Rooftops

First of all, why are most of the reviews on here from the early 2000's? Just sayin'. Anyhoo, I just watched this on Tubi 'cause I'm a sucka for '80s cheese and this movie is EPIC! It's got a b-movie script and mostly nobodies in the cast, but the direction and overall look and feel are first-rate. I guess it was directed by the guy who did West Side Story; it's kinda the same storyline, with a star-crossed love story between a dude who lives in an abandoned watertank and a girl who reluctantly works as a lookout for her crack-dealing cousin. There's a fair amount of that weird Brazilian dance-fighting as well as some parkour and the requisite terrible soundtrack. But the sense of time and place is great, and the acting is pretty good. Would make an excellent double feature with the amazing "Delivery Boys".

Maybe this film was actually directed by Sheldon Lettitch or Dwight Little - directors from the eighties who worked with JCVD and Steven Seagal. When I watched this film, I had the very same feeling as when I saw Henry Hathaway's last flick: HANG UP; I said to myself: Oh, My God, I can't believe it !!! Was that really from the great director of LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER? So, here, in this supposed WEST SIDE STORY - same director for those who would not know - rip-off, with Lower Side New York City street gangs tale, with dances and hoodlum rivalries, I had also the same reaction in my brain, a chemical and brutal shock, to realize that it was made by the great Robert Wise. His last theatrical feature.... But he will give is eleven years later, and for TV, a sweet and stunning drama starring Peter Falk: STORM IN THE SUMMER.

I have watched this movie over and over since it first came out. I was fifteen and even then, I knew it was cheesy. It had such great potential and I constantly rewrite the script in my head. The Capoeira ruined what could have been a good drama. I loved the fact that it was shot on location. Too bad that the characters were underdeveloped. It's like they wrote a first draft of a script then made the movie right away. At fifteen I could have written a better script!Some scenes and dialog seemed to come out of nowhere and you were left with a lot of unanswered questions. And was it just me, or did it seem like Lobo was sexually attracted to his cousin? "Elena's grown into some kind of woman!" And the way he was always touching her. Would have an interesting plot twist, Elena working for her drug dealing cousin who is also a perv. Too bad they missed the mark on this one.

Rooftops is sort of Robert Wise's version of his West Side Story set in the eighties. The film has capoeria, karate and street fights. The film featured many young actors like Jason Gedrick, Tisha Campbell and Allen Payne. I like this movie though.

Awful songs, crummy acting, Troy Beyer the babe, "combat dancing", living in a water tower, this one's got everything for the bad movie 80's fanatic. I rented it once, loved it, & bought it off E-bay for $1. Worth every penny.

One a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with one star being the lowest & 5 stars being the highest, I rate this one an A-. . .