Michael Scott
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Streets of Fire: 35th Anniversary Edition Steelbook
Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:
Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:
Movie
Shout Factory is back again with another re-release in Steelbook packaging, and this time barely a year after releasing Streets of Fire for the very first time on Blu-ray in the United States. As usual, this release is geared directly at steelbook collectors, but it does come with the added benefit of a new 4.1 DTS-HD MA mix for the audio as well, so for those who weren't too keen on the steelbook itself as the only upgrade, audio aficionados very well may want to grant this one a second look as well.
Streets of Fire plays like a mix of Sam Spade and 1980s rock culture, with over the top dialog and copious amounts of machismo playing center stage. Rock diva Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) is kidnapped by motorcycle gang leader Raven Shaddock (a baby-faced Willem Defoe) and her boyfriend/manager Billy Fish (Rick Moranis) decides to hire a mercenary to get her back. This mercenary just so happens to be Ellen’s ex-lover, a soldier of fortune turned merc by the name of Tom Cody (Michael Pare). A guy who used to rule the streets before he left to join the army. Saddling up with homeless soldier McCoy (Amy Madigan), Tom Cody ropes Billy Fish into coming along for the ride to save the woman they both love.
Saving her turns out to be pretty easy. It’s the getting out and getting away with it that may be the hard part. Raven is a madman and vows to hunt down the lone wolf and his girl and exterminate them both. Jumping on a bus of traveling musicians, Tom, Billy, Ellen and McCoy make it back, but Tom has other plans. He and Raven have unfinished business and it’s the only thing a man can do when another man challenges you. Strip down to your undershirt and battle your nemesis in the middle of the street with everyone (including the cops) watching and cheering.
Streets of Fire is pure 80s charm all the way. Mixing tons of machismo and 1950’s style detective lingo in with a rock and roll epic story makes for great watching, though. In all reality, it plays out like a classic western with a different skin. The lone wolf comes in to save the captured diva against the crazy villain. Everything hits ever tick mark on a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood western, just with modern guns, motorcycles and 1980’s rock music. Half of the fun actually comes from the music that makes up the backbone of the storytelling. Each and every classic song fuels the energy and charisma of the film and pushes the thing plot along. There is some flat parts in the 2nd act of the film, but the first act is awesome and the final act does everything like a classic western down to the duel in the middle of the street and the hero walking away into the sunset, destined to be alone.
The movie is one of Walter Hill’s best films, in my opinion, and still a blast to watch. People in today’s society may not remember Michael Pare that much, but in the mid 80’s he was being pushed as the next big thing. For some reason he really didn’t get a WHOLE lot of traction, but was a personable character who could play the tough guy role pretty well. He’s still running around playing bit parts here and there today, but his most notable claim to fame was being top billed in movies like The Philadelphia Experiment, Village of the damned, Warriors, and Into the Sun. This is probably one of his earliest and best roles, but he’s framed by some very young superstars that do just as well. Rick Moranis is fairly tame from his more comedic self, but he can play the douche bag character to a T, and that’s exactly what he does here. Diane Lane and Willem Defoe don’t get a whole lot of screen time, but Defoe hams it up to level 10 and Lane plays the damsel in distress well. There’s even cameos with Bill Paxton, Robert Townsend and Mykelti Williamson to round it out. A cheesy array of characters, but pure and utter fun from start to finish
Rating: Rated PG by the MPAA
Video:
Shout Factory is using the same 2K master used for last year's collector's edition release (not a bad thing, it was a great looking disc), so the below is my original thoughts on the transfer from that review
Streets of Fire was never released in the U.S. on Blu-ray, but has been released in the U.K., France, Germany, and several other countries making non region free Blu-ray fans VERY impatient (most of us had to do with Universal’s old DNR ridden HD DVD from 2007). Walter Hill’s rock epic is classic in its own right, so I was very eagerly awaiting this new 2K remaster from Shout Factory, and it was WELL worth the wait. The film pops off the screen with a shiny looking encode that captures the gritty stylistic choices of Walter Hill’s film, and the print itself seems to be in fantastic shape. There’s a few little speckles here and there, but mostly we have a pristine looking image with great black levels, good contrast and exceptional detail. The film has a few spots that look mildly soft, but most of the film is incredibly sharp and detailed, showing off every crease in Raven’s hilarious leather outfit, or Michael Pare’s roughhewn face. Even the smoky nightclub where Ellen sings on stage is filled with neon colors and solid black levels that don’t keep anything from the viewer.
Audio:
Usually Shout Factory carries over the identical audio specs from the previous release for their steelbooks, but this is one of those rare cases where Shout Factory has gone back and done a little bit of in-house tweaking to give us an extra track. This time it's the original 4.1 track in lossless DTS-HD MA as well as the 5.1 remix and the 2.0 track that we had on the previous release. Listening to both the 5.1 and 4.1 back to back I can see why they added in the 4.1 mix. It's a bit more raw and visceral than the 5.1 mix, putting the vocals all over the front sound stage instead of centered with the center channel. The surrounds are just as crisp and well placed as the other mix, but it sounds a bit more punchy and less processed in some places. I guess you could say it sounds a bit more "80s" if you will. LFE is deep and visceral as always, and the gothic sounding choruses and downbeats really add power and weight to the track. I gave the original 5.1 track a 5/5 rating for good reason, and while I'd LIKE to score the 4.1 mix a bit differently, I have to say it's just "different" rather than better, which still retains my 5/5 rating for it as well.
Extras:
• NEW SHOTGUNS & SIX STRINGS: The Making Of A Rock N Roll Fable -- A Feature-Length Documentary Featuring Interviews With Director/Co-writer Walter Hill, Producer Lawrence Gordon, Actors Michael Paré, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Richard Lawson, Elizabeth Daily, Lee Ving, Screenwriter Larry Gross, Editor Freeman Davies, Associate Producer Mae Woods, Art Director James Allen, Costume Designer Marilyn Vance, Assistant Director David Sosna, Choreographer Jeffrey Hornaday, Sound Editor Richard Anderson, Music Producer Kenny Vance And Many More...
• RUMBLE ON THE LOT: Walter Hill's Streets Of Fire Revisited -- A Feature-Length Documentary Featuring Interviews With Director/Co-writer Walter Hill, Actor Michael Paré, Amy Madigan • And Art Director James Allen
• Vintage Featurettes: Rock And Roll Fable, Exaggerated Realism, Choreographing The Crowd, Creating The Costumes, From The Ground Up
• Music Videos
• Theatrical Trailer
• On Air Promos
• Still Gallery
Final Score:
Shout Factory's Steelbook releases are geared DIRECTLY at collector's of packaging, and this is just another in a long line of steelbook re-releases they have been doing recently. First and foremost, if you're not a wild fan of steelbooks and are looking for more tangible upgrades like video and audio, then I might hesitate to recommend. HOWEVER, this is a fantastic looking steelbook for us collectors and also happens to have a brand new 4.1 audio mix for the original track purists. Shout usually doesn't upgrade technical specs for these discs, but they have done a little bit of in house tweaking with the new audio, which is just another added bonus for those who want this collector's edition steelbook. If you haven't gotten their previous collector's edition from last year then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as the Shout Factory editions are the first time Walter Hill's masterpiece has hit domestic shores, and the new audio puts it just slightly higher than the re-release (for those who don't care about packaging). All in all, this is a fantastic release, and a wildly fun movie to boot.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Lee Montgomery, Joseph Campanella, Athur O'Connell
Directed by: Walter Hill
Written by: Walter Hill, Larry Gross
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 4.1, English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: PG
Runtime: 93 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 20th, 2018
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
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