Nighthawks (1981) User Reviews (147)

Long Before Terrorism Was On Our Minds...

[ReelCheese · 7/10 · 3 September 2007]

Long before terrorism was on the minds of most Americans, NIGHTHAWKS tackled the thorny topic. Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are decoy cops -- that is, they venture into rough neighborhoods to bait muggers and other forms of scum -- assigned to track down the cold and calculating Rutger Hauer. It seems the devious mastermind has landed in the media capital of the world, New York City, to try and regain his place among the terrorist elite.

Although it's a fairly decent action/suspense effort, NIGHTHAWKS is difficult to recommend unconditionally. The performances are certainly solid; in fact, it's hard to remember Stallone, here sporting a thin beard, being so effective outside of boxing trunks. The action is crisp and exhilarating, with one pursuit through subterranean New York deserving of a place in the Chase Hall of Fame. The story is original and much of the plot intriguing. And Hauer, in his American film debut, is a suitably hateful villain, with his motives all to familiar to contemporary audiences.

Yet NIGHTHAWKS is not quite as good as the sum of its parts. Even though the film starts out with a bang -- literally -- there's somehow too much build-up and not enough execution. The movie has not aged particularly well, and despite its 1981 release date has the feel of a '70s period piece. And as good as Hauer is, his character is a little too incredible to believe as he pulls off massive acts of terror with little or no sponsorship; what should take a team of experts is accomplished by one man wanted by countless law enforcement agencies.

In the end, NIGHTHAWKS is a movie you're bound to like -- either a little bit or a lot. Considering the high ratio of garbage that has and will continue to spew out of Hollywood, I guess that's not such a bad thing.

Thrills , tension , intrigue with tough Stallone against nasty Hauer in a film narrated with great agility and fast movement

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 9 October 2014]

Exciting picture with plenty of action about two-fisted police detectives hunting a brutal , ruthless terrorist . The meaning and relevance of the title is that 'Nighthawks' refer to the men and women street cops of the New York City Crime Unit who patrol the city at night-time . Intriguing story of two N.Y.C. (Sylvester Stallone sports a beard throughout the whole of this picture and African-American Billy Dee Williams) street cops reassigned to chase Wulfgar (Dutchman Rutger Hauer's first American feature film) , an international terrorist holds the City of New York hostage, but Deke DaSilva (Stallone did all his stunts on this movie) , the most dangerous cop known to man, can take him down . But DaSilva's "at-home" tactics are very much put to the challenge , as he is assigned to special unit led by the British Peter Hartman (Nigel Davenport) that's tracking a psychopath as well as wily killer .

The film is combined of unstopped action ,shootouts , violence , fighting , adequate characterization and breathtakingly suspenseful denouement .It's a run-of-the-mill action movie because from start with its explosive first scene to finish the action packed is continued ,in fact ,the final confrontation is impressive and extremely violent , including plot twists . Prior to it's theatrical release, Nighthawks was severely cut for violence by both Universal studio and MPAA. Amongst the scenes that were cut are disco shootout which originally had Wufgar shooting and killing more people, and Wufgar's death scene in the ending which was almost completely cut out . Amongst the scenes which were deleted from original cut of the movie are almost all scenes between Sylvester Stallone and Lindsey Wagner, Rutger Hauer and Persis Khambatta, more scenes explaining the plot better, and many other scenes because Universal wanted fast paced action movie . They also cut most of the graphic and gory scenes due to the concern that movie will get X rating . In preparation for their roles as New York street cops, actors Billy Dee Williams and Sylvester Stallone spent a number of weeks working at night with the New York Street Crime Unit . Nice acting by Sylvester Stallone as conservative street cop DaSilva reluctantly agrees to terminate an international terrorist who has demanded media attention , but is Rutger Hauer who steals the show as a cruel terrorist . The film is from Sylvester's first period after his secondary interpretations in Mandingo , Bananas , Farewell my lovely , Capone, Death race 2000 , and during his successful Rocky I , II , Paradise alley and Fist acting.

This supercharged action motion picture was well directed by Bruce Malmuth , including hair-raising moments along the way . When the original director, Gary Nelson, left the project, Bruce Malmuth took over production. When he couldn't make it on his first day to shoot the train chase, Sylvester Stallone directed the chase himself to not miss a day of shooting. Malmuth made his film directorial debut with Sylvester Stallone in this classic thriller Nighthawks (1981), followed by Mary Higgins Clark's best seller, Where Are the Children? (1986) with Jill Clayburgh, and the popular action film dealing with political corruption, Hard to kill (1990) with Steven Seagal and Pentathlon (1994) with Dolph Lundgren, as well a number of other feature films and documentaries until his early death.

The Stallone Connection

[TheFearmakers · 7/10 · 14 January 2023]

In any crime flick, the villain moves into the hero's territory, like, say, in the case of THE FRENCH CONNECTION, which NIGHTHAWKS was originally intended to be the third entry of... and Rutger Hauer as a European terrorist does wind up in New York, with a new face and bright blue eyes (he was supposedly surgically-altered to look like what he already looks like)...

But the way things turn out, it feels like buddy cop partners Sylvester Stallone (sporting an Al Pacino SERPICO beard) and Billy Dee Williams are actually guest-stars in Rutger Hauer's movie...

Especially since the film was ultimately cut to 95-minutes, and by the time narc "decoys" Stallone and Williams are called in for anti-terrorist duty, we know more about Hauer's ruthless, cold-blooded villainy) from eerily comforting a sweet Catherine Mary Stewart in a London clothes shop before blowing up the place, to killing off the surgeon and a night-clubbing stewardess) than what makes our hard-edge cops really tick...

They're already bored and whispering quips in the usual grimy precinct meeting room where imported anti-terror British chief Nigel Davenport (basically taking over for barking NY captain Joe Spinell) lectures how to hunt down Hauer's Wolfgar... meanwhile the longtime partners act like they're in a sequel after a proper introduction...

Stallone's incessant reluctance to shoot his gun makes no sense other than forecasting a predictable turnout, and his fledgling marriage to Lindsay Wagner only pays off at the climax...

Which occurs after Stallone's vain attempts to stop Hauer, following an intense yet overlong hostage sequence in a tramcar: with an antagonist so horrendous he deserves a thousand painful deaths to a relatively quick one...

So for action movie fans, NIGHTHAWKS is deeper and more interesting than most: however for those into fleshed-out thrillers, there's simply too much missing beyond the chase sequences that... with the backing of a dark-synth Keith Emeron score... entertains decently-enough, but only on a surface level.

Timely Terrorist Movie

[Schlockmeister · 29 May 2001]

It was 1981 and the world had just gone through a decade of terrorism. Casting Rutger Hauer and Persis Khambatta (she was the bald woman in the original Star Trek movie) as heartlessly cold terrorists was great casting! Billy Dee Williams and Stallone as street cops suddenly transferred to a terrorist unit do a good job. Stallone had not become a parody of himself yet and his diction is better here than it had ever been up to then. The movie's pace is unrelenting. This is a movie that I almost always have to stop and watch, easily getting swiped up into the story again and again, when I see it on television. Excellent twist ending and monorail scene. Recommended highly.

There is no security....

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 31 March 2010]

Wulfgar a terrorist, who has been plaguing Europe, is now in the U.S.

A British counter terrorism expert arrives in New York to help and he chooses Detectives from the NYPD to train on how to deal with Wulfgar.

Among the ones he chooses is Deke De Silva, a veteran cop, who doesn't he think he is suited for the job. But tries to do the best he can. Eventually he comes face to face with Wulfgar and hesitates shooting him despite being told that he should shoot him if he has the chance, which not only allows him to escape but to injure his partner.

Wulfgar now has his sights set on him as well as his other targets.

DeSilva can now only wait for Wulfgar to make his next move...

Nighthawks, or the film that Stallone went all a bit Bee Gee, is an absolutely hilarious film to watch, thanks to lack of narrative, gaping plot-holes, and one of the funniest introductions to a hero ever.

But thanks to Hauer and Stallone, it's actually very watchable and very action packed indeed. It's a wonder why it's been overlooked in recent years, because it's a lot better than some of the films Stallone has made.

There are some silly bits in it though, Hauer having a 'transformation' at the beginning, to look more like Rutger Hauer, Stallone overacting on several occasions with a funky beard and even funkier glasses, but the director knows how to handle the action well, despite it being very formulaic, and having a Brian De Palma ending.

A little gem of a film well worth watching.

Plus it's the best film with Stallone dressed as a woman at the beginning and the end, ever.

"I do not enjoy killing...But it's my JOB !"

[j_graves68 · 7/10 · 19 September 2005]

One of the most underrated movies of the eighties. I couldn't figure out why this was so dissed by the critics and the public in the early eighties. Was it because people were not ready to embrace the thought of international terrorism in their front yard? I think so.

This is one of Sylvester Stallone's forgotten movies where he reminds you of Al Pacino as Serpico at times with his benevolent nature and the facial hair. He doesn't slur his monosyllabic sentences, or act as if he has lost more IQ points. Until this film came out, I didn't think there was much more to Stallone. Sadly, I was too young to see this all by myself in the theatres and saw it a year later on cable. And when I saw Rutger Hauer, I was amazed at how creepy the man was! He was born for the role, but unfortunately, Hauer doesn't seem to play good guys as well. Whenever I see him, this is the first film I think of. "Blade Runner"'s the second. Billy Dee Williams's character was bland that I didn't find myself rooting for nor hating him. Lindsay Wagner is expendable and I wish the late Persis Khambatta was able to stretch her role a little more. She was Hauer's perfect, plausible counterpart (and spoke some wicked French and German). Nigel Davenport is the typical foreign expert on the subject that gives the film an interesting transatlantic angle.

I found myself bored by the end of the first forty-five minutes, until the montage of Stallone and Williams looking for clues to the dead flight attendant at the various discoteques. And then when this movie came on TV, they changed the two songs in the disco: "Brown Sugar" from the Stones and "I'm a Man" from Keith Emerson to seventies stock tunes. Must of been a lawsuit pending. Suffice the music, there is a brutal, ten-minute-long chase through subway tunnels, a station, and then on the train itself. Afterwards, there's some downtime, but Wulfgar (Hauer) is at the point of no return now that the po-po has a physical description of him. So much for the plastic surgery. You can now sense the desperation he has, and he already knows he's not going to get a happy ending so that's why he decides to air-out Stallone's ex-wife (played by Wagner in two or three brief snippets). So you know that he's gonna lose, it's just HOW he is going to lose makes you watch the rest of it. You can also see that Stallone's character struggles with himself on how he'd rather bring Wulfgar in than kill the terrorist (he's got those law-enforcing ideology and beliefs going on overtime).

But the problem about this film is that it is so dated and by-the-numbers judging from today's standards, that it's almost a flat-out documentary. The formula is typical seventies where the exposition is gradually set up until the middle of the film- and by then the viewer is bored- but the action and suspense takes place throughout the rest (you'll notice from the "Dirty Harry", "Rocky", and "Star Wars" movies, the later "Indiana Jones" flicks, along with "Serpico", "The French Connection", etc). However, "Nighthawks" was clearly ahead of its time, and I could see a remake or something like this being done down the road from now. See, NOW it might sell because we've seen it in our own front yard. Get Vin Diesel to play Stallone's role; Tyrese Gibson to play Billy Dee Williams; Lindsay Wagner's character's axed; Cillian Murphy will be Rutger Hauer; Clive Owen can play Nigel Davenport's role; Milla Jovovich can be Shakka, and Michael Clarke Duncan will play their Lieutenant.

But leave in the "I do not enjoy killing, but it's my job"-line.

Still good for its time !

Promising beginning and a good ending but a weak, underdeveloped middle part.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 6/10 · 16 July 2006]

The movie starts well and promising. Initionally the movie seems like a cool, simple, typical '80's action flick, with some well known actors in it. However as the movie progresses the pace is gone and the movie gets filled with underdeveloped plot lines and characters. Luckily the movie re-finds its pace toward the ending, which helps to make this movie still a watchable and good one, for the genre-fans.

I think that the main problem with this movie is that its too short. Because of this nothing in the movie really fully gets developed, such as Sylvester Stallone's character's relationship with his ex-wife or who exactly was Peter Hartman, who seemed like a good and interesting enough character but unfortunately was highly underused and developed in the movie. He walked around without a real purpose despite the fact that he could had been a so much more relevant and interesting character for the movie and its story. Also they could had made the whole hunt of DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) on Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer) so much more exciting, tense and spectacular. An hunter who hunts a hunter. Instead now their hate toward each other feels unfounded and perhaps even silly and unlikely at certain moments.

Yet the tree main characters of the movie are still quite good. The two cops played by Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams form a nice and credible duo and Rutger Hauer perfectly plays a villainous cold-hearted terrorist. Hollywood needs more villain actors like him, it would make so many movies so much better. Its definitely true that the presence of this tree fine actors uplift the movie and help to make this a still slightly above average one.

The whole plot line of a ruthless, professional terrorist causing mayhem in New York is quite original (at least for its period) and works refreshing and help to make this movie quite an original action-flick, although his motivations still remain a bit in the dark and shaky to find it all credible enough.

But of course the movie works well enough as mindless entertainment, though it perhaps could had used some more and bigger action sequences.

The movie has '80's written all over it. Movies from the '80's don't have the greatest visual style and also mostly always have some horrible '80's music. This movie is unfortunately no exception on this all.

All in all its not a bad action flick and it will most likely please the genre-fans, also thanks to the presence of '80's action icon Sylverst Stallone and villain expert actor Rutger Hauer.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

A self appointed liberator

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 27 January 2017]

Nighthawks finds both Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams cast as a pair of undercover street cops who are picked for an anti- terrorism task force much against their will. It's a task force put together by Interpol and it's target is Rutger Hauer an international terrorist who has found Europe to hot for him and has fled to America with his associate Persis Khambatta.

Hauer is really something to see, a stone cold killer who disguises his taste for sick violence by making himself an appointed liberator of the downtrodden people. The film actually opens with him bombing an English department store saying he was protesting British colonialism. By 1981 the British had divested themselves pretty much of their colonies, but Hauer needed an excuse.

The finale takes place as Hauer and Khambatta take hostages aboard a Roosevelt Island shuttle tram car. It's nicely staged and the climax worth it. Some of Stallone's undercover skills are employed.

Nighhawks is a good action thriller, Stallone fans will be pleased.

Hauer steals the show

[getmynannerup · 8/10 · 22 August 2004]

Remember a day when Rutger Hauer starred in good movies that actually saw wide theatrical release? No. Hmmmm. Hauer is one of my favorite actors and stars in two of my top ten favorite movies (Blade Runner and The Osterman Weekend), so it's hard not to already be slightly biased about the movie. I remember first hearing about Nighthawks on the Headliners and Legends biography of Stallone and how it was not as well received as his Rocky and First Blood movies. For shame, because Nighthawks does manage to be a top notch thriller most of the time. I could go into the plot, but I believe in telling people what I liked and disliked instead of parroting the plot details like almost every other review. (See, a movie to me is more fun when I only know a little about the story, instead of the first hour or so, because someone felt that they had to readers digest the entire film.)

Anyway, now that I've ranted, I have to admit that I enjoyed it for the most part, with the exception of the initial pacing. It continues to drag in places towards the middle, and takes a little over an hour to set up the crucial players backgrounds. The only real problem is that every time the film stops to focus on DeSilva (Stallone) and Fox (Williams), it spends twice as much time focusing on Wulfgar. Wulfgar is certainly a well crafted maniac, but when the movie is over we know almost nothing about Fox and only a little about Dee DeSilva. Still, the movie does succeed in making you care about our two main characters, by thrusting them into danger and having them do what is morally right (i.e. Towards the beginning of the film the two are in a drug raid, and refuse to take bribes from the perps who had apparently already paid off the cops from the first raid on their operation.

They're good cops, and it's their good guy image that endears them). I guess it would have been nice also to see a little more of Stallones relation to what's her name. (sorry, I haven't seen this in a about a month now.) I was interested in the prospect of a hero who was torn between the relation with his ex (who he was trying to re-ignite the flame with), and his duty. But, alas, she was just a narrative device who the writers have decided is only important in the last 15 minutes or so.

With all these cons, why did I still like it? Sudden scenes of high impact, good cast and acting all around, a villain who wasn't just a cardboard cutout, and Stallone's bitchin' beard, and a wholly convincing scenario.

The bottom line: This film is more akin to The French Connection than it is to Rocky. Methodical and often stylish, NightHawks deserves to at least be rented and watched with an open mind.

8 Stars out of 10

One of Stallone's very few good movies

[ksagendo-1 · 7/10 · 23 March 2005]

I first saw this when it first came out on video and liked it a lot. Stallone played his part well, Billy Dee Williams was good as his partner, and of course Rutger Hauer was great as the ultimate bad guy. With the movie made long before 9/11 it definitely had scary visions of New York under attack.

Who had it figured that Stallone was dressed as his wife at the end? At first I really didn't think it was him, then again I was much younger when I first saw it.

This has been mentioned as a "French Connection" of the 80's and I agree with that. A very underrated movie in my opinion, they certainly don't make them like that anymore. Too bad Stallone made one bomb after another following this.

A thriller that doesn't evoke enough thrills

[breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com · 5/10 · 9 May 2012]

Thrillers are a genre that is supposed to get the viewer's blood pumping harder than usual. They're not always as gruesome as the horror genre movies but the point is to create high tension. Unfortunately I barely felt any tension between scenes in this film. And that's only one part that could have been improved.

To start off, Sylvester Stallone plays Deke DaSilva, a discharged soldier of the U.S. army who now is a cop in New York City. DaSilva cares about the safety of the innocent, yet he's too weak to pull a trigger on a villain. Why? He's nervous that he'll cause collateral damage. Well DaSilva, since you were apart of the army at one point, you should know then, that friendly fire isn't uncommon. Partnered up with Stallone is Billy Dee Williams or as everyone else knows him as, Lando Calrissian, plays a character called Matthew Fox. Both actors play their parts but I don't see any personal connection to them. Are they old pals? Or do they just work together really well?

As for the antagonist of the plot, making a thriller requires one who has no conscious, and Rutger Hauer shows that perfectly. Hauer plays an international terrorist named Wulfgar and once the viewer sees how he acts, they will understand how he has no remorse. Wulfgar is a real jerk and he will make the audience hope that he dies a painful death. Thankfully, he does but I won't say how...obviously.

The execution of the story, I wasn't pleased with. I know it can take time to build tension but look at The Mean Season (1985), no more than twenty minutes into the film, tensions begin to rise. It took almost half the film before Fox and DaSilva FINALLY run into Wulfgar. What's happening before this? Wulfgar is bombing other places in Europe, while DaSilva and Fox are busy learning in a class that teaches them how to fight terrorists. Seriously, how much slower could this thriller go? Maybe if Wulgar somehow slipped into the police station and started making a ruckus, then that would create some nice tension. But director Bruce Malmuth felt that featuring what's happening on two opposite ends of the world can create tension. How does that make any sense?

When the movie approaches its second half, the audience will finally get to see SOME interesting scenes. Some parts, I'll admit, I've never seen happen in other films before but there weren't too many. For example, at one point, there was a long chase scene and it seemed to go on forever. The last thing I really could not grasp was the background music. Keith Emerson provides the music to this film and it lacks a lot of importance. It sounded more like it belonged to action scenes from the Television series of The A-Team. Music is supposed to help create feelings and I didn't feel anything.

Paul Sylbert's story doesn't seem to make an effective transition onto the big screen. A callous music record, and slow moving scenes can make this thriller not very thrilling at all.

One of the most underrated films...

[simba-18 · 9/10 · 19 May 2000]

This is one of the best action movies out there, even to this day. It's a must see especially for Stallone fans. If he chose more of this type of movie, he would be much more respected in Hollywood. Rutger Hauer is awesome as Wulfgar, the international terrorist. All performances are notable, Billy Dee Williams/Sylvester Stallone pairing works well. Stallone really is a great actor, given the right material, and this one certainly provides it. It's a shame he sold out with the "Rocky" sequels.

Nighthawkes😳

[bigdeb48-77-274140 · 6/10 · 4 February 2020]

Never saw this before, never heard of it either, and today I am watching it. Its all kinds of cheesy 70-80's type cheesy ( with the fabulous rolling stones background music) but I definitely liked this throw back Tuesday movie ☺

Average, but good for one evening

[Enchorde · 5/10 · 10 May 2008]

Recap: Wulfgar, an international terrorist, falls out of favor with his current employers i Europe and heads to New York to rebuild his infamousness. But there DaSilva and Fox , two polices who work undercover with the NYPD, join a new anti-terror unit. Soon it all turn to a vendetta between Wulfgar and DaSilva with everyone else in between.

Comments: Rutger Hauer and Lando Calrissian (sorry, Billy Dee Williams) in the same movie. With Sylvester Stallone. Come on, this can't be bad. And it ain't. Neither is it especially good. All in all it is an average actionthriller that entertains one time but will never appear on my "to but"-list. There are some good action and some suspense, but it has only standard moves, twists and turns. All properly foreshadowed earlier in the movie. You never need to feel surprise or not know what is about to happen. And that is why it is only average in total.

However, it is rather fun to see Hauer, Stallone and Williams yet again.

5/10

Genuinely worthwhile thriller benefits from strong character development and great acting.

[ChoiBaby · 16 May 1999]

Two dedicated albeit crackerjack cops (Sylvester "Sly" Stallone and Billy Dee Williams) are on a new case: They must apprehend a slick, nefarious international terrorist and not to mention notorious criminal mastermind, Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer). Wulfgar's schemes thrive on the destruction of World Order and democracy. The two detectives, whose beat have always been the petty criminals of the street, have at first expressed animadversion when they are forced to nail the wily villain, Wulfgar. They have never encountered such an eluding antagonist before. No longer can the cops use conventional tactics, but they must resort to new, fresh methods...

For Wulfgar dissembles his identity with several incognitos, thus making him a tougher target to capture.

NIGHTHAWKS is a well-mounted, well-paced thriller that puts the accent on suspense (with some bloodshed of course). NIGHTHAWKS is a neat powerhouse! The movie contains riveting chases, a spectacle for a final confrontation, and an aggressively structured formula throughout the entire film. There are lots of opportunities for combustible moments in this film as well.

What makes NIGHTHAWKS standout even greater and better than the ordinary action flick is its emphasis on characterization and morals. NIGHTHAWKS does a terrific interpretation of how fascinating and surreptitious the terrorist bad guy is compared to a troublesome criminal. Whereas the latter simply relies on survival and desperation in the derelict streets, the former is a very intelligent person with a respectively high I.Q. and an organized purpose. His mission is clear: to fight the oppressors who have destroyed his native land and people. The terrorist covers his tracks well and moves from location and location, making his presence less conspicuous. As for the heroic cops, Deke DaSilva (Stallone) manages to preserve ethics first when making a judgment before decisive action. He knows when to call out the shot. DaSilva refuses to jeopardize innocent lives just for the sake of shooting down the villain, and in most cases, he has earned a level of propriety. DaSilva's testament to moral values is also well demonstrated in NIGHTHAWKS.

Rutger Hauer gave a genuinely eerie and chilling performance as he portrays a very psychotic but also very convincing villain with a substantially bad attitude. Overall, NIGHTHAWKS is a high caliber action film. This "above and beyond the call of duty" type quality of motion picture is a consistently thorough and memorable film. This ranks among the finest cop dramas ever composed and for over a decade, this film's reputation and aura have managed to stand the test of time. NIGHTHAWKS is a recommended hit.

RATING: *** out of ****.

Solid thriller that could have been better

[Maziun · 7/10 · 9 September 2012]

The biggest problem I have with "Nighthawks" it's the fact that it doesn't feel at all like a movie from the 80's. It looks like it have come straight from the 70's. The hairstyles , the music , the clothes... Even Stallone reminds me of Al Pacino's Serpico. Don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against the 70's . I just miss the taste of 80's movie here. When I'm watching a movie from the 80's , I simply wanna feel the 80's style . Oh well.

"Nighthawks" is kinda forgotten movie in Stallone's career. Unrightfully. It's a solid thriller and it's a shame that Stallone didn't attempt to make more movies like this in the 80's. I've enjoyed "Rambo" and "Rocky" sequels , but I think he should try his luck in thrillers too.

The screenplay is good , but for a large part of the movie doesn't know what to do with DaSilva (Stallone). So , while the villain (Rutger Hauer is good as always in this type of role) is making next moves , the hero is sitting and learning about his modus operandi. Stallone is frustrated and so is the audience. I know this is important aspect of the story , but it could have been done much better.

Thankfully , after the training part is done the movie starts to be really interesting. The chase scene is wonderful. The tension between Hauer and Stallone is good and the final of the movie is quite memorable. Billy Dee Williams (Empire strikes back) is OK as Stallone's friend.

Director of this movie Bruce Malmuth had pleasure to work with 3 action stars : Sylvester Stallone , Steven Seagal ("Hard to kill") and Dolph Lundgren ("Pentathlon"). This is definitely his best movie.

One year later after this movie was done Rutger Hauer gave his iconic performance in "Blade Runner" . Stallone became Rambo and made third Rocky movie . Billy Dee Williams in 1983 defeated the Empire in "Return of the Jedi". It's not the best movie in career for any of them , but certainly worth watching . I give it 7/10.

Reasonable fare

[kilmeedyman · 6/10 · 5 January 2004]

A reasonable, if uncomplicated, story. Stallone delivers his lines with his usual monotone aplomb! Well directed and some interesting camerawork and effects.

My main gripe... Where on earth did the score come from? That has to be the most annoyingly innapropriate background music ever used in a film.

Good entertainment, if a little predictable.

Exciting Terrorist Thriller.

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 24 September 2013]

Sylvester Stallone plays Deke Dasilva, a New York City undercover cop who, along with his partner(played by Billy Dee Williams) are recruited to join an anti-terrorist squad(led by Nigel Davenport) to take down a ruthless and media savvy terrorist known as Wolfgar, who has already struck in New York, and threatens to do so again. The two policemen become determined to track him(and his agents) down, especially after Deke's partner is injured.

Exciting early '80's action film is quite well written, directed, and acted, and has subject matter that would resonate in a whole new way 20 years later... Only negative is the anticlimactic ending, which is most unusual, but doesn't ruin this otherwise fine thriller.

An underrated gritty thriller which pits Sylvester Stallone and Rutger Hauer against each other.

[Cinemaniac1984 · 7/10 · 19 November 2016]

Nighthawks was a gritty, violent, down and dirty thriller which brought out the best in Sylvester Stallone and Rutger Hauer as the two charismatic leads. Underrated on release, it's still well worth the time.

Detective Sergeant Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Detective Sergeant Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams) are part of NYPD's undercover Street Crime Unit. Their boss Lieutenant Munafo (Joe Spinell) later notifies them that DaSilva and Fox have been handpicked to join the newly-formed ATAC (Anti Terrorist Action Command) squad spearheaded by INTERPOL British Counter-terrorist specialist Peter Hartman (Nigel Davenport). Their primary task is to take down international terrorist Heymar Reinhardt, also known as Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer) who after bombing a department store in London, has managed to slip through the fingers of authorities and has made his way to New York City. Teaming up with a mysterious woman named Shakka (Persis Khambatta), Wulfgar continues his campaign of terror and vows to bring New York City to its knees and it's up to DaSilva and Fox to take him down.

Sylvester Stallone's career continued to climb following the success of the Academy Award winning Rocky (1976) and it's sequel Rocky II (1979). In Nightwawks, Stallone is excellent as Deke DaSilva who doesn't rely on brawn to get him by but also his brains. Stallone's character shows more of a sensitive side where he is less ruthless and trigger happy compared to many of his previous characters where he has played a policeman in movies such as Cobra (1986) and Tango & Cash (1989). Following a bloody confrontation, DaSilva rethinks his tactics and vows to match Wulfgar on even ground. Billy Dee Williams who is well known for his role as Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), is perfectly paired up with Stallone as DaSilva's partner Fox who have been tasked to take down Wulfgar. Dutch actor Rutger Hauer made audiences sit up and take notice by putting in a chilling performance as international terrorist Wulfgar in his U.S. debut where he establishes himself as an actor well known for playing villains in such classics as Blade Runner (1982) and The Hitcher (1986). Director Bruce Malmuth makes his directorial debut with Nighthawks and here he has done a fine job bringing this gritty film to life on screen.

It's hard to believe that today the fear of terrorism is widespread given that the events of September 11 2001 changed the world forever. Nighthawks was certainly ahead of its time.

Though not a box office smash in 1981, it still netted positive reviews and acclaim, with Stallone earning his share of the praise but the standout was Rutger Hauer. Despite how dated it is, Nighthawks is still good viewing.

7/10.

Excellent Trio Make This A Top-Notch Thriller

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 3 April 2006]

This Sylvester Stallone movie may be his best because, unlike most of his more famous roles over the years, this is very believable. He isn't Rambo or Rocky...just a tough New York City cop.

Stallone and partner Billy Dee Williams team up in an attempt to stop a terrifying international terrorist (Rutger Hauer) before he kills more people. All three of those actors are riveting in this rough, gritty film.

I thought so much of this movie that I bought it twice. The first DVD that came out was fullscreen, no stereo and grainy. Later, they issued a better widescreen print and it was worth upgrading. The movie is a top-notch thriller start-to-finish and Hauer makes an outstanding villain.

It might be a cliché but this film always "kept m on the edge of my seat. "

A formula thriller, though one with a tough attitude and gritty style

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 18 November 2017]

New York City detectives Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams track down terrorist Rutger Hauer, who has come to the States from Paris after bombing a London department store. Grim, chilling urban thriller with a tight pace from director Bruce Malmuth (an eleventh-hour substitute after Disney-vet Gary Nelson was let go). The script by David Shaber actually began its life as the third "French Connection" film, but was rewritten after Gene Hackman took a pass. Stallone gives a solid performance, arguably his finest screen work away from the boxing ring. The violent scenario spares us none of the horrors of crime in the big city, yet the final 'surprise' scare is right off the Hollywood assembly line (maybe it seemed more fresh in 1981 than it does today). Lindsay Wagner is lovely yet stuck in the proverbial (and thankless) ex-wife role. Otherwise, it's a tense genre effort, one that was surprisingly underrated by critics and overlooked by moviegoers at the time of its release. **1/2 from ****

The Off Switch Was Never So On

[bob_bear · 1/10 · 29 September 2005]

The film opened with quite possibly the worst theme music I have ever heard. If a tone deaf cat could play the fiddle it would still have come up with something better. The film titles sequence looks like it was written on cardboard. And then the film itself - how 80s can you get? Talk about dated. Looked like cheap porno filmed on Super 8!

Still, Sly looks cute with his beard and Lindsay Wagner is in it so I give it a chance. That chance was up about ten minutes into the film with the drugs bust. Cartoon characters in a loft. Motherf dialogue. And Sly's accomplice in fear of losing it. Yawn! The off switch was never so on.

Surprisingly interesting...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 20 June 2004]

Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer) is an international terrorist not to be taken lightly… He is wanted by half the countries in Europe… He is currently financed by no one... He becomes trapped as 'Persona Non Grata'…

Wulfgar manages to succeed where others have failed… His pattern is the instilling of fear… He makes female contacts to establish safe housing for his armory… He always covers a woman who is clean... He loses one, he finds another... He has a liking for fancy food, expensive clothes and the most varied nightlife…

Wulfgar doesn't think like a criminal… He wants to be a hero… Since the London incidents, he wants to prove himself as invincible as he ever was… So he decides to change his look, and strikes without warning... Wulfgar's associate is Shakka Holland (Persis Khambatta), a pretty cool woman, with no maternal instincts, who murders without apparent provocation…

DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) wants to treat Wulfgar like 'some mugger' on the streets… He makes a mistake when he finds himself unexpectedly facing the malevolent killer... He refuses to act in the same ruthlessness Wulfgar does, and to use deadly force in defense of the lives of innocent hostages… He hesitates to shoot and kill… DaSilva rejected to pay attention to the impact of the terrorist's actions on his thinking and beliefs… This mistake enables the best policeman to meet the dangerous terrorist on equal terms…

'Nighthawks' turns out to be surprisingly interesting… Rutger Hauer easily holds our attention throughout the film… He is a disciplined terrorist indifferent to his victims, cold and calculating… His mission to harm the enemy transcends any concern about his victims… For Wulfgar, the end justifies the means...

Stallone and Billy Dee Williams make good partners… Stallone doesn't play his usual character, the ruthless policeman who combats violence with greater violence… He seems to be more human desperately trying to do the right thing at the right time

"The only difference between him and us will be the badge."

[The_Movie_Cat · 6/10 · 21 January 2001]

I always make a point of watching a Sylvester Stallone movie whenever they're on television, though as I'd never heard anything about Nighthawks I didn't have high hopes.

I found myself reasonably surprised with a decently constructed film that is low-key and initially urban. That said, the year - 1981 - is a give-away that this is a Stallone movie before he went mainstream. One of the first five movies he did after Rocky, just contrast his minimal, taciturn performance here as DaSilva with the all-action, all wise cracking cop five years later in Cobra.

That's not to say Nighthawks is an art movie, but it is strikingly directed, particularly the scenes set in the Bronx. The actual content falls clearly short of the visuals, though it still hangs together reasonably well. Surprisingly director Bruce Malmuth has only helmed six films, though as one of those is called Fore Play and another stars Steven Seagull then it's perhaps not worth dwelling on. That said, his clever usage of low-key angles and long shots is what transforms a slightly below average movie into something worthwhile.

Characterisation is both underdeveloped and stereotyped, from Rutger Hauer's cultured terrorist, to Stallone's embittered cop separated from his wife. Lando Calrissian seems oddly uncomfortable with his character, particularly in a scene where he threatens to shoot a drug dealer, and there's no real rapport between him and Stallone. But then this adds to the attempted realism, with a bearded, bespectacled Sylvester blending in to what is initially an understated film.

Unfortunately, around the halfway point things go awry. A film that had taken in location filming in Paris and London, as well as subtitles and a surveillance search for a terrorist suddenly becomes a run-of-the-mill sub-actioner with helicopters and gun battles. What began as a relatively gritty cop drama collapses into far-fetched terrorism, gunfire and transvestism. It's not bad, and worth a glance, but it all could have been so much better...

Nothing To Get Excited About

[zkonedog · 2/10 · 11 March 2017]

After the first couple of "Rocky" films, Sylvester Stallone tried to branch out a bit with films like this one, where he plays a character (both physically and dramatically) that couldn't be more different from the inspired pugilist. Now we know why Rocky continued for four more installments.

For a basic plot summary, "Nighthawks" tells the story of two cops (played by Stallone & Billy Dee Williams) trying to apprehend the international terrorist Wolfgar (Rutger Hauer) on the streets of New York.

Basically, there really isn't anything in this movie to get excited about whatsoever. The acting is sub-par, as Stallone's character is one-dimensional, which unfortunately is one more dimension than the one played by Williams. Wulfgar is no one to fear, and the viewer is never pulled into the "good guy, bad guy" drama.

The plot staggers along at a glacial pace, with only an interesting beginning and ending scene to provide any "wow" moments at all. Other than that, it is roughly 90 minutes of boredom set in the early 1980s.

I usually like to dissect the films I review here a bit more than this, but with "Nighthawks" there really just isn't anything to dissect. Stallone tried to distance himself from Rocky, and (at least in this case) failed miserably. That is all you need to know.