Ruas de Fogo

This movie is yet another example of how really poor marketing can doom a movie. Walter Hill's self-proclaimed "Rock and Roll Fable" has everything that makes a movie worth watching. Interesting characters, great sets and lots of action make this movie well worth the time.

Technically, the film is brilliantly edited. It sets a pace and sticks with it, making maximum use of the action without having that choppy MTV feel that most editors have caved in to. Jim Steinman's soundtrack is one of the best I have ever heard.

Walter Hill gets solid performances from his cast although I have always wondered about Deborah Van Valenburgh's role. I get the impression after watching the movie a few times that a lot of her work ended up on the cutting room floor. I once heard a critic, either Siskel or Ebert perhaps, say that Amy Madigan should have gotten a Best Supporting Actress nod for her performance in this movie. I agree. This is some of her best work ever.

Diane Lane is gorgeous as always but doesn't really have enough to do. Her musical numbers are staged well and she does a good job with them. Michael Pare' plays yet another tough guy. One real treat is an early perfomance by Willem DaFoe as the villian Raven. You can see that he had a good career ahead of him back then. You can also catch Bill Paxton in a bit part as a bartender.

All in all, this is an excellent little movie that should be remembered much more than it is. Check it out sometime.

After about 25 years, I finally watched this underrated Walter Hill film that not only had several action sequences but also a few complete musical performances that just blew my breath away. I mean, seeing Diane Lane in the opening and closing numbers were some of the most awesome scenes in this movie. By the way, that's not her singing but that of Holly Sherwood. Another singer, Laurie Sargent, also dubs her in another musical segment. Her, I remember from the video "10-9-8" with her group Face to Face, who portray Lane's group The Attackers, whenever it showed on the TBS weekend late night music video compilation show "Night Tracks" during the '80s. Anyway, Michael Pare plays the antihero lead Tom Cody who agrees to rescue former flame Ellen Aim (Ms. Lane's character) from the clutches of Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe) for a price. Rick Moranis-as Aim's manager Billy Fish-agrees to provide the dough while Amy Madigan-as the tough-as-nails McCoy-tags along. Along the way, we meet Cody's sister Reva (Deborah Van Valkenburgh), Clyde the Bartender (Bill Paxton), Bill Gunn-the guy who reveals where Ellen and Raven are (Ed Begley, Jr.), Greer-one of the members of Shaddock's gang: The Bombers (Lee Ving), and the musical group The Sorels of which two of those members are B.J. (Mykelti Willimson) and Lester (Robert Townsend). I'll stop there and just mention that I found the whole thing awesome with the look of the picture especially when they showed those subway trains that I actually rode on when I briefly went back to my birthtown of Chicago, Ill. as a 10-year-old kid in the summer of 1977. And most of the dialogue-courtesy of Hill and Larry Gross-just cackles with atmosphere, especially when Pare, Madigan, and especially Moranis put in their two cents as their characters. In fact, this is quite a departure for the latter as he usually is more comically nerdy compared to the more straight character he plays here though he gets some point-on wisecracks. And all the songs are just so great especially when they're written by such luminaries as Lieber & Stoller, Stevie Nicks, and Jim Steinman. And what about that score by Ry Cooder with some help by Jimmy Iovine! In summation, Streets of Fire was just such a cool movie to watch so that's a high recommendation. P.S. One of those great songs was "I Can Dream About You" which The Sorels lip-synced to Winston Ford's vocals though the single release was performed by that song's writer, Dan Hartman, who was previously known for singing on The Edgar Winter Group's "Free Ride" as well as the Disco hit, "Instant Replay". The dancer on the table at Torchie's was one Marine Jahan who the previous year was revealed to be Jennifer Beals' dance double in Flashdance. Besides knowing Moranis from "SCTV" and some other movies and Ed Begley, Jr. from "St. Elsewhere", I also recognized Deborah Van Valkenburgh from "Too Close for Comfort" and Lee Ving as the lead singer of the punk band Fear when they appeared on "Saturday Night Live". And since I just mentioned that I was born in Chicago, I also feel like noting the other players that came from there: Amy Madigan-who graduated from Marquette University which is where one of my younger sisters also finished school, Robert Townsend, and Kathy Griffin who appears as a concert goer here.

I seems that not everyone understands the greatness with this movie? -The actors do a really good work-Moranis is one, and Pare is good, but he has much less to play with as a carachter. -style is everything here: the lines are like they where stolen from old westerns or movies from the 50s. To really enjoy this movie: do not expect the ordinary action...see it as a "musical" set in a theatre and admire the artificial "artsiness" of this studio-style film! ...the bad guys are really bad...but funny, -and the good guy is really brave... -This is not suppose to be your ordinary action movie! -This is art...and poetry!

Best Regards

/MadvikinS

Although I was only one when this film was released in 1984, my dad was a big Walter Hill fan and bought the film on video when it came out. My sister and I LOVED this film as kids. Honestly, I think we wore out about three copies on video by watching it over and over. I think it was the music (obviously), the bright lights and the fact that to an eight year old girl Ellen Aim is the coolest person ever!! The final stage scene at the end was up there with the last dance in Dirty Dancing as our favourite film moments. Since watching it all those years ago I have remained a fan ( I have Nowhere Fast and Tonight is What it means to be Young on CD in my car- excellent driving music!).However I am now also able to appreciate the amazing work of Walter Hill in this film. The sets, the underscoring, the lighting, the whole atmosphere of the movie is in a league of its own. It is so unlike anything else I've ever seen and was obviously way ahead of its time, which is perhaps the reason for its failure to do well when it was released. There are so few people I know that have actually seen this film which is a real shame because it really deserves to be appreciated for the absolute fantasy that it is. Long live rock and roll!

"I'm not an angel but at least I'm a girl"-

When the successful rock and roll singer Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) is kidnapped by Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe) and his motorcycle gang The Bombers during a concert, the fan and owner of a bar Reva Cody (Deboran Van Valkenburgh) writes a telegram to her brother and Ellen's ex-boyfriend Tom Cody (Michael Paré) asking him to return to Richmond. Tom meets the former soldier McCoy (Amy Madigan) in town seeking for job and they are hired by Ellen's manager and boyfriend Billy Fish (Rick Moranis) to rescue Ellen. Tom, McCoy and Billy travel in a car in a journey to the Battery, burning down the streets of the dangerous neighborhood.

The cult "Streets of Fire" is a stylish homage to rock & roll. This movie has a awesome soundtrack with many wonderful songs of Ry Cooder and charming characters performed by the sexy Diane Lane; the annoying Rick Moranis; the funny Amy Madigan; the great villain Willem Dafoe; and the troublemaker "good guy" Michael Paré. In the end, this underrated movie is a great entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ruas de Fogo" ("Streets of Fire")