Streets of Fire: Difference between revisions
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[[File:streets_of_fire.png|frame|Another time, another place.]]
{{quote|''I don't see any angels in the city''
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From Walter Hill, the director of ''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]'' and ''[[48 Hrs.|Forty Eight Hours]]'', ''Streets of Fire'' is a 1984 film, described as a "Rock'n'Roll Fable". Its setting is a kind of [[Alternate Universe]], a mix of an over-the-top 50s and a dystopian near-future as seen from the 80s; a card in the opening title sequence tells us it's set in "another time, another place." The charm of this film lies in its darkly beautiful shots with lots of shadow and smoke and piercing colors, the comic-book style storytelling, and [[Crowning Music of Awesome|fantastic music]], and it is especially [[Germans Love David Hasselhoff|popular in Japan]], despite having no initial success, commercially or critically. Notably, [[Bubblegum Crisis]] and [[Final Fight]] were influenced by this film.
'''''Streets of Fire''''' was intended to be the first in a projected trilogy of action films called "The Adventures of Tom Cody" with Hill tentatively titling the two sequels, The Far City and Cody's Return. However, the film's eventual failure at the box office put an end to the project.
The song "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young", which plays in the ending scene and over the credits (and whose title also appeared as the tagline for the film) was later adapted into "Der Tanz der Vampire" ("The Dance of the Vampires") in the German-language stage musical [[Tanz der Vampire]].
A [[Sequel]], produced by Albert Pyun, exists, entitled ''[[Road to Hell]]''. Although it was officailly released in 2012, some sources (including [[That Other Wiki]]) date it to 2008 because of an early screening of a work print. Michael Pare and Deborah Van Valkenburgh reprise their roles from the original film. The website for the sequel can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210806/http://www.roadtohellmovie.com/ here] and its trope page can be found [[Road to Hell|here]].
No relation to the song from the ''[[Initial D]]'' soundtrack.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene]]: Ellen's reconciliation with Tom.
* [[Action Girl]]: McCoy. The role was written as male. Amy Madigan just happened to give an awesome audition.
* [[Action Prologue]]
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* [[Badass Longcoat]]: Tom Cody.
* [[Bad Guy Bar]]: "Torchie's", an abandoned factory with an upstairs/back rooms apparently for Bad Guys' use.
* [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]]: McCoy and Ellen aren't hurt at all, while the men get the snot beat out of them.
* [[Big Bad]]: Raven Shaddock.
* [[Big Bad Wannabe]]: The Roadmasters, a gang of wannabe thugs who're dispatched during the opening credits.
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* [[Cherry Tapping]]: After beating each other up with sledgehammers and fists, Cody finishes Raven by ''pushing'' him over. It's a bit of an act of mercy, since Raven was basically out on his feet.
* [[City of Adventure]]
* [[City with No Name]]: Although "the Richmond" and other districts were named, the overall city was simply "another time, another place."
* [[The Coats Are Off]]: Cody does this in the opening [[Diner Brawl]], revealing a sleeveless shirt beneath that duster. Both he and Raven do this before the sledgehammer street fight as well.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Both Tom and Raven.
* [[Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like]]: Ellen is furious that Tom went to save her for money.
* [[Cool Big Sis]]: Reva Cody.
* [[Cool Car]]: "I just picked it up today."
* [[Crazy Jealous Guy]]: Billy Fish.
* [[Cut Song]]: "[[Title Drop|Streets of Fire]]".
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* [[The Eighties]]
* [[Fake Band]]: Ellen Aim and the Attackers, and the Sorels. The band playing at Torchy's? Those were the Blasters, a ''real'' [[Badass]] rockabilly group.
* [[Fan Sequel]]: As mentioned above, [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210806/http://www.roadtohellmovie.com/ a fan sequel] is being produced.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: ''I Can Dream About You'' foreshadows that {{spoiler|Tom won't go with Ellen}}.
* [[Gangsterland]]
* [[Gender Flip]]: The original screenplay imagined McCoy as a male; Amy Madigan convinced them to have the character be female without rewriting the part.
* [[Genre Shift]]
* [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: How the sledgehammer duel ends up.
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* [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]]: McCoy has shades of this, though it could stem from the villains being unwilling to hit a girl.
* [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]]: Raven tries to put the moves on Ellen, and this is essentially why he kidnapped her in the first place.
* [[I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]: Billy Fish is Ellen Aim's boyfriend as well as her manager, but he recognizes that Tom is Ellen's [[One True Pairing|True Love]] and offers to stand aside. For his part, Tom doesn't want to take Ellen's music away from her (his original complaint was that he didn't like "coming in second to her music", but she proves willing to leave it all behind for him), and realizes that the best thing he can do for her is let her go.
* [[I Lied]]: Raven lies to the police about bringing only two guys to the showdown.
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]:
** Tom Cody. Saves his ex for money, kicks out her fangirl, and generally makes everyone dislike him...and then he lets Fish keep the money, reconciles with Ellen, and saves the town from the bikers.
** Arguably, Billy Fish. For all his whining and complaining, he rides right into Hell for Ellen along with everyone else, not to mention charging out into the fight onstage in the opening scene and trying to face down Raven just before the sledgehammer fight (he's pathetically ineffective both times, but still. Whatever else you can call him, he's no [[Dirty Coward]]). Also, despite his petty greed, he agrees to not one, but two benefits in Ellen's old neighborhood (with notably less complaining the second time). See also: [[I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy]].
* [[Jim Steinman]]: Wrote the music for Ellen Aim and the Attackers. As if you couldn't tell.
* [[Keep the Reward]]: Cody takes the 10 percent that he promised McCoy and lets Billy Fish keep the rest.
* [[Kick Them While They Are Down]]: Raven does this to Cody during their fight. Cody also kicks back.
* [[The Ladette]]: '''''McCoy!''''' She's a foul-mouthed, hard drinking, fast car driving, ass kicker of a woman who as a former soldier must certainly have been [[The Squadette]].
* [[Made of Explodium]]: Cody dispatches Raven's gang's motorcycles with a single shot each. Whoomph-flash-boom.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: The biker bar Torchie's. Everything around the place [[Made of Explodium|blows up real good]].
** Ellen ''Aim'': "The things they say and the things they do / Nothing's gonna stop us if our aim is true".
* [[Missing Trailer Scene]]: The trailer had Ellen saying "You gonna stay for the show? It's really good," and a different take of Raven saying "I want Tom Cody!'; the latter is notable as it appeared to be in his hideout that, in the film, was burnt down.
* [[Money, Dear Boy]]: Cody goes to save Ellen for money, not love.
* [[Mood Whiplash]]: After scenes of typical action movie fare with [[Bloodless Carnage]] comes the raw, brutal sledgehammer fight, ''with'' blood.
* [[Motor Mouth]]:
** Billy Fish, especially when agitated.
** Also Baby Doll, Ellen's fangirl.
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* [[One-Liner]]: Much of the dialogue is this.
* [[Out-Gambitted]]: The police chief tries to get Cody and Ellen out of town while he arrests Raven. He didn't expect Raven to have an army of bikers at the ready. Good thing Cody returned when he did.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Billy and Cody finally exchange friendly words at the film's end, finally making amends.
* [[Playing Against Type]]: [[Rick Moranis]] as Billy Fish, Ellen's surly, obnoxious manager.
* [[Police Are Useless]]: Well it ''is'' [[Gangsterland]], after all. There are only ''two'' main cops that we see, and one of them is the Chief of Police. Two other patrolmen are bought off.
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* [[Spiritual Successor]]: To director Hill's own film ''[[The Warriors (film)|The Warriors]]''.
** In many ways, ''[[Sin City]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''Streets of Fire''.
* [[Spontaneous Crowd Formation]]: Raven summons about ''200 bikers'' out of nowhere to face down the police. A bit later, a bunch of citizens with guns show up to stare them down. They then proceed to do nothing until Tom beats Raven in a street fight, at which point the guys with guns chase off the bikers.
* [[The Squadette]]: McCoy, who else.
* [[Starter Villain]]: The Roadmasters.
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* [[Vice City]]
* [[Wasted Song]]: "Never Be You" appears in-film ''very'' briefly.
* [[What Could Have Been]]: The [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102120649/http://www.mypdfscripts.com/screenplays/streets-of-fire second draft] of the screenplay has two different songs, more dialogue and backstory supplied by Reva Cody, and a different sledgehammer fight.
* [[Would Hit a Girl]]: Tom punches Ellen across the face and knocks her out.
** Out of necessity, of course. He needed her to stop fussing so he could focus on the matter at hand.
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[[Category:Streets of Fire]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Cult Classic]]
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