Nighthawks

There is no security.

The other day while browsing in The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman Fanpage, someone posted a picture of a film I hadn't seen featuring Lindsay Wagner. To my surprise, the film was starred by Sylvester Stallone & Rutger Hauer, two heavy weight actors from the 70's/80's, so I instantly decided to search for Nighthawks, a 1981 action thriller masterpiece I now officially include in my top 50 of the greatest films I've ever watched, and I mean it. 

Directed by Bruce Malmuth (also director of Hard to Kill, The Karate Kid Part II & Pentathlon) and the uncredited Gary Nelson (director of cult film The Black Hole & legendary series Get Smart from 1966 to 1969) with a marvelous story written by David Shaber (Writer of 1979's cult film The Warriors) Nighthwaks may be the definitive terrorist film from the 1980's and perhaps, from all decades if you're into these kind of films. Stallone delivers a fantastic performance in a character that's far more vulnerable and believable (for that matter) than his immortal Rocky & Rambo.

DaSilva & Fox, two though N.Y. cops.

Heymar 'Wulfgar' Reinhardt.

Conservative street cop DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) reluctantly agrees to terminate an international terrorist (Rutger Hauer) who has demanded media attention. But DaSilva's "at-home" tactics are very much put to the challenge.

The story was originally intended to be produced as "The French Connection III" by screenwriter David Shaber at Twentieth Century Fox, with Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle teamed up with a wisecracking cop (tentatively Richard Pryor). When Hackman was reluctant to make a third film as Doyle, the idea was scrapped; Universal acquired the rights to the storyline, which Shaber reworked into "Nighthawks", the more you know!

Troubles continued on set, due largely to Stallone having creative control. Stallone, through producer Herb Nanas, picked out his own cinematographer (usually the director's job). When he disagreed with the original director on certain plot points, the director was fired and replaced by Bruce Malmuth. This further caused issues because not only was Malmuth piecing together someone else's work, he was fairly new as a director and actually gave out too much direction, stressing some actors. Stallone even butted heads with Rutger Hauer, who he saw as getting too much screen time. The lesson, of course, is to allow directors rather than stars to have control.

Beautiful Irene.

Lyndsay Wagner, ♥.

Although not among Stallone's best-known films, it may be one of his better films. Perhaps the studio's production problems have lead to it not getting the level of promotion it has deserved? This is now seen as the film that launched Hauer's career, and surely he is as good or better than Stallone. Hauer is now  best known for "Blade Runner", but maybe if more people saw "Nighthawks" they would have a broader appreciation for his work.

Shout! Factory has picked out the film as part of its Shout Selects line to put a spotlight on the film. It has never looked better, and has the original music put back in place (Keith Emerson, Rolling Stones). We also have new interviews that add to the discussion, as previously we had only Stallone on record talking about the stunts (which are respectable).

Now or never!

Not today coppers!

Although the Shout disc is easily the best released to date, and probably the best there ever will be, it does have shortcomings. For one, there is no audio commentary, which would have been a nice touch. But more importantly, it does not include the cut scenes, which have additional violence and plot. Much of the relationship between DaSilva and his wife is left vague, with entire scenes removed. An extended edition would be great, but even just having them separate on the disc would make this more complete.

That caveat aside, this film is amazing despite any on-set troubles and if you haven't seen it before or want to revisit it, the Shout disc is the way to go. The disc is packed -- packed! -- with interviews, including a new interview with producer (and Stallone manager) Herb Nanas, who had his first on-screen credit with this film but had actually been with Stallone for years. Cinematographer James Contner has almost 25 minutes in his interview, and is not shy about discussing on-set conflict. Lindsay Wagner talks of all her scenes that were cut (a deja vu of "The paper Chase"), and we even get a few minutes with Catherine Mary Stewart on her brief but important role. "Nighthawks" is a lost classic well worth some re-evaluation in the Stallone or Hauer canon. (Not to mention Billie Dee Williams!) 

Mean motherfucker.

Bad sister.

Another cool aspect of this film, is the fact that we get to see a lot of urban landscapes from New York. From the subway chase, to the skyscrapers, and high-altitude postcard quality shots the big apple plays indeed its own character in the movie. In addition, Lyndsay Wagner's supporting role as DaSilva's ex-wife brings a nice touch to the climax of the film. However, I really wish her scenes weren't cut as heavily as they were. She's a great actress and the sub plot of her relationship with DaSilva feels incomplete in the final edition of the film.  How ironic it is that the sole reason I wanted to watch this film is because of her presence in it, and how brief her scenes are! 

Overall, Nighthawks is one of the best action packed films from the 80's. It's sole mission to entertain from start to finish, is greatly accomplished, and the terrorist topic could have been easily taken from a 21st century film. Rutger Hauer steals the show as the cold blooded terrorist, while the good guy duo of Stallone and Dee Williams balance the quality in acting as well. Go watch it now!

Here's the movie trailer: