[wp-review id=”75009″]
Ah, ROAD HOUSE, let me count the ways: VHS, laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray, multiple reissues on different formats, and late night, cable television darling. I don’t know that anyone involved with this film could have guessed that 28 years later (wow!?) it would not only still be going strong, it would become a semi-classic of 80’s cinema.
Mild spoilers ahead so continue at your own risk if you haven’t seen the film.
Best of the best bouncer/cooler, Dalton (Swayze) is recruited to a seedy dive called the Double Deuce by its owner, who is hoping to clean the place up. There are nightly fights, stabbings, and drug deals, in addition to what must be huge amounts of money being spent to replace every single table in the place, pretty much every night, after they get splintered into little pieces.
Dalton buys an old car to park at his new job because it gets bashed into little pieces, pretty much every night (are you seeing a pattern here yet?). Despite not looking like the typical tough guy, Dalton has unorthodox methods of working the bar and he can wipe the floor with pretty much anybody who comes around. He is introduced to the crowd by Cody (Jeff Healey), the guitarist of the bar band and an old friend.
This setup goes pretty quickly and then the story changes drastically when we learn that the town is basically ruled by a local, scumbag millionaire by the name of Brad Wesley. He extorts the townspeople, has an army of goons, and generally acts like an 80’s villain. His only redeeming quality is his beautiful, blonde girlfriend with big hair.
We meet a doctor (Kelly Lynch), who falls for Dalton while stitching up his knife wound one night. We meet Dalton’s friend, Wade (Sam Elliott) another “cooler” who is a father figure of sorts. Wesley’s goons are shown doing all kinds of bad things around town and before he knows it, Dalton is not just a bouncer in a bar, he is a bouncer for the town. All these characters get stirred together in the plot and Dalton starts heading for a showdown with Wesley and his thugs.
Swayze was a big name coming off of Dirty Dancing and he had earned legions of female fans. He could act, dance, and look good doing either. He was still a few years away from Ghost, which would increase his range and likeability even further. Perhaps ROAD HOUSE was a vehicle to return him to his Red Dawn, Uncommon Valor, hero persona? Regardless, what makes ROAD HOUSE so watchable is its total commitment to the story and its portrayal of the characters. This is a quintessential, tough guy film. Men want to be like them and women want to be with them. Over and over we see Swayze shirtless, we watch him pulverize bad guys, we see a huge, monster truck……, well, just see for yourself. As crazy as things get, everything is played straight, as if this sort of thing happens in small towns everywhere.
In many ways, ROAD HOUSE works because it is a classic western/kung fu film dressed up to play for the late 80’s crowd. Dalton could be Bruce Lee in Way of the Dragon, visiting his families restaurant and getting caught up in a fight with local gangsters. He could also be Shane, simply trying to mind his business and stay out of local trouble but finding himself unable to turn away. ROAD HOUSE does take a jolting tonal shift late in the film as the violence ratchets up immensely. Previous to that, most of the film is rather lighthearted, even during the fight scenes.
I have to mention Jeff Healey and his music as it plays a big part in the movie. Every scene in the ROAD HOUSE itself has this very talented guitarist and singer playing in the background. The bluesy rock suits the atmosphere perfectly and Healey, despite little screen time, is clearly very personable and we warm to him quickly. It is a shame that he passed away at such a young age.
Lastly, while rewatching the film for this review, I was struck by the unorthodox soundtrack which I had not really noticed before. It never really falls into the 80’s synthesizer trap which mark so many films as from the decade, though there are moments. There are just some really interesting pieces that are tonally surprising.
VIDEO: ROAD HOUSE was shot by Dean Cundey, who has worked with John Carpenter on nearly every film he has made, most notably Halloween, as well as many, many more Hollywood productions. It was shot in Panavision with a wide aspect ratio of 2.35:1. This is interesting as the framing doesn’t necessarily take advantage of the wider field. It does open things up a bit during some of the outside scenes but the majority of the movie is staged indoors. The overall look of the film, like so many 80’s films, is relatively flat, with no showy lighting or framing. The blu-ray is a step up from the old DVD prints but there is nothing special on display. The color pallet is mostly muted so don’t expect any garish, 80’s, color pops. Dark scenes offer more contrast than the DVD did which is a nice step up. There are several hazy shots which stand out rather noticeably compared to most of the more defined, crisp images. I have not seen the Shout Factory version to offer comparison but the encode was stepped up and a new scan was done according to the press materials. I don’t know that ROAD HOUSE is the kind of film that will ever shine on blu-ray and it certainly is not a demo disc but I think most viewers will be pleased by the overall image.
AUDIO: The MGM disc comes loaded with a DTS HD 5.1 mix that pumps up the low end and adds some nice surround effects that easily beats prior audio offerings. Once again, a film from this era cannot be expected to offer the type of separation that modern film tracks do. Like the video, I don’t think that many of you would have complaints and ROAD HOUSE has never sounded better.
SPECIAL FEATURES AND PACKAGING: This is a pretty bare bones release with a price to match. Even with that caveat, I was surprised that clicking the special features button earned you exactly two choices, a trailer for the film and an option to return to the film. I’m not sure I would have created a menu that references these features as “special” but there it is. The Shout release is the way to go if you want more than the movie and you don’t mind spending about $13 more (as of the time of this writing). My copy of ROAD HOUSE came in the standard blue amaray case but I’ve seen a red one floating around if that excites you more.
THE BOTTOM LINE: ROAD HOUSE is still a lot of fun today for many reasons. It has a classic story, likeable characters, terrific music, and Patrick Swayze. I don’t know that he ever received enough credit for the range of roles that he played in his career. Another interesting note is that ROAD HOUSE has not aged poorly, especially compared to other offerings from a similar time. Outside of the hair on display, there is very little that dates the movie or calls attention to the time period in a disruptive way. The next time you’re sitting at home and can’t decide what to watch, go visit this ROAD HOUSE. It might not be the newest place in town but it still is a great place to hang out.
