Streets Of Fire (DVD)

‘Streets of Fire’ is in my eyes a classic although many people wouldn’t even know it existed. It was made in 1984 and the movie is set in the fifties of downtown America (not really sure where they based the movie on). It’s full of good old fifties music and contains one of my favourite songs, ‘Tonight is What it Means to be Young’ performed by the group Fire Inc. that again I’m sure no-one has heard of.

The story of how this became ...
...evening I was round my friends who is a complete movie buff and has since emigrated to Australia. He took out this film and told me to watch it and tell him what I thought. Well, from the word go I was intrigued and soon wanted one of my own. About 2 years after watching this film I noticed it on the TV and thought, great, I’ll get this recorded and have a copy of my own. This was used time and time again until it got lost or my ex threw it out, ... more

‘Streets of Fire’ is in my eyes a classic although many people wouldn’t even know it existed. It was made in 1984 and the movie is set in the fifties of downtown America (not really sure where they based the movie on). It’s full of good old fifties music and contains one of my favourite songs, ‘Tonight is What it Means to be Young’ performed by the group Fire Inc. that again I’m sure no-one has heard of.

The story of how this became my all time favourite movie is as follows. One evening I was round my friends who is a complete movie buff and has since emigrated to Australia. He took out this film and told me to watch it and tell him what I thought. Well, from the word go I was intrigued and soon wanted one of my own. About 2 years after watching this film I noticed it on the TV and thought, great, I’ll get this recorded and have a copy of my own. This was used time and time again until it got lost or my ex threw it out, I’ll never know. Anyway, I asked the BBC and ITV if they were planning on viewing this movie again and I was told “NO”. I was distraught! I then went on a quest to purchase an original of my own and boy, was that a job in itself. The movie is available on DVD but seeing as this was a time when DVD’s were expensive (about 5 years ago) I tried to get a Video. I wrote an op on the search I went through for this so I wont bore you all again with the details.

So there you have it, I now own an original copy of this on VHS and although I haven’t watched it for a while I feel the time is near to dust it down once more.

Ok, on to the film. It was directed by Walter Hill and its running time is 1hr 33mins. The main cast comprises of:

Tom Cody - Michael Pare
Ellen Aim - Diane Lane
Billy Fish - Rick Moranis
Raven - Willem Dafoe
McCoy - Amy Madigan
Reva - Deborah Van Valkenburgh

Ellen Aim is a successful pop star and comes back to her home town to do a one off concert. Her manager/boyfriend, Billy Fish is not really too sure about coming back to the slums but agrees for Ellen to do one more gig. However, Raven has other ideas and goes about planning a daring raid to kidnap Ellen and take her away as he always had a crush on her. The raid takes place and Raven completes his quest and kidnaps Ellen taking her back to the Battery area which is in my eyes ‘The Bronx’ of the area.

There’s only one thing that Reva, a coffee bar owner can do and that’s to contact her brother, Tom Cody. He strolls into the coffee bar and Reva is unaware that her brother Tom has arrived as she’s about to get some trouble from the local gang. Tom steps in and kicks them out in the only way Tom Cody can with one of the best scenes in the film, comical and full of action. This sets the scene of the film from the opening explosive start as it’s a non stop action movie full of fifties music and the odd romance as well.

Tom goes off to the Battery area to rescue Ellen with a little help from McCoy, an ex soldier (female) he picked up in the bar the previous night. Billy Fish has to go with them as he knows the area having worked the Battery in his rise up the managerial ladder. Along the way they hi-jack The Sorrells mini-bus as they need new transport. I won’t give any more away as that just spoils the whole thing but I must say, if you get the chance you have got to watch this for the fight scene at the end, it’s awesome.

Obviously this is fairly difficult to get now as it’s deemed a collectors item and it seems the only way you can possibly get this now is through a search. It was never released on DVD in the UK and the price I paid for a used VHS copy was £23.99 inclusive. A soundtrack was also released which I also have and it seems this too can only be found via a search. Many places say they have it but just try and order it, you’ll be disappointed or maybe just get lucky.

The DVD is supposedly available via shipping and costs $22.48 + PP and the soundtrack is also available via shipping at $11.98 + PP. These formats both work on UK equipment unlike the US version of VHS so beware if you see a VHS copy as it will more than likely be US format.

All in all, this is my all time favourite movie, action from start to finish, good music, a good storyline and a fantastic fight scene at the end. My view is that this film has it all but I’m well aware that other people have different tastes and maybe won’t appeal to them. If you get a chance to see it when it may air again on TV then I thoroughly recommend that you give it a try.

Thanks for reading.
 

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