Nighthawks (1981) Review

 

Nighthawks (1981)

So, while perusing for a movie to watch tonight, I stumbled across this hidden 80s gem, Nighthawks. Featuring Sylvester Stallone AND Billy Dee Williams!! What could go wrong?
Not much, that's what. I want to start by saying, I’m amazed that I’ve never heard of this film before. It has all the makings of an all time classic.

Nighthawks focuses on two inner city cops who get transferred out of their regular street division after an international terrorist makes his way to New York. Almost from the moment he arrives, it’s a nonstop game of cat and mouse that is thrilling and even sometimes uneasy.

Up till now, I’ve put off talking about it, but I can’t hold it in any longer—the late Rutger Hauer is phenomenal in this. He’s frightening, maniac, and on top of all of that, charming as can be. Hauer is most known for his villainous role in Blade Runner, but this performance really shows his range and why he is the perfect cinematic villain. His amazing performance mixed with a young and hungry Sylvester Stallone, makes for a gripping film that transcends the usual cheesiness that has become common within the genre.

Most buddy cop movies from the 80s like Tango & Cash or Lethal Weapon all share the same similarity, uninspiring villains. It’s always a massive drug operation. Films need layered, frightening villains, like Hans Gruber in Die Hard. And that is what this film gets so, so right. Is it still plagued by similarities to every buddy cop film ever? Yes, absolutely. But what they did right was giving Stallone the lead, and having Billy Dee back him up, as it made for a more personal story between Hauer’s Wulfgar and Stallone’s De Silva. Every single time the two share the screen together, it’s a terrifyingly tense showdown, which is undoubtedly what makes this film so damn good. I also love how young and hungry Sylvester Stallone is in this, still having that drive in him that made him such a standout actor at the time.

In all of this, it has it’s funny, corny moments like the beginning, that come around as foreshadowing of the ending. Speaking of the ending, that was one of my favorite and least favorite parts of this whole film. De Silva outsmarts Wulfgar, beating him at his own game, but then it just ends abruptly. It needed a better conclusion. Nonetheless, it was great.

7.7/10