Boulevard Nights

One of the most underrated movies of all-time. The granddaddy of all "street-gang" movies. If your a fan of Colors, Boyz in the Hood, etc. you will see that this film trumps them all. This movie is under-appreciated because of the seclusive nature of the genre it explores. But if you have ever lived, experienced or known someone who was ever lost in the world of street life then you have to see this movie. Many can't relate to the emptiness of Chuco or the inner struggle of his older brother but these stories are ones that have played out for years and are still relevant today. Don't listen to any biased review of this movie, it is a jewel.

I was eleven years old when this movie came out. Further, I think my dad took my brother and me to the Golden Gate Theater in East L.A. to see it. My parents used it as an example of what not to be like when we grew up. I was born in East L.A. (Santa Marta Hospital) and grew up near East L.A. I saw in life what I saw on the screen with Boulevard Nights. On the street that I grew up on there were some vatos with low-riders and I remember the hopping competitions and the oldies music. One particular vato who was very nice to the local kids ended up getting stabbed (although I cannot recall if he died). They were most likely 18th Street gang bangers, which was the most notorious gang in L.A. back then. My dad moved us out of that area when I was 14 which may be a big part of why my brother and I didn't end up like our former neighbors.

I have to say that for me, Boulevard Nights was authentic. It was like the real thing. My dad never took me to Whittier Boulevard in East L.A. nor Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park nor Valley Boulevard in El Monte on cruising nights during this era, but I imagine that it was like in this movie. I've only seen the movie twice. Once when it was released in theaters and again when I was 16 or 17 on VHS. Colors could not compare, at least not on a personal level for me. Now at 42 years of age, I'm going to have to check it out again.

I saw this film when I was in High School back in 79. It still remains one of my favorites. This was one of, if not the first film featuring the Cholo gangster life of the 70's. I've probably seen the movie 100 times. Sure it has it's flaws, (ex chavala being poorly pronounced), but I grew up around guys like this, and not all of them had prefect Spanish pronunciation. Danny De La Paz nailed the Chuco character. The Big Happy character really brought the true gang leader attitude. Even Raymond, the ex-gangster vet showed his struggle with his brother and dealing with the loss of a family member at the hands of another gang. This film is a classic that blows all films of the same vain away, and I've seen them all.(ex. Walk Proud with Bobby Benson was a joke, Blood in Blood Out, entertaining but nowhere near as real as Boulevard Nights. Long Live The Big VGV!

I was looking forward to watching this and I finally did get an opportunity to watch the film. I found the film content to be of a low quality story line which attempted to focus on the struggle of young men and their women living in the East Los Angeles burroughs which were run by the Mexican street gangs in the evenings.

Emphasis was directed at two brothers one who willingly entered the street life and embraced it and the other brother more cautious of the pitfalls of hanging around the troublemakers who by the their gamg name and late night activities would lead them into a life of crime and violence.

Of course there has to be a bit of romance involved as well as the muscle cars of the era but the story line itself was very predictable and there were no outstanding nor memorable perforfances by any of the actors.

Unfortunately I must profess I was disappointed and I would recommend a pass on this gang related film. I give it a lower than desired 4 out of 10 IMDb rating.

The movie depicts the spirit and lifestyle of the USA from a specific area. The reflective understanding to be learnt from profiling very rich cars in style and form proves that the individuals are reflective that cars are a living where no one truly owns a home. It would make the most sense to reflect what the one dollar bill in the USA reflects which would be to build pyramidal styled homes which can be truly owned individually or within a family affordably. In true as the reflection portrays in profiling the rich cars in style which amounts to be able or to match near identically as to have as affordable homes as the cars they reflect which amounts to near $50,000. The film depicts street justice as a motivational reflection of the nature of the individual spirit which all can relate since all matters have to be done in the spirit of understanding in a country in constitution by God such as the USA has. In summary the high spirited profile of styled cars reflects their persona as it is forced to move continually which causes spirited conflicts as the cars don't necessarily crash but the people do.