Deke DeSilva (Sylvester Stallone) is a Detective Sergeant for the New York Police Department. His partner is Detective Sergeant Matthew Fox (Billy Dee Williams). DeSilva and Fox are assigned to the decoy unit battling street crime and report to Lieutenant Munafo (Joe Spinell). DeSilva’s estranged wife, Irene (Lindsay Wagner), works at a department store. The two still love each other, but DeSilva’s work has caused a lot of strain in the marriage and the two are now apart.
Heymar “Wulfgar” Reinhardt (Rutger Hauer) is an assassin and terrorist for hire currently working in London, England. Wulfgar’s latest assignment is to bomb a department store. The bomb ends up being bigger than Wulfgar’s client anticipated so they decide he is too much of a danger to them. Wulfgar is set up by the terrorist organization but manages to kill his way out of the situation. He is then hunted by London’s Metropolitan Police Service (The Met). Wulfgar escapes to Paris where he meets up with an old accomplice, Shakka Holland (Persis Khambatta) who tells him that his is marked because some children were killed in the London bombing. Wulfgar undergoes some plastic surgery and moves to New York City to start anew.
In New York City a joint anti-terrorist squad, the Anti-Terrorist Action Command (A.T.A.C.), between NYC and London is set up to combat terrorism. DeSilva and Fox are transferred to the new squad under the leadership of Inspector Peter Hartman (Nigel Davenport), from the Met. Hartman’s job is to train the newly assembled squad in how to combat terrorism. Hartman is aware that Wulfgar is now in New York when he starts bombing various Wall Street locations and then calls the police to take credit. DeSilva and Fox learn Wulfgar’s routine and begin hunting him at nightclubs. DeSilva and Wulfgar come face to face at a club. Wulfgar manages to escape. The meeting brings DeSilva under Wulfgar’s radar and DeSilva becomes the mouse in the cat and mouse game between good and evil.
“Nighthawks” was released in 1981 and was directed by Bruce Malmuth. It is an American action crime thriller.
There were a lot of problems on set during the filming of the movie. Apparently, Stallone, having gotten a lot of attention for his hit “Rocky” 1976, became a bit of an insufferable ass. The film was reedited several times, most notably by Stallone himself, as well as there being a change in the film’s director. Still, it managed to do well at the box office.
The film is heavy on the action but a little short on character development. Lindsay Wagner has only one real scene in the film and little is known about the relationship between her and her Stallone’s character. The acting is good and everyone does a great job, especially Rutger Hauer, however, the motivation for him moving to New York isn’t all that clear. Sure, his former employers aren’t happy with him, but why is he blowing up stuff in New York for no reason?
Despite its flaws the film is still a fun watch. There are a lot of explosions and quite a few cool stunts and some interesting scenes, especially the Roosevelt Island tram scenes. The music was composed by Keith Emerson, who was one of the members of the rock band, “Emerson, Lake and Palmer”.