Review of Nighthawks (1981) by Jeff C — 30 Dec 2013

Nighthawks has been one of my favorite "forgotten" cop adventures since I discovered it in a video store sometime in 1985.

Stallone is surprisingly excellent in his role as a NYPD decoy cop. This was made before he became a caricature of himself. He's very restrained in his performance, and although this IS an action movie, he makes a believable cop and not an over the top Cobra type character. It's my favorite Stallone movie after Rocky. Billy Dee Williams is remarkably subdued as well, fresh off The Empire Strikes Back he breaks from the suave Lando Calrissian mold and also is quite believable as a beat cop.

Young Rutger Hauer's performances are always a marvel. This was pre-Blade Runner but his talent as an ice cold killer is chilling. One aspect this movie has that other modern movies miss are that the characters actually show nervousness, hesitation and fear. They're portrayed as humans, not icy nerves of steel machines.

Lindsay Wagner has a small but memorable part, she was wonderful in her day.

You get a look at old New York, as I remember it as a kid. The soundtrack is classic "cheesy" cop drama but it's a very good movie and to me it hold up right next to The French Connection and Serpico.