Just watched this very good teen crime movie directed by Paul Michael Glaser.
The plot involves a group of juvenile delinquents in their teens who are doomed to be prosecuted as adults for their crimes - unless they take part in a new and experimental "program" led by a Vietnam veteran Native American (Stephen Lang) from the Everglades. The teens must learn to survive in the dangerous swamp and how to work together. Upon completion of the program, the group buys a vacant house in a dangerous part of Miami and slowly rebuilds the neighborhood, kicking out the pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers. (from Wikipedia)
The cast includes Stephen Lang, Leon, Danny Quinn, Michael Carmine, John Cameron Mitchell, Al Shannon and young Lauren Holly. Laurence Fishburne and James Remar are the bad guys. It was also nice to see Martin Ferrero in a small role, he´s amazing as Izzy Moreno in Miami Vice.
I like the different characters and this movie includes some strong acting. I love the opening sequence where they show the crimes everybody has committed. Another scene i like is the one Lauren Holly meeting Nestor featuring the song "Faded Flowers" by Shriekback.
The Miami location looked familiar and as a big Miami Vice fan, i was constantly waiting when Crockett and Tubbs will come out
Recommended!
Finnish VHS cover art:
[ 22. February 2012, 10:54: Message edited by: aTomiK ]
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
I always think of this movie as Miami Vice for teenagers! I know Secret Admirer loves this flick.
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
Yesss! I do love this one. Probably because I'm a big Miami Vice/Michael Mann fan. Oh yeah, and I live in Miami
You pretty much nailed two of my favorite parts, Atomik. My favorite scene is with Martin Ferrero as the clerk. Just a hilarious little uncredited performance.
Then you have Lauren Holly going upstairs to the bedroom, with Shriekback - Faded Flowers playing in the background. Chilling atmosphere.
James Remar is great at playing the bad guy roles - love him.
The opening is so awesome, but it is held back from being one of the best of the 80s because of the artist they chose. Bob Dylan just doesn't fit at all!
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Ok, unofficial Martin Ferrero fanclub has been formed
And i´m right with you Secret Admirer, Bob Dylan was a wrong choice.
James Remar looked a little bit too real on the sofa with all that white stuff under his nose Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
Guys I watched this for the first time today!
Opens with the Bob Dylan tune which I agree with you two....seems a bit off........only because it doesn't even sound like it should be Dylan singing it? Other then that the sdtrk did rock! Some known songs....Prince and Mr.Mister and lost of other songs that stood out to me that i'd never heard........like Shriekback. Thing is I knew about this thread and purposely didn't go read this beforehand and that part chilled me....so awful and powerful visuals....."i'm 16" ekkkk ,neon and dark..very Mann.
I love how the movie starts and the survival scenes in the everglades........the middle got a bit hard to understand for me....a few times I was like what? Totally a teen Miami Vice haha Valley.........all in all I liked it.......after watching Manhunter last week.......now I really really wanna watch Miami Vice! Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Muffy is watching some good stuff
Make sure you start watching Miami Vice from the beginning. Season 1 rocks!
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
I just found out Miami Vice is on hulu to watch for free!! woo hooo!
I forgot to mention how cool were J.L.'s t-shirts and clothes....that awesome jacket??!! I can't find any cool pictures of it though? Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Band of the Hand blu from Mill Creek on January 10 2017!
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
Awesome movie,i have a Dutch wide-screen release of it and will wait to see what Mill Creek's Blu Ray is like before upgrading as they can sometimes be a bit hit and miss when it comes to quality though they are always reasonably priced!
Posted by Nostalgic for the '80's (Member # 37454) on :
Recently finished watching "Band of the Hand" on the regular DVD - for the very first time. Great action drama! I'm surprised I missed it over all these years - it sounds like it was definitely a cult classic. This is the type of film that I could see playing on Saturday afternoon cable in the '80's & '90's.
Liked the story, acting, and the obvious connection to MV - the locale & several of the actors were in MV, notably Martin Ferrero - who played MV's resident schemer Izzy Moreno - LOL. I was especially amused with Ferrero's role in BOTH - he played a store clerk who gave detailed instructions to several other characters on how to get rid of those pesky armadillos - LOL.
The storyline about some well-meaning people trying to keep out gang elements from a rough neigborhood could easily have been lifted from the storyline of a MV episode - in fact, IIRC there were 1 (or more) episodes with a very similar theme/plot.
I liked the "message" about working together & putting aside differences with each other for the greater good - the way this was presented, it was not at all preachy. This was especially pronounced when the two characters that were fighting each other constantly at the beginning of the film had grown into at least having a mutual respect for each other by the film's ending.
I wasn't at all surprised by the death of one of the main characters, but it was still quite depressing.
Larry Fishburne played a great bad guy here.
It was interesting to see Lauren Holly in a drama - the only other movie I remember seeing her in was the Jim Carrey comedy "Dumb & Dumber" (1994).
It will be nice to see this in Blu, in the correct Anamorphic Widescreen format; my Blu ray player converts the full-screen format to WS; so this showed up WS on my widescreen set - however, I know I'm missing much of the picture here. The Picture Quality on the DVD wasn't horrible (and I've seen worse), but it will be nice to see that remastered as well.
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
Just pre-ordered it Amazon. Looks interesting! Now if we can only get that darn RAD reissued finally!
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
quote:Originally posted by Riptide: Just pre-ordered it Amazon. Looks interesting! Now if we can only get that darn RAD reissued finally!
A really cool flick Riptide I think you'll not regret picking it up!
Posted by gordongecko (Member # 4685) on :
Every time I see this thread I think - If Mr Hand (Fast Times) put together a band, this would be their name!
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