Nighthawks – Collector’s Edition

Summary

“There is no security.”

Recently I read the autobiography of Rutger Hauer – All Those Moments: Stories of Heroes, Villains, Replicants, and Blade Runners. The book was a fast and fun read. In it Rutger discusses some of his most prominent roles and how he managed to become successful as an American actor after Paul Verhoeven made him a star in Dutch films. One of the best chapters in the book discusses working on the film Nighthawks and its troubled production. From what Hauer describes, Stallone essentially had the original director fired and took over the production with director Bruce Malmuth so that the film could be what he envisioned. Hauer also describes how the film turned out much better than he had expected. I sat down and watched the Shout!Factory Blu-ray so I could see how the film turned out.

In New York City, policemen Deke DaSilva and Sgt. Matthew Fox (Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams) work the streets as a decoy unit to take down perps. They intentionally put themselves into danger so they can draw the bad element out. In London, international terrorist Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer) bombs a department store to serve as an attack against British colonialism. Wulfgar is tracked down by police when one of the members of his network accidentally leads them to where he is staying. Wulfgar kills the henchman that led the police to his door and manages to shoot his way out. He escapes and through his contacts he manages to get plastic surgery and a passport to the US. Because he killed a member of his network, Wulfgar is shut off from many of the groups that had given him funding. He is essentially completely rogue and will need to prove himself with whatever actions he takes in America. In the United States, Da Silva and Fox are enlisted into a counterterrorism unit called A.T.A.C. (Anti-Terrorist Action Command.) Deke is also trying to patch things up with his ex-girlfriend, who left him over his inability to focus on her instead of the job. It is not long before Da Silva and Fox are face to face with Wulfgar.

Nighthawks is much better than it should be given its troubled production. The film actually gets into a pretty good groove. It has an excellent scene that requires a stunt from Stallone that is still impressive nearly forty years later. Rutger Hauer is fantastic as the charming and diabolical Wulfgar. Obviously based on real life terrorist Carlos the Jackal, Wulfgar is a well crafted villain and Rutger Hauer plays the role with enough restraint to anchor the role in reality. Stallone is enjoyable in the role of Deke DaSilva and rocks some cool aviators and a beard for the role. Billy Dee Williams is solid but is not given a ton to do in the film. He feels a little bit underused.

The biggest issue that this film faces is its ending. I won’t spoil it for you, but there is a reason that the ending drew snickers from numerous people who saw the film. The ending itself may not be the worst idea of all time, but the way it actually looked should have caused them to change course. I think that one sequence has tarnished the memory of what is actually a pretty decent thriller. It still did not hamper my enjoyment of the film overall.

Video

Presented in 1.85:1 aspect ratio with an MPEG-4 AVC Encoded image, the 1080p presentation looked pretty good. The film at some points has fairly heavy grain, but aside from that I thought the visual presentation looked good. The film looks similar to other early-Eighties action films and it has a fairly muted color palette. Fans will be happy with the results as long as their expectations are tempered.

Audio

The audio presentation on Nighthawks sounds great. The DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track obviously does not have the punch of a surround track, but Shout!Factory has worked tirelessly to get the rights to the songs in the film. That means that when Stallone and Billy Dee Williams enter the club we can hear “Brown Sugar” by the Stones. I appreciate how hard Shout!Factory works to present these titles the way they were seen.

Supplements:

• Lights, Camera, Action! An Audio Interview with Producer Herb Nanas – in this audio-only interview producer Herb Nanas discusses working with Stallone and how Nighthawks took shape.
• Nighthawks: The First Draft – An Interview with Writer Paul Sylbert – Paul Sylbert explains the numerous changes that were made from his original script to the final product. This interview is a lot of fun for fans of the film.
• We Gotta Shoot This! – An Interview with Director of Photography James A. Contner – cinematographer James A. Contner discusses working on the film.
• A Sign of the Times – An Interview with Actress Lindsay Wagner – actress Lindsay Wagner discusses how her role was trimmed down and how the ending was completely changed.
• Not the Other Girls – An Interview with Actress Catherine Mary Stewart – Stewart very briefly discusses her small role in the film.
• It Was Hell – An Interview with Technical Adviser Randy Jurgensen – Jurgensen discusses the numerous difficulties of working on the chaotic and ever-changing set of Nighthawks as Stallone exerted his influence to remove director Gary Nelson.
• Theatrical Trailer
• Radio Spots
• Stills Gallery 

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4/5

Considering all of the behind-the-scenes drama, Nighthawks is almost an overwhelming success. The film’s ending is the only spot of contention and is admittedly pretty silly looking. The film features some really enjoyable performances by both Sylvester Stallone and Rutger Hauer. Fans will be happy to see that a Shout!Factory has been able to restore the correct music in some key scenes. With a good looking transfer and some interesting supplements, fans will want to consider purchasing this collector’s edition.