APRIL 10
Nighthawks
Sylvester Stallone, Billy Dee Williams, Rutger Hauer, Lindsay Wagner, Persis Khambatta, Nigel Davenport, Hilarie Thompson, Joe Spinell, Walter Mathews, E. Brian Dean, Caesar Cordova, Charles Duval, Tony Munafo, Howard Stein, Tawn Christian, Jamie Gillis, Luke Reilly, Yvette Hawkins, Einar Perry Scott, Erle Bjornstad, Jacques Roux, Clebert Ford, Avind Harum, Obaka Adedunyo, Corine Lorain, Jean-Pierre Stewart, Thomas Rosales Jr., John Shamsul Alam, José Angel Santana, Patrick Fox, John Cianfrone, Tim Marquart, Tony Maffatone, Tom Degidon, Rita Tellone, Al Cerullo, Karl A. Wickman, Cliff Cudney, Joe Dabenigno, Steve Dash, John Devaney, Paul Farentino, Edward Fox, Randy Francklan, Roger Caine, Richard Noyce, Dar Robinson, Judee Wales, Luke Walter, Zoya Leporska, Brian Osborne, Robert Pugh, Catherine Mary Stewart, Frederick Treves, Sue Vanner
cinematography by James A. Contner
music by Keith Emerson
screenplay by David Shaber
story by David Shaber and Paul Sylbert
produced by Martin Poll
directed by Bruce Malmuth
Rated R
1 hr 39 mins
Two terrorists on a collision course with two NYPD cops who are part of a brand-new Anti-Terrorist Action Command task force. The city is in serious trouble.
When this film began production, it was set to be directed by Gary Nelson, who is probably best known for Freaky Friday and The Black Hole. They shot for about a week, and it must have been a hell of a week because, by the end of it, Nelson was fired. Sylvester Stallone stepped in to direct for a few days before Bruce Malmuth was brought on to replace Nelson. This marked Malmuth’s feature debut, and I’d love to know what made anyone think either Nelson or Malmuth was right for this particular job, and why no one else was interested.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Last '80s Newsletter (You'll Ever Need) to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.