Rating: 
Summary: Great sound, Good eye candy, Almost great movie
Review: Streets of Fire always was a favorite to watch, and the experience is better on DVD (widescreen, & 5.1 dolby). Yet the acting does leave one cold for a film whose colors are so vivid. Overall the tunes and action keep the movie running, so it's a strong rental, and if you like songs by Jim Steinman (Meatloaf's "Bat out of Hell" album among others) or Ry Cooder (music from "Last Man Standing" and "Crossroads") then I recommend picking up this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best movie soundtracks in existence
Review: Excellent soundtrack
Rating: 
Summary: Shows off DVD format
Review: The only thing this movie lacks is a story and great acting (though the acting is generally not bad). Rick Moranis' worst performance to date--yes, it's worse than Strange Brew--still, this movie is a must own. One of only three movies--True Lies and Aliens being the others--that might lead one to believe Bill Paxton is an actor. The other performances suffer more from the script than from lack of ability. That being said, this disc shows off the DVD format like no other I've seen. The video transfer is perfect and shows off the unbelievable color saturation and contrast of the original film. Cinematography is first rate--few films come close to the stylish and artistic presentation of the comic book style this film represents. The soundtrack is also exceptional. A few goofs in the transfer to 5.1--they made the motorcycles "surround" you, but the rain is apparently only falling in front of you. Musical selections should please most everyone, and a good home theater system makes this disc absolutely awesome to experience. If you don't own a home theater, you will probably not get much from this movie. It's really better to use as a demo disc than to sit down and watch it. Despite it's short comings, this disc makes it's way into my player more often than any other.
Rating:
Summary: it's Rock and Roll
Review: hola Rocanroleros esta pelicula os va a encantar
Rating:
Summary: Posterized view of an action film
Review: Take an action movie, with the usual brooding good guy, turn up the colors so that the whole thing has a bit of a cartoonish edge. Add some better than expected performances, such a Willem Dafoe bad guy that is just short of way over the top, and you have a movie deserved way more attention than it got. Michael Pare did probably his best job of his usual taciturn, almost antisocial, hero. (He always does that, and I haven't exactly figured out why- seen on interview shows he comes across as much more alive and engaging) Diana Lane projects an incredible image as Ellen Aim, making one wonder what happened to her for the period of years she seemed to just not be around.
Set in an indetrminate year, implied to be late 50's but with some music more suited to it's 80's time frame, and the classic (although unstated) Vietnam vet hero, it's a movie that fits a saturday night friends movie night at the house.
Rating:
Summary: A Cheeseball Classic!
Review: It's basically all been said already in some previous reviews, but the flick is absolutely some kind of a low-rent classic. Great casting, from the two iconically handsome/beautiful leads, to all the quirky secondary character parts. Michael Pare's acting abilities are comparable to a stone statue's, but WHAT a sculpture! Diane Lane, a much better actor of course, was physically at her Perfect Moment during the making of the film. Loved the timeless, "What the hell era are we in?" look of the movie. The music I thought was a mixed bag, with great stuff by Ry Cooder & The Blasters, & typically mediocre stuff from Meatloaf's arranger (name?). One hilarious flub: Tom Cody's sister is supposedly typing a plea for his help during the opening credits & the hands doing the typing are huge, hairy, obviously-male hamhands! LOL!
Rating:
Summary: "You can kiss your baby goodbye."
Review: If you recognize the name Ellen Aim you know your cult sci-fi rock movies, or, as director Walter Hill called his 1984 film Streets of Fire, your "rock and roll fable[s]." Ellen Aim and the Attackers are a band that plays in an alternate version of the eighties, or maybe an alternate version of the fifties. It's either the eighties that couldn't let go of Elvis and pre-British Invasion rock and roll, or it's the fifties anticipating an urban underclass where everyone is on the edge of violence. Walter Hill loads the movie with a retro neon look, blending genres, similar to what he did in 1979's The Warriors, where he mixed the post-war social-issue movie with the seventies exploitation film, along with some ancient Greek history. (As Cyrus, the would-be savior of all the warrior gangs, booms at us, "Can you dig it?") Michael Pare (as Tom Cody) stars in Streets of Fire. Cody's just out of the army in a what-if America that still has the social restraints from fifties Tab Hunter movies, but wallows in the corruption and depravity of Reagan's eighties. On this particular morning in America it's raining and everyone's on the verge of killing someone. Willem Dafoe's first appearance as Raven, the villain in black rubber, fresh from God knows what perversity, to the song "One Bad Stud" performed by the Blasters ("If he likes your baby, you can kiss your baby goodbye"), may be what got him typecast as a psycho in so many movies. But in a fifties movie there has to be a love story. You can't have a guy without a girl. There has to be a Natalie Wood for James Dean, even if the romance is between James Dean and Sal Mineo. In Streets of Fire, Michael Pare's Natalie Wood is Diane Lane as singer Ellen, who Aims her Attack straight at your heart while she caresses one of those old round microphones that look like a hood ornament. Raven kidnaps Ellen and her old boyfriend Tom Cody (Buffalo Bill to the rescue) is called to save her. Unfortunately, Lane doesn't get to do much more than play the frail here. Cody's real emotional connection is with McCoy (Amy Madigan), another vet who makes Cody hire her to rescue Ellen. McCoy brushes off Cody's half-hearted passes with "You're not my type." McCoy wears greasy old clothes and fixes cars better than Cody so I think I get the point. Especially when McCoy leers at a female nude dancer at the club where Ellen is being held. It seems like the movie was going to be more explicit about McCoy's sexuality but chickened out. I won't spoil the story but you know how it ends.
I have a soft spot for movies that are original, even if they're not entirely successful. The music's good, the look of the film pulls you into its unique world, and the story is one of those mythic restatements that move you even when you know they're corny.
Rating:
Summary: Comic book rock and roll fantasy
Review: This movie shifts scenes like turning the page of a wonderfully technicolor graphic of a Marvel comic book, only in live action. The scenes even change with a tearing of the page sound clip. The spectrum of characters is only enhanced by the choice cast that act as though they've been chomping at the bit for such a cool role; they're believable, but you know they're loving it. It certainly doesn't hurt that Ry Cooder provided the witch's brew of a soundtrack for what would become a sincere cult following. The soundtrack is so diverse, yet palpably emulsified. You get efforts from staples such as Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks, but The Blasters and Ry himself provide some uh-oh kind of bad boy blues. Best part is the major artists let other people sing their work. Let's not forget, Rick Moranis, Diane Lane and Willem DaFoe sharpened their acting tools in this one liner a minute.
Rating:
Summary: Weird, unique, thrilling, rock opera adventure.
Review: This film bombed with reviewers and at the box office when it came out -- but I loved it! And its soundtrack remains one of my favorite lps/CDs. It's a weird tale of a biker gang leader (William DaFoe) who kidnaps a rock singer (Diane Lane). Her nebbish manager (Rick Moranis) hires her ex-soldier/ex-boyfired (Michael Pare) to rescue her. He hires a sidekick, ex-soldier Amy Madigan. What makes this film so weird is -- you wonder WHEN it's taking place. It's full of anachronisms. The art direction looks 1950s (the malt shop, some of the costumes, the old police squad cars, the teletype). Yet you have female soldiers, and an integrated police force. And the biker gang leader looks like he's dressed for an S&M leather party, in a black leather farmer's overall bid. Very strange. The dialog is also strange. Very stylized -- to the point of parody. Women are "skirts." Everyone's sarcastic, snarling zingers at each other. Even the bit players. The film feels like everyone in town, from street punks to cops to young girls, is a badass with a bad attitude. And half the zingers seem to end in fights. Very very strange. The subtitle is: A Rock & Roll Fable -- whatever that means. Don't try to understand this film. Just let it wash over you. You're in a strange netherworld. Accept it, and you'll enjoy the ride. Especially if you like the music... Some of the music written by Jim Steinman -- if you thrill to the bombastic sounds of Bonnie Tyler and Meat Love, you'll love this soundtrack. There's also a song written by Stevie Nicks, sung by Marylin Martin -- who sounds exactly like Stevie Nicks. The sort of bizarre film where many will gawk and wonder: What were they thinking? Others will emrace it with the love that cult films attract. I did.
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