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Nighthawks |
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Year:
1981 |
Rated:
R |
Runtime:
99 mins |
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Starring:
Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Lindsay Wagner,
Persis Khambatta, Nigel Davenport Rutger Hauer Hilarie Thompson Joe
Spinell, Walter Mathews, E. Brian Dean, Caesar Cordova, Charles
Duval, Tony Munafo, Howard Stein, Tawn Christian |
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Directed
by: Bruce Malmuth |
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Written
by: David Shaber |
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Based
on the Story by:
Paul Sylbert |
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Music
by: Keith Emerson |
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Movie
Studio: Universal Pictures |
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Review |
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By Richard Lombardo
Email Mr.
Lombardo
Solid
Nighthawks is a 1980s cop movie. It is dark and harsh, and
completely without frills. On a recent viewing I was impressed
with how the way it deals with terrorism feels to me post 9/11.
I'm a New Yorker, I was in Manhattan the on September 11, 2001, and,
like most New Yorkers, I know people that were in the World Trade
Center, and know people who lost loved ones. My feels
surprised me. |
| In my opinion, every New
Yorker - and I include those New Jersey, Connecticut and
Pennsylvania people who fit the New Yorker mold - should
see this film now. I think they'll find it
interesting to compare and contrast their pre and post
9/11 psyche. The story is good, the plot moves along
well and the acting is good - but all of this must be
view through the glasses of the era and genre. If
your type of movie is Sense and Sensibility,
you're not going to like it, as a matter of fact, you're
not even going to read this review.
The fact that the movie is only ninety-nine minutes
long tells you that it's fast. The scene on the
Tram (the Roosevelt Island Tramway - which connects
Roosevelt Island neighborhoods with Manhattan, and the
rest of the world) is a nail-biter, and poses situations
that demand of you answers to very hard question.
Question that are very appropriate to the news at this
writing (November 2005). How do you deal with
terrorists? What are they capable of? |
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| These are subject we and our media like
to avoid answering emotionally, but are posed to you at
the height of your emotion in the film. Though I gave
the film a Solid, I did so because this may not be the
kind of film that you'll watch and rewatch and rewatch,
because it's all there. There isn't anything deep
about it. It is black and white, all on the
surface. But I highly recommend you view it as if
I'd given it a HUGE rating, because I believe - and I'm
not an emotional person, I am analytical by nature
- thinking about this subject in emotional terms, may be
important to do.
All sociological testing aside, you'll enjoy the film
if you like 80s action and grit: Well done on both
counts. |
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