Police fédérale, Los Angeles

When Friedkin went "back on the streets" in 1985 to make TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., he made a classic that will endure and that perfectly captures its 80's milieu.

I don't understand these idiots who complain how a film is "dated" by its music. Of course a film is "dated" by its specific elements, but so what. This superb film, which has an amazingly kinetic Wang Cheung score, is about a time (the mid-eighties) and place (L.A.) that is now history, and it is a punishing document.

The film works on many levels. Yes, it is about counterfeiting and superficial (re: counterfeit) relationships. It is about greed, survival, justice and morality. It is also about human beings using and laying to waste other human beings.

These powerful ingredients weave their way through a police procedural/action thriller plot that never stops to catch its breath and is pure cinema.

Willem Dafoe is totally engrossing as the film's villain, while William Peterson delivers a highly focused, tough turn. Dean Stockwell is also a stand-out as a crook lawyer and real cop Jack Hoar is quietly spectacular as Dafoe's mule.

And the film boasts one unbelievable car chase that has not been equaled since.

But LIVE AND DIE is also a film that expertly marries the visual to the aural and depicts a part of Southern California that has not been so credibly depicted before.

Dynamite!

The fast paced, very 80's style of this movie is quite the contrast to the somber almost documentary mood of William Friedken's more famous crime film The French Connection. Yet what parallels in both these films is the authenticity and grittiness as well as an intense car chase. Its clear he was attempting at recreating if not outdoing the most famous scene in his career, and I won't say he did, but he certainly gives it a run for its money.

The film doesn't go far enough to be a genre breaker(a film that's just an all-around classic) but it pushes the limit on what a movie like this can be like, making To Live and Die in LA probably the most underrated crime movie of the decade.

This story is very 80's, and is heavily influenced by the TV show Miami Vice. The style, clothes, music, and characters reflect that time period exactly. The direction of this film gives a slick feel; where its action, style, and seedy underside all blend in well. The story could be very predictable, but with its plots twists, and the theme that follows the saying be careful when you go hunting for monster not to become one yourself gives it originality. It has some mind blowing stunts that create tension, and if you watch the film Ronin you see where they got the car chase idea from. In all this film gives a feeling of being involved in events that go too fast, too dangerous, and too twisted. Its shows what happens to the heart when the individual becomes obsessed with what he seeks. Watch this one and love it.

This brutal film about a dirty cop's personal vendetta in the Los Angeles underworld of counterfeiting, snitching and ruthless executions was both hailed and criticised at the time it came out - for being unforgivingly realistic and unforgivingly vile, respectively. And they were all right; the film paints a harrowing picture of a cold, cynical macho culture in Reagan era L. A. in which everything and nothing was justifiable and where the distinction between the good guys and bad guys had been almost completely obliterated.

William Friedkin (The Exorcist) adapted and directed the film seemingly with an intention of not making any compromises. The film is as violent as anything you'll see from this period, like a cross between Dirty Harry and Cobra, completely free of moral justification, heck even moral discussion. It's not immoral, it's completely amoral. And Friedkin's use of violence is not a tad poetic or beautiful (like Tarantino's for example), but not fun and simple either (like the violence in many other films from this period). Friedkin's violence is dejected, serving only to suck the joy out of us and the characters in the film. But still we want to keep watching, because the film has an exhilarating quality to it, created in large by its stance: You're free to root for whomever you want; or better still - not root for anyone.

To Live and Die in L. A. doesn't speak to your empathy or sense of right and wrong; it speaks to your gut. It's thrilling in much the same way as a roller-coaster. The film is marred by some of the typical mid-80s weaknesses, like a masturbation of its own action set-pieces and simplified supporting characters. But on the other hand, it has a rawness to it which is missing from many of today's action films. And the fine performances by the two leads does a lot to enhance this effect, particularly a young Willem Dafoe who personifies this said rawness. Look also for Dean Stockwell as a delightfully slimy lawyer.

Admittedly, To Live and Die in L.A. was not well-received by many critics when it was released in 1985. I believe it was because the movie was ahead of its time. Back then, one would have naturally expected an action movie that clearly defines the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. But it would be different in this film.

Without giving too much away, the main cops who are supposedly good guys are unethical. Richard Chance makes it clear that he doesn't care how he would catch the money counterfeiter Rick Masters. But as he tries to attain this goal, he runs into trouble, including a car chase that leads to a drive down the wrong side of the Los Angeles freeway! (Don't ever try that stunt!)

The way I see it, To Live and Die in L.A. is an underrated classic.