Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse. Spoilers will be included in this review.
Nighthawks is an action thriller from 1981 that stars Sylvester Stallone, Rutger Hauer, Billy Dee Williams. It follows two street cops who find themselves caught up in the world of international terrorism when the sociopathic bomber Wulfgar comes to New York to rebuild his reputation as the king of terror.
Under The Lens: Rutger Hauer and Billy Dee Williams
Rutger Hauer: Rutger Hauer is an interesting character in Nighthawks, a well dressed, well-spoken and well educated terrorist mastermind, who does not think twice about murdering anyone who gets in his way. There are many parrels to Hans Gruber of Diehard almost ten years later, and I can’t help but wonder if Wulfgar was a template for Hans. The role is rather cookie-cutter bad guy, and sadly we don’t get a lot of development, about who he is and why he does what he does. We get his backstory in an exposition dump, but not the why. I can’t help but think with more focus and development Wulfgar could of becoming a classic villain, and not a forgotten evil baddie.
Billy Dee Williams: Yep Lando is in this picture as Sly’s police partner! Sadly the script gives him little to nothing to do besides looking cool. Aside from taking out one of the terrorists at the climax of the picture, Williams’s role is just as a support for Stallone. This is to bad, as Williams is a fine actor and his cop is interesting as we see him in action on busts, but as with Rutger his character is not allowed to breathe or develop.
Highlights
The picture has a very small and contained final confrontation, with a nice twist and callback to the start of the film. After the scope of the narrative, it’s nice to go small and personal.
The picture is an interesting time capsule to a time when New York was not very safe and crime ruled the streets.
Stallone sported a very different look then he normally has, it was a different change of pace.
Something to think about
The picture has a lot to say about the use of violence to curb violence, do you believe we have to be as bad as the criminal to catch them?
Conclusion
Overall Nighthawks, is a decent action picture, with an interesting villain and a very different character then Stallone normally plays. The action is good for the time period, and its ending is unexpected and contained. The picture is dragged down by non developed characters, which is a shame, as they are interesting with hinted at backgrounds that are never explored. Had the script been fleshed out more and a slightly longer running time been ordered, the characters and plot would have been much more interesting and the picture better remembered. This is best as a fun distraction on a long weekend.