My mother told me that when she took my sister and I to go see ET in the theater in ‘82, it was a double feature and Nighthawks was the second feature. ET was for the children of course and afterwards they played Nighthawks for the adults and the children (including my sister and I) went to sleep. Now that I’m an adult, I love this movie, still love ET as well.
I discovered this one for the first time last year. It might be a product of its time, but it was a pretty damn good thriller with an awesome antagonist in Rutger Hauer.
His friendship with Spinell was also a casuality of his ego I guess, they were pals before this movie and Spinell help him when he was still an unknown before Rocky but they had a falling out during the filming of Nighthawks and never worked together again so no Gazzo after Rocky 2 (plus I guess they also were trying to make those movies more for a wider audience so Rocky being pals with a loan shark probably was not the best way to go); not sure if they patched things up before Spinell died but I sure hope so.
He was definitely an egomaniac in that era. There was a story concerning Kevin Beattie a professional football player and extra in Escape to Victory who beat Sly at arm wrestling and Sly refused to speak to him for the rest of the shoot. The actors who worked with him on ETV including Michael Caine pretty much said Sly was obnoxious. But you can see how Sly mellowed and realised how he was behaving and became humble again, which is a testament to his character.
Yeah, I saw an interview that an older Stallone did where he admitted that because of his risky gamble and huge win with Rocky, he got a big head. He said that’s what happened to him when everyone was telling him he was wrong for Rocky and it would never work. When he proved them wrong, it automatically made him believe he knew better than everyone else. I can understand that.
As a major "Emerson, Lake and Palmer" fan, I love the score by Keith, regardless. And being introduced to Rutger Hauer makes up for this almost being another "French Connection" sequel. I was also lucky enough to interview Persis for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."
The "80s" as we know it didn't really start until 1983/1984. Before that we were still in the age of "New Hollywood" that lasted from 1966-1983, where movies were more gritty and grounded in realism and nihilism. Post-1983 80s were about escapism and optimism. So that's why Nighthawks "feels" like a 70s movie.
Part of that was the era. Reagan’s effect didn’t really take hold until late 82 and you had a couple of things that changed the arc of what you could do and be successful that year…the release of E. T. And Thriller. Once those hits the stratosphere, bigger was better.
unfortunately nighthawks is forgotten by many. i know plenty of people who are fans of sly, but they haven't seen this movie. i've watched it multiple times and i think it's really well done.
I watched this for the first time not that long ago. One of the few Sly and Ruger films I hadn’t seen. I enjoy it . It does have a real 70’s vibe to it.
I watched this movie as a kid in the 80s with my step dad who was an LAPD Street cop. He kept pointing out all the wrong things Stallone and Williams were doing as cops. "You dont hand cuff ppl like that" "We dont knife fight with bad guys we just shoot them" "If I spoke to my boss like that I would be a security guard at KMart" but with that said, he liked the movie and so did I. I watched it recently along with Rutger's other great movie Wanted Dead or Alive. Another great 80s Movie
IT'S AMAZING how few have seen this and not on outlets. I Was lucky enough to Stunt Double Sly once and this, Assassin's, and Cobra are the movies I would love to do Homage films too like I want to do with Out for Justice and Above the Law. Actor/Stuntman/MMA/Tactical guy DanTheWolfman
"So why didn't you kill me?" Because much like That Yellow Bastard from Sin City he can't work up the nerve to pull the trigger unless you show fear, Sly.
I've watched this one one too many times, though it is one of his best films. Kind of wished they would have done a sequel maybe in the 90s or early 2000s. Maybe right after Sly did Copland when he was trying to once again show that he could act. It's unfortunate that the deleted footage is nowhere to be found as an Extended Cut would be awesome.
Always used to watch this movie when it aired on TV. Now when I think about it, I don't think I've ever watched it unedited. Guess I know what I'm gonna watch now!👌🏾
Your review is more than honest. It's resonant. I saw "Nighthawks" in the theater in high school and loved it. Your observations are spot on. Thank you.
You NAILED IT! I thought and felt the same thing. The plot is mediocre with standard acting, but the score and the direction [cinematography] make this movie special. The viewer never feels 'clean.' It's a gritty world, with a grimy view into a very nasty business, with complacency as a backdrop. One is born perpetrator or victim. Then there are the others, neither prey nor predator, that watch the game trail in the shadows. They are called Nighthawks...
On TV during the 80’s it was always funny to hear the obvious dubbing of the curse words..Especially the scene where Billy D takes a bullet and Sly starts screaming
Rutger was one of best villain actors of all time. The Hitcher, Blade Runner, Nighthawks, all cold and brutal. He wrote the added line “all these moments, lost in time, like, tears in rain....time....to die.” RIP
If there were no Rocky or Rambo, I'd still be a huge Stallone fan because of 'NIGHTHAWKS'. This is the most underrated cop thriller ever made. The psychological journey Sly's character must go through to learn to think like a terrorist is fascinating to watch and should have gotten Stallone a Golden Globe/Oscar Nomination. People are so biased against Stallone that they don't even see his skill as a dramatic actor.
This movie is quite the gem - its hard to be original in such an overcrowded crime thriller genre but they certainly managed to do it here - every penny of the budget is on the screen and I have to agree with the joblo reviewer here in that the cut 2.5 hr version would be intriguing to see... That ending!
@ 13:01, 'Escape To Victory' was a very good movie... absolutely nothing strange about it at all. And btw, Football/soccer is the world's most popular sport and has been for more than 60 years.
This would have been an interesting trilogy if it had originally completed as French Connection 3. I'm not surprised that Stallone ghost directed this movie following his success with Rocky.
Considering how Sly’s films have gotten more and more over the Top (no pun intended) it’s good to see something that is somewhat believable. This was when Stallone was still acting like in the movies FiST and Paradise Alley and not all special effects driven action. Very underrated movie.
I saw Nighthawks on HBO back in late 1982/early 1983. Maybe I was too young to fully grasp the entire storyline (I was 13), but it stayed with me for DECADES. My DVR recorded it (as it is a Sly movie), but I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the chopped-up TV version. Wish they had it on NETFLIX.
This movie was way before it's time by about 20 years. It was in the era where you were seeing the rise in terrorism with Munich, Red Brigade, Carlos the Jackal and Tehran. Nighthawks really highlights the paradigm shift in law enforcement to adapt to the Anti/Counter Terrorism roll.
I love this flick! I love the cast, love that it's filmed in my city, love it's connection to another gritty NY fave of mine, The French Connection, I love the performances... Thanks for covering this gem. 🗽💖
I am glad you included this film here. I remember seeing it in London in 1980 as part of a double bill with 'Fort Apache-The Bronx'. I liked it at the time and still do but have not seen it for over thirty years. A well made and exciting late seventies thriller.
This film that Stallone starred between Rocky 2 and First Blood. Then you got Billy Dee Williams after Empire Strikes Back and Rutger Hauer before the cult classic Blade Runner 1982.
One of the best crime movies ever. Great cast. Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Joe Spinell. And the best villains ever in a movie, Rutger Hauer and Persis Khambatta
Saw it on cable when I was around 10 and my Father was cool with the violence but as soon as Sly started droppin all those f'bombs after Billy Dee got sliced on the chin he shut it off! I threw a fit
The uncut version does exist! Apparently the Shout Factory production team when they were preparing the collector’s edition release were denied access to include the longer version. Maybe Sly will do a proper re-cut of it, after all, he has done one with “Rocky IV” 🥊 so here’s hoping! 🤞
Actually, you'll find that in the wide shots of the cable car pull up and the saving of the baby/being lowered back down, it was the late, great Dar Robinson doubling Stallone, with a damn fine mask on (after all, Dick Smith did the make-up on this film). See, the more you know, eh ...?
I had this taped from TV in the late 80's, probably the only time it got broadcasted on Dutch TV ever. As a dutch kid I of course new about Hauer, but I recorded it because of Williams, since I was around 11 and a big Star Wars fan. :-) Loved it, but haven't seen it since I taped over it a few years later. Because I maybe had like 5 tapes and sometimes you had to make sacrifices. Now that I think of it, it could be that this was my very first Stallone film. I was too young for Rambo, and sportsmovies weren't really my thing. ;-)
Dang that's pretty good,I mean both eyes are moving at the same time. But the left one is red and right is clear. I'm also a cyclops so that's interesting to me. I know a guy with one eye and once it moves to one side it stays there so he just had a wonky eye all day. He gave up trying to wear one.
The mention of French Connection brought in thought: you should do video about Sorcerer (1977). It's basically the end of William Friedkin's success story even thou he made some masterpieces after that.
The theme for nighthawks is also used on the greatest patriotic movie of my country. Don't know wether my country production licensed it or not. But it's there.
My mother told me that when she took my sister and I to go see ET in the theater in ‘82, it was a double feature and Nighthawks was the second feature. ET was for the children of course and afterwards they played Nighthawks for the adults and the children (including my sister and I) went to sleep. Now that I’m an adult, I love this movie, still love ET as well.
This movie is a classic. It captures that 70's / 80's New York grit. Its real. Its dirty and its good
All hail to Rutger Hauer. The guy was awsome in these villain roles. And who can forget the ending with Stallone dressing as woman :D
No. He identified as one. The first transgender hero in a Stallone movie.
Love this movie! Used to be on tv all the time in the late 80’s!😬👌🏼
IMO, this was Stallone's 2nd best film after Rocky, and the most criminally underrated film of the '80s.
I loved Nighthawks too! The first Rambo was one of my favorite Stallone movies.
First Blood is better to me, but Nighthawks is right behind it.
I really loved this film. It was one of the first video rentals my dad got out for us, back in the early 80s.
Bladerunner, the hitcher...
Seems Rutger was great in anything he was in....
I discovered this one for the first time last year. It might be a product of its time, but it was a pretty damn good thriller with an awesome antagonist in Rutger Hauer.
Bladerunner, the hitcher...
Seems Rutger was great in anything he was in....
Plus the bald lady from Star Trek the Motin Picture with hair .
His friendship with Spinell was also a casuality of his ego I guess, they were pals before this movie and Spinell help him when he was still an unknown before Rocky but they had a falling out during the filming of Nighthawks and never worked together again so no Gazzo after Rocky 2 (plus I guess they also were trying to make those movies more for a wider audience so Rocky being pals with a loan shark probably was not the best way to go); not sure if they patched things up before Spinell died but I sure hope so.
It didn’t help that Spinell made that gory slasher film Maniac which was basically murder porn.
He was definitely an egomaniac in that era. There was a story concerning Kevin Beattie a professional football player and extra in Escape to Victory who beat Sly at arm wrestling and Sly refused to speak to him for the rest of the shoot. The actors who worked with him on ETV including Michael Caine pretty much said Sly was obnoxious. But you can see how Sly mellowed and realised how he was behaving and became humble again, which is a testament to his character.
Yeah, I saw an interview that an older Stallone did where he admitted that because of his risky gamble and huge win with Rocky, he got a big head.
He said that’s what happened to him when everyone was telling him he was wrong for Rocky and it would never work. When he proved them wrong, it automatically made him believe he knew better than everyone else. I can understand that.
@@theimaginist3310 Exactly. He recognised it and admitted it and became a better person. That's what matters.
As a major "Emerson, Lake and Palmer" fan, I love the score by Keith, regardless. And being introduced to Rutger Hauer makes up for this almost being another "French Connection" sequel. I was also lucky enough to interview Persis for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."
ELP FOREVER BABY✌🤟🤘
Persis was beautiful. I was sad to see what happened to her.
I first saw this movie as a kid back on HBO. It's probably my favorite Stallone movie. Rutger Hauer is awesome in this.
I absolutely love this movie.
The "80s" as we know it didn't really start until 1983/1984. Before that we were still in the age of "New Hollywood" that lasted from 1966-1983, where movies were more gritty and grounded in realism and nihilism. Post-1983 80s were about escapism and optimism. So that's why Nighthawks "feels" like a 70s movie.
Part of that was the era. Reagan’s effect didn’t really take hold until late 82 and you had a couple of things that changed the arc of what you could do and be successful that year…the release of E. T. And Thriller. Once those hits the stratosphere, bigger was better.
I would agree with that but maybe just pull it back to 82/83.
unfortunately nighthawks is forgotten by many. i know plenty of people who are fans of sly, but they haven't seen this movie. i've watched it multiple times and i think it's really well done.
I watched this for the first time not that long ago. One of the few Sly and Ruger films I hadn’t seen. I enjoy it . It does have a real 70’s vibe to it.
This was Rugars first American film
An underated and underseen stallone movie, I've always loved it 😎👍
I watched this movie as a kid in the 80s with my step dad who was an LAPD Street cop. He kept pointing out all the wrong things Stallone and Williams were doing as cops. "You dont hand cuff ppl like that" "We dont knife fight with bad guys we just shoot them" "If I spoke to my boss like that I would be a security guard at KMart" but with that said, he liked the movie and so did I. I watched it recently along with Rutger's other great movie Wanted Dead or Alive. Another great 80s Movie
Wanted has my favorite bad guy death of the eighties. Nothing beats a grenade taped to the head.
Great story
Okay
IT'S AMAZING how few have seen this and not on outlets. I Was lucky enough to Stunt Double Sly once and this, Assassin's, and Cobra are the movies I would love to do Homage films too like I want to do with Out for Justice and Above the Law. Actor/Stuntman/MMA/Tactical guy DanTheWolfman
Awesome dude
@@MrBoyYankee thanks would love to work w Sly again now I'm more experienced
🐺
Yeah a classic Stallone-Movie early in his career, I always loved this one!
8 Stallones out of 10 for me ;-)
Feeling like watching that movie again. I liked It and was good.
"So why didn't you kill me?"
Because much like That Yellow Bastard from Sin City he can't work up the nerve to pull the trigger unless you show fear, Sly.
I went to see this at the Cinema back in the day, I loved it.
Looks like it was quite easy to meet girls at the time. Rutger would go to a club on his own & pick up a hottie.
Till Stallone tried to pick him up instead. 🤣
One of Stallone best outside of rocky and rambo, I always thought cobra could have been a sequel to this
I ❤ this flick and Sly was great in it! Nighthawks kickstarted the buddy (cop) movies template of the 1980s before 48 Hours.
I will always remember Persis for role as Zara in one of the greatest movies ever Megaforce!!!!
Good film.
Very underrated film.
I've watched this one one too many times, though it is one of his best films. Kind of wished they would have done a sequel maybe in the 90s or early 2000s. Maybe right after Sly did Copland when he was trying to once again show that he could act.
It's unfortunate that the deleted footage is nowhere to be found as an Extended Cut would be awesome.
Yeah where Rutger returns from the dead and seeks vengeance?
I read about extended cut and agree. . This film could be remade
This channel is becoming legendary.
Thanks buddy!
Why is it millennials and Gen Z never look up in a dictionary what Words mean before using them?
Almost as legendary as Borka over at HBO
This may seem like a Strange Statement, but I think its Stallone's Best Movie as a Actor. Very Underrated...
No way Sir. Sly's best acting is Rocky one & First Blood. But I understand your point.
@@Deercollopa I got you. I think that Nighthawks was because it wasn't the typical Action Hero Role for Sly...
Always used to watch this movie when it aired on TV. Now when I think about it, I don't think I've ever watched it unedited. Guess I know what I'm gonna watch now!👌🏾
That battle on the cable car is unforgettable!
as a life long New Yorker i am now obligated to watch this. i never watched this one yet. thanks.
Your review is more than honest. It's resonant. I saw "Nighthawks" in the theater in high school and loved it. Your observations are spot on. Thank you.
A wonderful movie, it has some Friedkin energy in the location shooting, a great maniacal antagonist, and fun set pieces.
You NAILED IT! I thought and felt the same thing. The plot is mediocre with standard acting, but the score and the direction [cinematography] make this movie special. The viewer never feels 'clean.' It's a gritty world, with a grimy view into a very nasty business, with complacency as a backdrop. One is born perpetrator or victim. Then there are the others, neither prey nor predator, that watch the game trail in the shadows.
They are called Nighthawks...
Great movie
On TV during the 80’s it was always funny to hear the obvious dubbing of the curse words..Especially the scene where Billy D takes a bullet and Sly starts screaming
Rutger was one of best villain actors of all time. The Hitcher, Blade Runner, Nighthawks, all cold and brutal. He wrote the added line “all these moments, lost in time, like, tears in rain....time....to die.” RIP
He should have been Magneto.
The Hitcher . Forgot all about that film .
"Unfold that stock, greenhorn, or I'll bust ya to zero, trooper!"
11:55 Like Peter Falk (who'd lost his right eye to cancer at the age of 3).
Early 80's on late night HBO. What a great movie.Rutger at his finest!
First few times it was on tv they cut the Stones Brown Sugar perhaps cuz of royalty rights .
If there were no Rocky or Rambo, I'd still be a huge Stallone fan because of 'NIGHTHAWKS'. This is the most underrated cop thriller ever made. The psychological journey Sly's character must go through to learn to think like a terrorist is fascinating to watch and should have gotten Stallone a Golden Globe/Oscar Nomination. People are so biased against Stallone that they don't even see his skill as a dramatic actor.
Where else are you gonna see Lando rocking a Superman shirt! Classic
This movie is quite the gem - its hard to be original in such an overcrowded crime thriller genre but they certainly managed to do it here - every penny of the budget is on the screen and I have to agree with the joblo reviewer here in that the cut 2.5 hr version would be intriguing to see... That ending!
@ 13:01, 'Escape To Victory' was a very good movie... absolutely nothing strange about it at all.
And btw, Football/soccer is the world's most popular sport and has been for more than 60 years.
My first Rutger movie and I am a fan to this day.
This would have been an interesting trilogy if it had originally completed as French Connection 3. I'm not surprised that Stallone ghost directed this movie following his success with Rocky.
I remember seeing this on tv as a kid. My dad would always leave when he was surfing the 4 channels we had
I need to watch Nighthawks again as when I first saw it I was very young and didn’t appreciate it much
Stallone most overlooked movie along with Daylight & Lock Up
I think that Nighthawks is one of Stallone's better "non-franchise" films. I find Sly's work to be maddeningly uneven.
Considering how Sly’s films have gotten more and more over the Top (no pun intended) it’s good to see something that is somewhat believable. This was when Stallone was still acting like in the movies FiST and Paradise Alley and not all special effects driven action. Very underrated movie.
It’s a cracking movie.So underrated.Stallone and Hauer are on top form.
I saw Nighthawks on HBO back in late 1982/early 1983. Maybe I was too young to fully grasp the entire storyline (I was 13), but it stayed with me for DECADES. My DVR recorded it (as it is a Sly movie), but I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the chopped-up TV version. Wish they had it on NETFLIX.
A great movie.
Frank Grillo and Karl Urban. These two have a style of their own. Excited to see Grillo in the mini series. He's really cool
This movie was way before it's time by about 20 years. It was in the era where you were seeing the rise in terrorism with Munich, Red Brigade, Carlos the Jackal and Tehran. Nighthawks really highlights the paradigm shift in law enforcement to adapt to the Anti/Counter Terrorism roll.
I love this flick! I love the cast, love that it's filmed in my city, love it's connection to another gritty NY fave of mine, The French Connection, I love the performances... Thanks for covering this gem. 🗽💖
I am glad you included this film here. I remember seeing it in London in 1980 as part of a double bill with 'Fort Apache-The Bronx'. I liked it at the time and still do but have not seen it for over thirty years. A well made and exciting late seventies thriller.
That chase from the nighclub to subway is fantastic!
Such a cable classic! 📺
Even a slicker model 29 than Eastwood had. Flashy bright nickel finish & four-inch barrel. Old school with countersunk chambers!
Rutger Hauer,, always a badass, and Billy dee Williams will always be cooler the the other side of the pillow.
This film that Stallone starred between Rocky 2 and First Blood. Then you got Billy Dee Williams after Empire Strikes Back and Rutger Hauer before the cult classic Blade Runner 1982.
One of the best crime movies ever. Great cast. Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Joe Spinell. And the best villains ever in a movie, Rutger Hauer and Persis Khambatta
Saw it on cable when I was around 10 and my Father was cool with the violence but as soon as Sly started droppin all those f'bombs after Billy Dee got sliced on the chin he shut it off! I threw a fit
It's a crime that the studio lost the unused footage so we can never have a Director's Cut.
Maybe the lost footage is in a Transylvanian salt mine. Hey, it's worth a shot.
CGI good but normal setting best . Love to see both sides working together
wait...whaaaa....??!! Frank Grillo playing a new DaSilva in Nighthawks series..?? can't wait.
This movie was a staple of late night cable movies rotated during the 80s.
The uncut version does exist! Apparently the Shout Factory production team when they were preparing the collector’s edition release were denied access to include the longer version. Maybe Sly will do a proper re-cut of it, after all, he has done one with “Rocky IV” 🥊 so here’s hoping! 🤞
If he keeps the original grading then yes, not if he resorts to 'tealing' it up.
I think i watched this movie twice as a kid but i really need to revisit this and Cobra as well ❤
Way underrated movie imo
Awesome, I'll look for it.
The final shoot out
Sly fired two shots but there's six holes in
Wolfgar 🤔
Actually, you'll find that in the wide shots of the cable car pull up and the saving of the baby/being lowered back down, it was the late, great Dar Robinson doubling Stallone, with a damn fine mask on (after all, Dick Smith did the make-up on this film). See, the more you know, eh ...?
I was just able to introduce the missus to this movie last year. A great review as always!
I remember not liking this one when I saw it in the 80s. Maybe I'll give it another chance someday.
Love this movie 👌🏼
Saw Nighthawks on cable in early 80's. Not bad. L.Wagner looked nice and the soundtrack was good. Would like to see it again one day.
Waiting on that copland episode
Remember seeing it at the drive in
I Want That BAAAASTARD!
I had this taped from TV in the late 80's, probably the only time it got broadcasted on Dutch TV ever. As a dutch kid I of course new about Hauer, but I recorded it because of Williams, since I was around 11 and a big Star Wars fan. :-) Loved it, but haven't seen it since I taped over it a few years later. Because I maybe had like 5 tapes and sometimes you had to make sacrifices. Now that I think of it, it could be that this was my very first Stallone film. I was too young for Rambo, and sportsmovies weren't really my thing. ;-)
Showed my wife(born 1980ish) this film in 2008 or so. She, to this day, can NOT see Stallone and Billie Dee Williams in ANY other way!
Classic!! One of my faves.
Dang that's pretty good,I mean both eyes are moving at the same time. But the left one is red and right is clear. I'm also a cyclops so that's interesting to me. I know a guy with one eye and once it moves to one side it stays there so he just had a wonky eye all day. He gave up trying to wear one.
At the beginning of the movie, when Wolfgar places the bomb in the department store, it Katherine Mary Stewart playing the pretty sales girl.
The mention of French Connection brought in thought: you should do video about Sorcerer (1977). It's basically the end of William Friedkin's success story even thou he made some masterpieces after that.
Definitely feels like 70s film💯
Damn what a cast. Sly looks great.
Rambo and Lando chasing after Roy Batty.
great movie
Why haven’t I seen or heard of this!
The theme for nighthawks is also used on the greatest patriotic movie of my country. Don't know wether my country production licensed it or not. But it's there.
Night hawks and Cobra are his darkest most underrated films
Cobra? Ok
Please do Cliffhanger or Demolition Man as the next Sylvester Stallone Revisited
The Osterman Weekend would be a good follow up to this, obvious reference, then maybe Harleyquin?
Cage and tamu tau have an album called night Hawks it's pretty much a love letter to this movie