Deke DaSilva and Matthew Fox are a pair of cops who walk the mean streets of New York as part of a decoy operation until they find themselves seconded to a new anti-terror unit that is looking for international terrorist Heymar 'Wulfgar' Reinhardt who is believed to be in the city after an atrocity in London left him hunted by his former backers, who think he went too far and damaged their cause, as well as law enforcement agencies who want him for a string of attacks across Europe. It isn't long before he strikes in New York and DaSilva and Fox are soon on his tail. Their first encounter ends with Wulfgar escaping and Fox injured. It is believed that Wulfgar is planning to attack delegates at the United Nation and sure enough he takes several of them hostage; it will be up to DaSilva to end Wulfgar's reign of terror.This is a rather underrated Sylvester Stallone thriller that seems even more relevant than when it was first released thanks, unfortunately, to the rise in the fear of terrorism. The film has a gritty look that immediately made me think of the 'Dirty Harry' films. Stallone is on good form as DaSilva; this is a believable character rather the over-the-top characters he played in many of his films… the opening scene where he arrests a street criminal while wearing a dress is priceless. Billy Dee Williams is solid as Fox and Rutger Hauer impresses as Wulfgar. Wulfgar is a genuinely unpleasant villain who kills without remorse. There are plenty of tense moments, including a chase on the New York Subway, explosions and several shootings. Overall I'd definitely recommend this less well known Stallone film to fans of the genre.

When I was 17 years old, my girlfriend and I went to the movies and saw an unheralded cop drama called "Nighthawks." Like all boys of my generation, Sly Stallone, as much as I would goof on him, was an undeniable hero, due to the enormous impact of "Rocky" in 1976 and "Rocky II" a couple of years later. We allowed Sly his flops ("F.I.S.T." and "Paradise Alley") after the first Rocky, and this was bound to be his post "Rocky II" schlock. But I'll be damned if Maria and I didn't absolutely love this movie. What wasn't to love, after all? You had young, sexy Rutger Hauer playing international terrorist and man-about-town Heymar "Wulfgar" Reinhardt, and young, sexy Persis Khambatta as his evil minion, Shaka Holland. You had a bearded Stallone as misunderstood Vietnam vet with "57 registered kills"-turned-misunderstood New York undercover cop specializing in "decoy" detail, Deke DaSilva. You had the Bionic F-ing Woman, Lindsay Wagner, for God's sake! And, oh yeah, Billy. Dee. Williams.We ate it up. We wrote each other love notes in high school and signed them "Love, Wulfgar," and "Love, Shaka." This was our flick.Normally, my 5 a.m. routine is to wake up, let the dogs out, put some coffee on the stove and turn on the local news, toggling back and forth to Sportscenter. As it would happen, I woke up this morning and turned on the set, and there, of all things, was "Nighthawks." The wife and kids were sleeping in late, and getting them up wasn't a priority. So, I watched. Rutger Hauer is still riveting. I realize, now, that he is really what gives "Nighthawks" the energy it has. The scenes without Hauer feel like an airless room. The script is "flawed," to put it kindly. The great international terrorist makes mistake after mistake, and is far too easily located by Deke. And the image of Stallone taking off the Lindsay Wagner wig at the end, is just too funny. Now. Back then it was nothing short of awe-inspiring. I'm not calling for a sequel, or wanting to start a fan club. The world has changed since 1981. Terrorism is not something to be romanticized as it sort of was back then. Images of buildings exploding on Wall Street and Picadilly bring very real reminders of loss and pain. At the end of the day, as they say, "Nighthawks" is, quite simply, a good old-fashioned "B Movie." But it was a lot of fun watching it this morning, thinking back on a youth that was better than I deserved, and giggling ever so slightly at the guilty pleasure of a crappy movie I once loved.

(Originally reviewed: 11/04/2017) Stallone is no stranger to being involved with bad movies, and Nighthawks is no exception that suffers hugely from a boring antagonist that has no personality and is practically a cliché, going through the motions without bringing anything inventive to the table. My main comparison would be this, take Dirty Harry for example, a classic cop picture with a great protagonist and antagonist, the villain there was original, impressive and very good, now take Rutger Hauer who plays the villain here, he's boring, routine and never shines, which is disappointing, much like the film but I'll get to that in a minute. Sylvester Stallone play's DaSilva, a devoted street cop with little to no background, and as for development, don't bother looking as all you'll know is that he doesn't like killers, but then again, who does. Now Stallone is not very good here, merely passable, but I'm guessing this is due to the dreadful script which Is riddled with clichéd, dull dialogue and that has but one good particular scene where a cop is stabbed and he shouts at the top of his voice your f**king dead" and many more words along those lines in a menacing way towards the villain who is seen fleeing, now this was his one and only good scene because I could believe the anger in DaSilva's voice, and it's perhaps one of few moments that are decent. The story is uninspired even for one of the earlier 'routine cop picture's', two street cops played by Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are after an international terrorist who kills tons of innocent people, some people get shot to keep the audience awake and character development, depth and originality all take a detour into a black hole, that for me is pretty much Nighthawks, but then again I'm being to kind, this is trash, and a really underwhelming bore of a film. The performances are really forgettable, including Billy Dee Williams who play's Sergeant Fox, DaSilva's dedicated partner, who overacts and made me laugh at one point, and who disappears later on after getting injured, that's how careless the makers of this picture were. Other uninspired supporting performances include Lindsay Wagner who plays Irene, a thrown in love interest for Stallone character, now she has one or two scenes, and half way through DaSilva tells her the will go to dinner, she agrees, the story keeps running, and yet I never saw them speak again, maybe she evaporated, or perhaps the screenwriters couldn't be bothered to continue with that romance. Either way it sucked, quite possibly the worst written, dull romance ever seen within a cop film, and later on there is a real nerve, to use Irene's character as a plot device, which ended up so damn predictable, and yet the real Irene was seen walking along the street moments before, did they tell her not to go back to the apartment? No, screenwriter David Shaber just assumes the cops told her and that she is aware of DaSilva's plan, I'm guessing he felt it was unnecessary to provide explanations and coherence. Truth be told, this is a real jumble of sorts, where crappy writing and questionable plotting take centre stage. Another howler is the humour, if there was any, because I didn't laugh, including one pathetic scene where Stallone's character is insulted by his commanding officer who makes a joke about his previous divorce; DaSilva slowly leaves the room in silence, only later on they are like best buddies, telling each other "want to go for Chinese food later, sure, but you're paying", for which there was a joke that was pointless remembering. The film also drags, it's only an hour and a half, and it got even more tedious as it progressed, and despite some well shot cinematography, realistic nightclubs and decent costume designs, the film is still a mess. Bruce Malmuth's direction is unimpressive, and I can't even remember the soundtrack and the final hostage situation in a heightened passenger car is yet again forgettable and predictable. All in all the picture has a routine story that's told badly, and the ridiculous, uneven plotting, lack of depth and unconvincing performances only sink it even more, Nighthawks is dull, forgettable trash.

Top notch action thriller gives Sylvester Stallone one of his better roles, as Deke DaSilva, a tough street cop pulled off of "decoy" work, along with his partner Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams). His superiors reassign him to a special anti-terrorism unit that's on the trail of Heymar "Wulfgar" Reinhardt (Rutger Hauer, in a smashing American debut). Wulfgar is a ruthless terrorist-for-hire rendered persona non grata with revolutionary communities after some incidents in London. So he comes to NYC, and announces his presence in a big way, to ensure the terrorists of the world that he's still employable.This is a well directed, exciting movie that manages to grab you early on, and hardly ever lets up until a clever finish. It features some very tense sequences like the one on a tram suspended high above the East River, and benefits a lot from having such a creditable hero (Sly delivers an effectively low key performance) and loathsome yet charismatic villain. Praise is also due to the supporting cast: the likable Williams, the appealing (but under utilized) Lindsay Wagner, Persis Khambatta as our villains' deadly associate, Nigel Davenport as a smooth anti-terrorism expert, Hilary Thompson as unfortunate, ill fated stewardess Pam, and the great character actor Joe Spinell as Stallones' superior. Porn star Jamie Gillis plays a designer; Catherine Mary Stewart has a bit as a salesgirl.Further enlivened by Keith Emersons' dynamic music score (he also performs a funky cover of "I'm a Man" for the pivotal nightclub sequence), "Nighthawks" can also boast a solid climactic chase. It's extremely well shot on various locations in NYC, London, and Paris. It's violent but never overtly gory, and does have an appreciable sense of humor at times.The eyeglasses & beard look that Sly sports here is definitely unusual, but it works for him.Eight out of 10.