STARRING:SYLVESTER
STALLONE,RUTGER HAUER,BILLY DEE WILLIAMS, LINDSAY WAGNER,PERSIS
KHAMBATTA,NIGEL DAVENPORT,JOE SPINELL
STORY
BY DAVID SHABER & PAUL SYLBERT
SCREENPLAY
BY DAVID SHABER
PRODUCED
BY HERN NANAS & MARTIN POLL
DIRECTED
BY BRUCE MALMUTH
GENRE:ACTION/THRILLER
RATED:AUSTRALIA:R/UK:18/USA:R
RUNNING
TIME:99 MIN
Well
over a decade before Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman locked horns in
Air Force One, another screen hero faced off against
on of the silver screen's enduring villains, in this gritty, urban-espionage
thriller. Nighthawks follows the freelance terrorist known
as Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer) who sets up base in New York City. When
his whereabouts are confirmed, it is up to street cop Deke De Silva
(Sylvester Stallone) to put a stop to his reign of terror.
One of the better Stallone vehicles, Nighthawks has unfortunately
been lost in the shuffle over the years. Complete in his Serpico meets
Mr. Kotter get up, Nighthawks features one of those rare occasions
where we are treated to Stallone the character actor and not the action
star, giving a rather good performance in the process. Rutger Hauer
plays the villain to perfection, while (and surprisingly so) not resorting
to any hammy stereotypes. Billy Dee Williams provides good support,
yet Lindsay Wagner is wasted as Stallone's love interest.
The film suffers from some bad editing, especially in regards to the
ending where it is obvious that some scenes have been deleted. The
soundtrack seriously date's the film, as does some of the hipster
jive throughout the movie. Yet the films main theme of terrorism is,
ironically, of much greater performance today than back in 1981. A
good film which had a lot of potential, Nighthawks is an enjoyable
watch and a must for Stallone fans.
