Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

moonspinner55 New York City detectives Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams track down terrorist Rutger Hauer, who has come to the States from Paris after bombing a London department store. Grim, chilling urban thriller with a tight pace from director Bruce Malmuth (an eleventh-hour substitute after Disney-vet Gary Nelson was let go). The script by David Shaber actually began its life as the third "French Connection" film, but was rewritten after Gene Hackman took a pass. Stallone gives a solid performance, arguably his finest screen work away from the boxing ring. The violent scenario spares us none of the horrors of crime in the big city, yet the final 'surprise' scare is right off the Hollywood assembly line (maybe it seemed more fresh in 1981 than it does today). Lindsay Wagner is lovely yet stuck in the proverbial (and thankless) ex-wife role. Otherwise, it's a tense genre effort, one that was surprisingly underrated by critics and overlooked by moviegoers at the time of its release. **1/2 from ****

Tweekums Deke DaSilva and Matthew Fox are a pair of cops who walk the mean streets of New York as part of a decoy operation until they find themselves seconded to a new anti-terror unit that is looking for international terrorist Heymar 'Wulfgar' Reinhardt who is believed to be in the city after an atrocity in London left him hunted by his former backers, who think he went too far and damaged their cause, as well as law enforcement agencies who want him for a string of attacks across Europe. It isn't long before he strikes in New York and DaSilva and Fox are soon on his tail. Their first encounter ends with Wulfgar escaping and Fox injured. It is believed that Wulfgar is planning to attack delegates at the United Nation and sure enough he takes several of them hostage; it will be up to DaSilva to end Wulfgar's reign of terror.This is a rather underrated Sylvester Stallone thriller that seems even more relevant than when it was first released thanks, unfortunately, to the rise in the fear of terrorism. The film has a gritty look that immediately made me think of the 'Dirty Harry' films. Stallone is on good form as DaSilva; this is a believable character rather the over-the-top characters he played in many of his films… the opening scene where he arrests a street criminal while wearing a dress is priceless. Billy Dee Williams is solid as Fox and Rutger Hauer impresses as Wulfgar. Wulfgar is a genuinely unpleasant villain who kills without remorse. There are plenty of tense moments, including a chase on the New York Subway, explosions and several shootings. Overall I'd definitely recommend this less well known Stallone film to fans of the genre.

bkoganbing Nighthawks finds both Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams cast as a pair of undercover street cops who are picked for an anti- terrorism task force much against their will. It's a task force put together by Interpol and it's target is Rutger Hauer an international terrorist who has found Europe to hot for him and has fled to America with his associate Persis Khambatta.Hauer is really something to see, a stone cold killer who disguises his taste for sick violence by making himself an appointed liberator of the downtrodden people. The film actually opens with him bombing an English department store saying he was protesting British colonialism. By 1981 the British had divested themselves pretty much of their colonies, but Hauer needed an excuse.The finale takes place as Hauer and Khambatta take hostages aboard a Roosevelt Island shuttle tram car. It's nicely staged and the climax worth it. Some of Stallone's undercover skills are employed.Nighhawks is a good action thriller, Stallone fans will be pleased.

disinterested_spectator This would be a routine action film, except for the way women function rather perversely in this movie. Sylvester Stallone, who plays a cop, has two women in his life. The first is his ex-wife. The second is Stallone himself, when he dresses up like a woman in order to lure muggers to attack him. It is pretty funny watching him chase a bad guy while wearing a dress.Rutger Hauer plays a terrorist who has a female accomplice. In the opening scene, set in England, he compliments a woman selling perfume in a department store while he slips a bomb under the counter, blowing up her and lots of others moments later. Then he comes to New York and picks up a woman in a bar to shack up with while he plots his next attack. When she discovers what he is, he kills her, which is ironic, since he jokingly referred to himself as a lady killer earlier. Then he takes a bunch of hostages on a tram, killing one woman and dropping her body into the river just to show he means business.When Stallone foils this plot, Hauer decides to get even by killing Stallone's ex-wife. He slips into her apartment while she is washing the dishes. He pulls out his knife and sneaks into the kitchen behind her. Then, just when he is about to stab her, she turns around and we see that it is not her after all. It is Stallone in drag again, and he puts a couple of rounds into one stunned and bewildered terrorist.