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Tonight Is What It Means To Behold This Trailer, Poster, And Musical Number From Albert Pyun's ROAD TO HELL (His STREETS OF FIRE Homage)!!
Merrick here...
...with a quick look at some media from Albert Pyun's ROAD TO HELL - something of an homage to the Walter Hill directed, Joel Silver produced, Michael Pare starring STREETS OF FIRE from back in 1984.
Here's the trailer...
...and a one sheet to go with it.
BELOW: an embed of Roxy Gunn's performance of Jim Steinman's "Nowhere Fast," immortalized by Fire, Inc. in Hill's progenitor "rock and roll fable."
All I know is: this has hot chicks making out and Jim Steinman music, which signify an excellent start as far as I'm concerned. We'll have more on ROAD TO HELL as release dates and whatnot are finalized.
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Readers Talkback
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April 2, 2012, 2:53 p.m. CST
And to the one who was actually first I got one word for you...GAY!!!
by Tikidonkeypunch
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...but this looks fucking awful beyond words. For so many reasons.
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...head on over to Netflix and instantly screen Albert Pyun's insane "Vicious Lips" or, if you can find it, try his even loopier "Radioactive Dreams." This appears to be more of the same... It would appear Pyun balances the tightrope between trash and art somewhat indelicately.
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BUT I HAVE enough to know this is CRAP!
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...there would not be enough alcohol on earth to keep me from sobbing uncontrollably every single moment my eyes were open.
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...is a great bad movie. Not a great movie. And I have most of the soundtrack on my tiny box that makes song. Some great Ry Cooder in there along with the above song and Tonight is What it Means To be Young from Steinman.
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...I know I'll watch this. And I know it will make me sad.
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I abandoned my teenage pie in the sky dreams of becoming a director, recognizing the reality that the likelihood of me becoming steven spielberg was not probable...with that said after watching that trailer I think I should have at least tried, cuz I KNOW I could make something a million times better then that! Hell, I've seen pornos with better acting, production values, and cinematography. I mean this just looks fucking painful! Shit Robert Rodriguez made El Mariachi with $10k BEFORE the digital revolution, so budget is no excuse!! Just terrible!
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April 2, 2012, 3:30 p.m. CST
That is some of the shittiest green screen work I've ever seen
by alienindisguise
fuck you
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...yeah, but be nice. It is Albert Pyun. A long time ago, when he had some money for his movies he made Nemesis and The Sword and the Sorcerer and some other pretty okay, if goofy, B movies.
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...Curnan Pictures (cynthia curnan also wrote the screenplay for Tales of an Ancient Empire, the 'sequel' to The Sword and the Sorcerer), had the money to use the song from Streets of Fire.
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that shit looks like shit!
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April 2, 2012, 3:58 p.m. CST
Albert, it's Rod (formerly) of Fright Night Film Fest. I love Walter Hill's film too! Three words: Sledge Hammer Fight. Please!
by The Reluctant Austinite
There's a brutality, a toughness and an undefinable "cool" to the film work of Walter Hill. "The Warriors," "Hard Times" (!!!), "Southern Comfort," "The Long Riders," "48 Hours" and even "Crossroads" are my favorites. But, on the second tier, "Extreme Prejudice," "Johnny Handsome," "Trespass" and "Streets of Fire" rank right up there. Nothing else FEELS like a Walter Hill film. I look forward to checking out your tribute film! Rod
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April 2, 2012, 4:23 p.m. CST
I love STREET OF FIRE and THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER...
by Randy_of_AFTimes
...but that just looked awful! Wait, I'm sure there are some better descriptors: Inept. Atrocious. Amateurish. Those work too! BTW-here's what was posted here about the film THREE YEARS AGO! http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38613 I would hope that it would be "fixed" after all this time-guess not! Even Jim Steiman's involvement (which I question) is not enough to make me see this. Think I'll put on the DVD instead to wash the stink outta my eyes.
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I love the original, the production values were pretty good but this looks like something out of an early 90's CDRom based FMV heavy video game. I half expected a little hand to start clicking things as I watched. And why the hell does it look like it was shot on video without any kind of attempt to make it look like film. Film Grain is a good thing when attempting to pay homage to a movie that was, ya know? Shot on Film. And one of the reasons that Streets of Fire worked was because it had some real talent other than Michael Pare behind it. This has less than no name actors and seems like something that would be better off on Skinemax late night. What a let down, when I heard this was being made I had hoped it would be decent. Now I'm just sad, guess I'll go watch streets of fire later.
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Is the loser who thought he was first and posts "First" in the second slot. The two of you should marry and have mutant first babies. Get off the internet losers.
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No Walter Hill No Diane Lane No Willem Dafoe No Rick Moranis No Amy Madigan No Ry Cooder (that I could hear) No Lee Ving No Bill Paxton all of which means there is... NO FUCKIN' WAY this will be worth a shit And yes, I LOVE Streets of Fire. It's one of Walter Hill's BEST films (take a look at that cast again and call me a liar). But this is a travesty. Are we sure this is a real film? Why not film a REAL sequel to the original? Get a good script and a legit GOOD director and you can bet at least some of the cast will ante up, and not just Pare and Van Valkenburg.
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April 2, 2012, 4:50 p.m. CST
After his so-called sequel to Sword And The Sorcerer-which makes Ed Wood look like Orson Welles, why would anyone finance
by openthepodbaydoorshal
anything that Pyun would direct? Bad, bad, BAD.
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April 2, 2012, 5:10 p.m. CST
I couldn't stop laughing during that trailer...that is a fucking abomination. Everything about it was terrible.
by Mel
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I love Streets of Fire with a passion. I also love The Sword and the Sorcerer, although not as much. However, I made the mistake of watching Tales of an Ancient Empire and saw how far Albert Pyun had fallen. Admittedly it may not seem like much of a fall but after seeing ToaAE you will understand. Incredibly, this looks even worse. Uwe Boll is fucking Antonioni compared to Pyun. Jesus H. Christ in a chariot-driven sidecar, can this actually be happening?
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Are these trailers for real or just a damned mockup?
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I submitted a review of "Road to Hell" to AICN nearly four years ago: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/38613 It is still the worst "film" I've ever seen theatrically. And I've seen "After Last Season." Twice. (Pineapple club 4 life!) But judging by the trailer, some things have changed since then. It does look like they've honestly attempted to improve it. But this trailer just further proves to me how much of a lost cause it is. Somewhere along the way Pyun completely forgot to make fun movies. Gone are the days of Radioactive Dreams and Sword and the Sorceror. It's too bad. I miss that side of him.
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so true
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I've berated you for this before, and you know, you seem like a pretty decent guy when we debated here before about this. I appreciate the love you have for SoF, after all it's a passion of mine too - that film is pure cinema, what movies are all about as far as I'm concerned. But good grief, what did you do? It looks no better than when I saw the tester. I'm still amazed Pare and Van Valkenburgh were willing to get involved in this, it's a desecration of the central theme of the original movie. I will never understand why you went this direction. It's not how cheap you had to make it that bugs me - it's where you took Cody's story. You really misunderstood the character in the original in order to do this. Anyway. Not like my opinion matters a hill of beans but jeez matey. I'm one of the biggest SoF fans there is. I should be loving what you did. I can't stand it. That should tell you you shot a bit wide of the mark......
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That guy is a pure class act. He was tipped to be huge in the eighties, and it all went away and he's been stuck making dtv schlock for a long time. He's done some great tv, a few decent films in the last twenty years (Bad Moon was awesome) but he's never got back to the awesome of Eddie and the Cruisers, Streets of Fire, Moon 44 and The Philadelphia Experiment. But even in the worst paycheck movie, he puts his all into it and that's more than can be said of a lot of the 'big' name Hollywood actors. An absolute gem of an actor who should be ruling Hollywood drama and action flicks. The guys pure awesome and always was. I'm glad he's getting some parts in bigger movies again even if they're bit parts. I would love to see Wally Hill do a Sly and go back to his roots, bring Pare out for a proper sequel to SoF. Now that would be something.
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April 2, 2012, 6:38 p.m. CST
Also allow me to LOL at the fucking awful music while I'm in LOLmode
by Mel
god damn its bad. is this real??
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April 2, 2012, 6:39 p.m. CST
Also, thank you Merrick for posting this. You're on a role with posting hilariously bad shit. We appreciate it!!
by Mel
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And if you ever saw Streets of Fire, and if you ever even mildly liked that film let alone loved it as some of us do, this Pyuntastrophe will make you lay awake at night for days, wondering how God lets things like this happen to the world.
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Walter Hill, awesome loner tough guy (and Tequila man)Michael Pare, drop dead gorgeous ex girlfriend Diane Lane, butch but cool drinking buddy sidekick Amy Maddigan, Willem Dafoe, leather overalls, Willem Dafoe wearing said overalls, gunfights, striking visuals Jennifer Beals dance double from Flashdance tabledancing topless, Bill Paxton with ridiculous hair and more ridiculous clothes, dueling sledghammers, AWESOME music, one of Stevie Nicks best songs done better than Stevie Nicks does it (sorcerer), motorcycles, classic cars, fifties art deco, dreary future tone, Rick Morranis as an incedible douche, Michael Pare constantly looking like he's trying not to strangle Morranis, Mr. x from The X-Files, a shit-ton of rain, gangs, laughs, cigarettes, hooch and an all around great way to spend your time. What this has... Michael Pare'. Albert, man, you try so hard and it comes from a great place...ah hell, I don't want to see this and I'll leave it at that. As for Pare playing a superhero, he was supposed to be the punisher in the original lundgren film, so...? My question is this-why isn't Tarentino using this guy?
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I'm a movie guy, but I used to play tons of videogames back in the day. One of my favorites was 'Final Fight', a side-scrolling beat 'em up that was inspired heavily by SOF. Anyone think it odd that in Pyun's sequel, Cody is a brooding escaped serial killer and how the Cody from the Final Fight/Street Fighter series of games eventually went from being a bad-ass street vigilante, to an escaped convict? That brings me to my next important point- why hasn't Walter Hill made a live-action 'Final Fight' film? The world is ready for one.... Moomba has Spoken!
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Good God. Anyway, this low-budget crap looks horrendous, and if I WERE Pare, I'd kill my agent....
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Normally I'm quite happy to be as much of a dick to people as you seem to be, but Pyun is actually a decent guy and I've argued with him here before when he's popped up in talkbacks. I'll give people their due. He's a decent bloke, debates well and gets his point across. He has made one hell of a shit film with this though.
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Well, first I have to apologize to fans of SoF, Walter Hill, Larry Franco and anyone else connected with SoF. It was not our intent to soil the memory or insult the legacy of that truly great film. Our single purpose was to explore with Michael the effects of regrettable decisions and how they shape our lives thereafter and how many of us have a dream to return to that moment in our lives with the benefit of hindsight. Personally I wanted to Michael to bring the sum of his dreams and disappointments to Cody 28 years after. What happens to an icon if life goes awry. its no a sequel, because with RTH we tried exploring Cody in a deeper way. Why was he such a punk? Why wouldn't he stay with Ellen? Why did he prefer life as a soldier? Why did extreme violence come so easy to him? That was the intent. Sorry everyone here feels we failed....miserably I guess reading the comments. But we did really try. No one made any money off this. It was done as a labor of love and for the creativity of it. To step outside the lines to look back at an icon to see what makes him tick. To see if he knows how damaged he is. Anyway, apologies to everyone. Please feel free to ignore the film although i think Michael gives a terrific performance. One of grace and depth. I think Clare Kramer also gives a terrific performance. I am sorry I failed them in how to present their work. I've always tried to do my films in a different way and not make them for a wide audience. I am incredibly grateful I've been able to make movies continuously since I was ten. i know I've been lucky to have been able to do this for so long. I do love it and it's all I've ever wanted to do - make movies, explore ideas. Thanks Albert Pyun
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I second that, Final Fight was a BLAST.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Albert_Pyun You are so utterly and completely full of shit
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April 2, 2012, 9:17 p.m. CST
Pyun you could always "explore" the idea of saying your sorry to Guam
by Sleazzy
Fucking pathetic POS
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April 2, 2012, 9:23 p.m. CST
I'd like to see this guy and Uwe Boll both do adaptations of the same great novel....any suggestions?
by Mel
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I don't know what the hell that was but I'm dying over here. Seriously, between that trailer and this thread, I'm laughing my ass off. I salute you, Mr. Pyun.
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I will say that the green screen isn't very convincing and I wish they would have done some location shooting. Cynthia Curnan is someone I consider a personal friend and I'm interested to see how this has turned out for that reason. That and Michael Pare is a grizzled badass.
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And so did after seeing this. I mean... I want to think it's early days and this is just a thrown together "proof of concept" sort of deal... no, I have to think that. If this is the look and feel of this thing, I really might cry. <P> And sadly, this little Ellen Aim pretender just doesn't hold a candle to the attitude of a then barely legal Diane Lane or the vocals of Laurie Sargent and Holly Sherwood (not to mention this arrangement is utterly fucking castrated). Fuck, this is getting more depressing by the minute. <P> Off to watch the original to wash the Pyun-apple twinkie flavored cum out of my eyes and mouth.
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You've just cut your own hairless balls off and shoved them down your throat. Not that there were that many to begin with, but whatever friends you may have had left here will from now on not be able to take anything you say seriously. All your loud, abrasive mewling about what's good and bad in movies was just invalidated by that post. Seriously, you thought John Carter looked like shit from the trailers but this looks decent? You drooling, sycophantic cretin. Looks like the Fett's opinions on film can be bought by friendship in the biz. That, or maybe a few dozen pez to keep him off the docks for at least one weeknight. Why don't you just fuck off once and for all, you vacuuous, micro-peened, troglodytic assmaster. What. A. Cunt.
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April 3, 2012, 6:25 a.m. CST
You know, I don't actually have a problem with Roxy Gunn...
by ShadowVoyd
In terms of her voice by itself. Thing is, just from that clip alone, in character, she comes off more girl than woman and unfortunately, that's the same problem with her voice in terms of this music. <P> Granted, I've always preferred the movie edit of the song to the soundtrack version, so that's kind of throwing me (well... that and the drums are kinda emasculated). But one of things that underscores the whole "girl in big sister's clothes" vibe this comes off as having is the lack of strong male backing under what's essentially a voice that's too sweet, pretty and light that's devoid of that smoky growl. If she's supposed to be Cody's first love from way back when, you'd think it was love at first sight on the playground right before he went off to join the army.<P> Now with that, someone might point out I should maybe take more notice of the potential creep factor in regard to Paré's grizzly ol' Cody and Gunn's "virgin tease on goth night" Ellen, but that's just not the first thing that strikes me as off. It's like Pyun is revved up about the artifice of what Hill created he forgot to check under the hood to see what made it run in the first place.
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April 3, 2012, 6:27 a.m. CST
*Pyun is SO revved up about... blah blah blah... EDIT BUTTON.
by ShadowVoyd
Jesus...
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Words from Harry Chapin to Pat Benatar when she was getting her start and trying to sing rock n roll. That cover of Nowhere Fast was awful. It was completely lacking the power and rough tones of the original from Streets of Fire. She was just going through the motions and that's never going to work or pull off a Rock n Roll Fable. Sorry. Best take that one back to the drawing board and put some electricity into her maybe that will get rid of the vapid and vacant expression and lifeless tones of her voice. Disappointed. Still, Michael Pare looks great for his age and more Jim Steinman is never a bad thing.
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He announces a project and his 12 or 14 fans get all excited. Pyun goes on and on about how great it will be. He talks of theatrical releases DVD release, VOD and film festivals causing his 12 or 14 fans to go into hysterics. Sometimes he'll ask his fans to send him money to pre-order a "special" version of the film. Then months later he'll return the money saying he can't deliver the film for whatever the fuck reason (Translation: He got a no interest loan from his fans). When the film does come out on DVD it's terrible and Pyun cries about how it's not "his version" and about how "his version" was so good he can't believe how anyone would change it, etc. etc. Then he announces another film and the whole pattern starts again. Pyun's a put on, guys. Really.
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April 3, 2012, 7:46 a.m. CST
...and the above is how Pyun makes a living. It's easier then getting a real job
by Sleazzy
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I am SO psyched for this. (And for Pare for getting work, lol)
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When Michael blew out of town 20+ years ago, he didn't know he left behind an unborn daughter. Hence her being younger and more girl. And its her singing and playing which I think is better. Also, Clare Kramer's "Caitlin" is the daughter of a certain Mr. Shadduck.
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Is there a reason you didn't call it Streets of Fire: Road to Hell? I think that would get you a heck of a lot more attention. I'm assuming it's a rights issue? Also, I dig the tone of that poster.
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... and was ignored, but if you want a "Streets of Fire" tribute, listen to The Protomen's second album. The cover is even a direct homage to the "Streets of Fire" poster.
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April 3, 2012, 3:14 p.m. CST
tjcoolguy. there's a reason everyone ignored your comments before.
by Hint_of_Smegma
Mainly because The Protomen suck and we were trying to all spare your feelings about that. But you had to push it didn't you? You couldn't leave well enough alone.....and now you backed me into a corner and the truth is out. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW???? No, but seriously, they really suck.
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>>>>>>>Well, first I have to apologize to fans of SoF, Walter Hill, Larry Franco and anyone else connected with SoF. It was not our intent to soil the memory or insult the legacy of that truly great film. Our single purpose was to explore with Michael the effects of regrettable decisions and how they shape our lives thereafter and how many of us have a dream to return to that moment in our lives with the benefit of hindsight.<<<<<<< Yeah, Albert, we get that. But that's the point you're missing. Cody works because we know there are decisions that haunt him, that he doesn't want to be apart from Ellen, but knows he has to be because being with her simply wouldn't work. He's gonna be there when she needs him but he's gonna let her live her life and not fuck it up for her. That's not a decision we need to see the fruits of 27 years later, whatever they are - to do so ruins the point of him going in the first place in the original movie. >>>>>>Personally I wanted to Michael to bring the sum of his dreams and disappointments to Cody 28 years after. What happens to an icon if life goes awry.<<<<<<< We already know that. Life can turn to crap. But exploring that through a previously heroic character, it can do nothing but damage the previous story in the minds of those who know it. You can't take what ultimately is a self sacrifice and a bit of a triumphant story, turn it around with a sequel and say "well look his life turned to shit" without directly affecting the original story. It's the wrong tack to take with such a character. We get he's made a self sacrifice and its gonna hurt him the rest of his life, but it's what he had to do to avoid screwing up her life and career. We don't need to see where he falls after. It damages the gesture. >>>>>>>>its no a sequel, because with RTH we tried exploring Cody in a deeper way. Why was he such a punk? Why wouldn't he stay with Ellen? Why did he prefer life as a soldier? Why did extreme violence come so easy to him?<<<<<<<<<<<< But it really wasn't a deeper exploration, Al. >>>>>>That was the intent. Sorry everyone here feels we failed....miserably I guess reading the comments. But we did really try. No one made any money off this. It was done as a labor of love and for the creativity of it. To step outside the lines to look back at an icon to see what makes him tick. To see if he knows how damaged he is.<<<<<<<< To see what makes him tick, in anyway, lessons the character here. Obviously he's screwed up somewhere in there. It's his actions though that made him a heroic figure and your movie, whether you meant it to or not, takes that away to a degree. I'm certainly not saying you didn't work hard on it and it's cool you love the original as much as you do, I get that, I just don;t get the thought process behind thinking stripping down his failures and problems as a person can somehow make a worthwhile film for the SoF fans. It's like taking Luke Skywalker and making a film about how his daddy abandonment issues made him a saber wielding nutcase. It lessens the character. >>>>>>>>Anyway, apologies to everyone. Please feel free to ignore the film although i think Michael gives a terrific performance. One of grace and depth. I think Clare Kramer also gives a terrific performance. I am sorry I failed them in how to present their work.<<<<<< I'm certainly not ignoring the film, I'm just sorry it obviously missed the mark for a lot of the fans you intended to make it for. I love the idea of Cody returning to the screen. But like this? For me at least it just wasnt the way to do it. >>>>>>>I've always tried to do my films in a different way and not make them for a wide audience. I am incredibly grateful I've been able to make movies continuously since I was ten. i know I've been lucky to have been able to do this for so long. I do love it and it's all I've ever wanted to do - make movies, explore ideas.<<<<<< It's cool you get to do it for a living. Most of us posting here wish we could on some level too I'm sure - and I hope you have better luck with future projects. Just do me a favor, don't make a sequel to this one matey. Ta muchly.
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Quote: Why don't you just fuck off once and for all, you vacuuous, micro-peened, troglodytic assmaster. = COMEDY GOLD!
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wrath_of_fett always brings out the best in me... ;)
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Curious... By chance, are you best-buddies with that uppity, uber-conservative bitch, Jay2517?
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And you know, I kind of got that vibe, as that would be the ONLY way to justify going that route without it falling into realms of inane asshattery. And damned if I didn't do my homework. I ended at the Road To Hell page just to be sure, in case there was some mention of Cody running home to his baby girl, but it specifically mentioned "childhood love", so I figured Ellen was.... you know, Ellen. <P> Now either that was supposed to be a big "tweest!", with poor dumb Cody trooping home to find the woman that would make it all better but finding his little girl instead, he knew and well.... blah.... or someone needs to seriously update the synopsis on that damn page. <P> Needless to say, infinitely less creepy. Except for Clare Kramer, who's incredibly adapt at making creepy (and deeply insane) hot to behold. And in regard to Roxy's playing, it's fine but but not masterful. That's why you don't record your younger musicians on film playing live. If they look like they're just trying to to get through the song and not flub a note rather than act in the scene, they look kind of robotic. There's a bit of a nervous, self conscious aspect the whole thing that punches rail gun sized holes in the illusory artifice of "balls out rocker."
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Hope to see more fine displays in the future. This place needs some of that old-school magic.
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Blame me for where the RTH story went. I love SOF, though I was angry with the ending because I knew how damaging it would be for a soldier to turn away from true love and go on to fight too many wars. Truth be told, I thought Cody was too good for Ellen. I saw him as an angel - summoned by Reva Cody - who arrived from another dimension on the conspicuously empty L train. Each of us interprets the story how we want. But that is not the story we wanted to continue. RTH is not a sequel to SOF. RTH is about what happens to a soldier's psyche after decades of too much war and too little love. In wartime, killing becomes a natural response to threat. The kill response doesn't shut off in when the soldier returns to society. Look at what happened to Staff Sgt Robert Bales who recently snapped and killed all those innocents. Everyone who knew him in the past swear he is incapable of his crimes. Military bases are off the hook with suicide attempts and domestic violence. Yes, RTH is a very dark story, but it's also about redemption. It needs to be judged on it's own merit or lack thereof. I appreciate your point of view because you actually post whole sentences and complete thoughts. You are a thinker and quite likely, a writer... You are welcome to despise RTH but know that your point of view is no less subjective than the person who finds it worthy. Cynthia
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Cynthia. Thanks for taking the trouble to write about this, as it's a film that has been on my mind for years now ever since Albert Pyun first stated his intentions. I do want to clear up something first though. I'm not blaming you for 'where the story went' as such - blame indicates I've got some right to lambast you for 'where things went wrong'. I don't, I'm just some schmuck who happens to be a huge fan of SoF and while we can all get proprietary about films we love and grew up with, I'm not such a fool to think my love of that film gives me the ultimate right to say how any interpretation that followed should go. I am certainly disappointed with the tack yourself and Albert took, to say the least, and I'd like to try to explain why. I find it really interesting you took the ending of SoF as you did, I can see from that why you went in the darker direction that RtH followed. For me, I took it as Hill described the movie at the start - a rock'n'roll fable. I never saw Cody and Ellen as reciprocated true love - for Cody, yes it was true love. There's no other girl for him, but he knows he's only ever going to hold her back, he knows her life can be better without him and so sacrifices his own wants and feelings to ensure she has the best life she can. I agree on your assessment he's too good for her and that's why it's not true love on her part - her own wants and needs come across as more important to her than he ever was, despite the fact she does love him. He however would willingly toss himself in to a fire to save her from harm. He is as you described yourself, her angel - a guardian that will be there whenever she needs him, and step away regardless of the cost to himself when she doesn't. I like your description of his return on the L train and I saw that myself in a similar way, but more as a segway showing his return to her life, to doing what he's meant to do - fulfilling his function as it were by protecting her. I understand your point regarding how war veterans have to deal with the ingrained feelings, memories and consequences of their experiences on returning to 'real' life, I understand it on a personal level and so you taking the time to write and explain that's why you wanted to explore this resonates with me. My issues arise from my personal view that Cody was the wrong character to take down that road and to explore those themes. SoF is that fable, Cody in it is the guardian hero, a true hero in fact - in that he sacrifices everything he wants and needs, because he knows it's the right thing to do. He doesn't need more explanation or more exploration than that. Taking that noble action, that sacrifice and showing it later on down the line to have ruined him, whether you want it to or not, lessens his gesture, lessens his character. We know at the end of SoF that he's going to pay a heavy personal price for leaving, so to explore the result of that and have it effectively destroy the heroic character he was seems to me to be damaging something special. I appreciate you see this a s a separate story, not a sequel to SoF, but I find that hard to reconcile myself. You're basing your movie on repercussions of events in SoF, you're using characters from SoF, whatever your personal intent, it's going to be taken as a sequel. There's no way around that. To me the story you were telling would feel more natural and a better fit if you'd used a different character, not followed up SoF in this way and made it a stand alone film. Yeah I get that RtH is about redemption. Again, my issue with that is Hill was telling a fable, presenting a hero. A hero that's going to take the repurcussions of his actions whatever they may be, repurcussions that are best left in our minds than explored in another story because to do so only weakens that character. The story you tell I think would make an interesting seperate film - but relating it to a previous movie and changing characters so drastically, I feel, is only inevitably going to draw ire from fans of the original. I don't despise RtH, Cynthia. I can't deny I don't like it, I'm disappointed by it personally as I was hoping again for another fable about Tom Cody that was not about how destroyed he was without Ellen. I know my opinion is simply that, one opinion. And as I've mentioned before I appreciate that there are people out there making movies that loved SoF as much as I do, and wanted to take it further. My disappointment as I've stated comes from the direction you took being more suited, to me at least, to a separate stand alone film that had nothing to do with SoF. It's always good to see Pare and Van Valkenburgh onscreen, I just wish you hadn't had them playing Tom and Reva. At the end of the day Cynthia you made a film that has kept me thinking about it for a good couple years now and that's no bad thing. I didn't like the movie for sure, but I keep thinking about it. Good luck for your future projects because I'll certainly for one follow them.
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After reading your post, I see the choice was selfish and perhaps disrespectful. It was also serendipitous, in the way we met Michael in Spain and floated the idea. And the idea had legs. I'm glad it has stuck with you, though I wish you had felt a little bit positive. I hope your opinion of what you have already seen, will be tempered by the movie that is released. It has grown up a bit from the start. I sometimes wonder if we were stopped over these years to get a clearer head about what we were creating. Best, Cynthia
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I don't think you were disrespectful or selfish and again you don't 'owe' the fans of SoF anything when you have a genuine idea and pursue it. That myself and a bunch of other Streets of Fire fans don't like your movie, well, that's movie making I guess. Not everyone's going to right? I don't like the choices you made with the character but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate that you guys had love for the original material and wanted to explore it more. I wish more filmakers were willing to put a bit of heart and guts into their movies, Hollywood might not be in such a terrible state if there were more people like you out there taking risks with the material you're making. I didn't like the film when I saw the test screening, but as I've said before Albert has shown himself to be a decent guy in the way he talks with fans, and you've been a pleasure to talk to as well so I'll check out the finished product. I can't promise I'll like it any more than I did before, but I'm willing to give it a go. I think it's terrific SoF stuck with you guys, as it did with me, and you had the guts to go out and grab Pare and make your movie, regardless of my own feelings on the outcome. And I appreciate you taking the time to state your reasons for the choices made, you've given me more to think about. All the best.
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...for your perspective and generosity. Cynthia
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