone for having moved beyond Streets of Fire.
Streets of Fire special features
- NEW SHOTGUNS & SIX STRINGS: The Making Of A Rock N Roll Fable – A Feature-Length Documentary Featuring Interviews With Director/Co-writer Walter Hill, Producer Lawrence Gordon, Actors Michael Paré, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Richard Lawson, And Many More…
- RUMBLE ON THE LOT: Walter Hill’s Streets Of Fire Revisited – A Feature-Length Documentary Featuring Interviews With Director/Co-writer Walter Hill, Actor Michael Paré, Amy Madigan And Art Director James Allen
- Vintage Featurettes: Rock And Roll Fable, Exaggerated Realism, Choreographing The Crowd, Creating The Costumes, From The Ground Up
- Music Videos
- Theatrical Trailer
- On Air Promos
- Still Gallery
