Streets of Fire

Streets of Fire (1984)

Timing: 1:33 (93 min)

6.895/10
529

6.742/10
2789

6.7/10
23561

All about film

Video 5

Photo 66

Actors and characters

Release date

1984-06-01

Country

United States

Production

Universal Pictures, Silver Pictures, RKO Pictures LLC

Genre

Action

Budget

$14 500 000

Revenue

$8 089 290

Website

Director

Walter Hill

Actors

Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Amy Madigan, Willem Dafoe, Bill Paxton, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Richard Lawson, Grand L. Bush, Rick Rossovich
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Walter Hill, Larry Gross

Producer

Joel Silver, Lawrence Gordon, Gene Levy, Mae Woods

Operator

Andrew Laszlo

Composer

Ry Cooder

Artist

Audition

Judith Holstra, Marcia Ross

Editing

Michael Tronick, Freeman A. Davies, James Coblentz
All team (20)

• At one point, the protagonist tries to find out from the typist the time of the train's departure, to which she replies that the train will not go anywhere due to high gang activity, pointing to burning railway tracks. This is a direct reference to the director's earlier film, "The Warriors" (1979), in which a gang tried to return home by train but was unable to do so for the same reasons.
• Initially, it was intended to be the first film in a trilogy of films starring Michael Pare as Tom Cody, but the film flopped at the box office, and the idea was abandoned.
• Amy Madigan auditioned for the role of the protagonist's sister, but told director Walter Hill that she found the role of the protagonist's partner more interesting. The partner's surname was Mendes, and the role was originally male. Hill ordered the script to be rewritten for Madigan and the partner changed to a female partner named McCoy.
• Walter Hill did not want to cast Diane Lane, considering her too young for the role. He first saw her at auditions in New York, where she arrived in black leather pants, a black mesh top, and very high heels. He was very impressed by her desire to land the role of a rock and roll star.
• The film's title is taken from a Bruce Springsteen song from the album Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978).
• Many of the actors were so young that they were still subject to restrictions under labor laws regarding minors, so many night scenes had to be filmed during the day, covering the set with tarpaulin. There were two sets. A tarpaulin measuring 378 meters by 67 meters was required, and such a piece cost $1.2 million. However, its use proved to be problematic, something no one had anticipated. The tarpaulin swayed in the wind, and the sound it made interfered with the actors' lines; another problem was birds and their chirping.
• The 4-minute scene of the final showdown between the characters played by Michael Pare and Willem Dafoe took a long time to film – according to Pare, four weeks.
• 500 extras played the residents of the district.