Streets of Fire

Streets of Fire is a 1984 American film directed by Walter Hill and co-written by Hill and Larry Gross. It is described in its opening credits and posters as "A Rock & Roll Fable". The film is a mix of musical, action, neo-noir, drama, and comedy, with elements of retro-1950s woven into then-current 1980s themes.

It stars Michael Paré as a mercenary who returns home to rescue his ex-girlfriend (Diane Lane) who has been kidnapped by the leader of a biker gang (Willem Dafoe).

Some of the film was shot on the backlot of Universal Studios in California, on two large sets covered in a tarp 1,240 feet long by 220 feet wide, so that night scenes could be filmed during the day.

The film grossed $8 million in North America, against a production budget of $14.5 million.

In Richmond, a city in a time period that resembles the 1950s (referred to within the film as 'another time, another place'), Ellen Aim (Diane Lane), lead singer of Ellen Aim and the Attackers, has returned home to give a concert. The Bombers, a biker gang of another town named "the Battery", led by Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe), crash the concert and kidnap Ellen.

Witnessing this is Reva Cody (Deborah Van Valkenburgh), who asks her brother Tom (Michael Paré), an ex-soldier and Ellen's ex-boyfriend, to come home and rescue her. Tom returns, and after fighting with a small gang of four and whipping them, he takes their car. Reva has no luck talking Tom into rescuing Ellen, so he checks out the local tavern, the Blackhawk. He is annoyed by a tomboyish ex-soldier named McCoy (Amy Madigan), a mechanic who "could drive anything" and who is good with her fists. They leave the bar and Tom lets McCoy stay with him and Reva. That night, Tom agrees to rescue Ellen, but for $10,000 to be paid by Ellen's manager and current boyfriend, Billy Fish (Rick Moranis).

While Reva and McCoy go to a diner to wait for Billy, Tom acquires a cache of weapons, including a pump action shotgun, a revolver, and a lever action rifle. Tom and Billy meet at the diner, and Billy agrees to pay Tom, but Tom requires that Billy goes with him back into "the Battery" to get Ellen, since he used to live there; after some negotiation, Billy agrees to go, and McCoy talks Tom into cutting her in for 10% to bring her along to help.

In the Battery, they visit Torchie's, where Billy used to book bands. They wait until nightfall under an overpass, watching bikers come and go. Raven has Ellen tied up in an upstairs bedroom. As Tom, Billy, and McCoy approach, Tom directs Billy to get the car and be out front in fifteen minutes.

McCoy enters and is stopped by one of the "Bombers". Pretending to like him, McCoy follows him to his special "party room", close to where Raven is playing poker. McCoy then knocks him out. Tom finds a window and, as a distraction, starts shooting the gas tanks on the gang's motorcycles; he then reaches Ellen's room, cuts her free and, with McCoy's help, escapes just as Billy arrives at the front door.

Riding in the convertible, Tom sends his crew off to meet at the Grant Street Overpass, and leaves to blow up the gas pumps outside a bar. Raven appears out of the flames and chaos to confront Tom. After learning who he is, Raven warns he will be back for Ellen and for him, too. Tom escapes on the one intact motorcycle. Billy persuades Ellen the only reason Tom rescued her was for money. Tom returns, as McCoy explains to Billy that Tom used to be Ellen's boyfriend.

Ellen follows Tom, while Billy and McCoy go back and forth once again about Tom and Ellen's love affair. Ellen and Tom also have an argument. When they all meet up on the street, they are in "the Battery". They return Ellen safely home, where she initially rejects her home town as well as Tom. Later, he goes to the hotel where Ellen and Billy are staying, to collect his reward. He only takes McCoy's cut and throws the rest back at Billy, scattering it. He then tells Ellen that there was a time he would have done anything for her, but no more. As Tom storms out, Ellen follows and the two embrace in the rain.

Meanwhile, Raven informs Officer Ed Price (Lawson), the head of the police department, that he wants Tom to meet him alone. If he agrees, he will leave the Richmond alone. Price tells Tom to get out of town. Tom, Ellen, and McCoy leave on a train. He knocks out Ellen and returns to town for a climactic fight with Raven. Tom defeats Raven and the defeated gang carries their leader away. Later that night, Tom says a final goodbye to Ellen, and rides off with McCoy.