Street Smart (1987) Retrospective / Review
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Street Smart (1987) Retrospective / Review
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#StreetSmart #ChristopherReeve #MorganFreeman #OliverHarper #CannonFilms #Retrospective #Review #MakingOf
I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid. Morgan Freeman's performance scared the **** outta me, lol. So glad that Freeman did not allow Hollywood to typecast him in these roles. A testament to his talent and business savvy.
Coincidentally Kathy Baker was also in another early Morgan Freeman film: Clean and Sober starring a pre-Batman Michael Keaton.
Also an excellent movie!
Another one that Ebert loved.
Keaton’s eyes got him that role
Part of that movie was filmed around the corner from my house in Gloucester City, NJ. For like 3 months we would stand behind barricades and watch Keaton do takes and sign autographs. Great guy.
Christopher Reeve himself was in a movie with Michael Keaton called Speechless. Thus, it was in essence, the first live-action variation of The World's Finest.
Hugely underated film. I actually never heard of it until I watched your old review of Superman IV. I tracked it down afterwards and thought it was great. Keep up the great work Oliver.
I always think Reeve needed some stubble or a beard to take him away from looking so much visually like Superman. The role of Superman defined him and it is hard to see anyone else but that character no matter what he is playing. If I was him I'd have been growing a beard like there was no tomorrow. It would be like "This is my serious actor face".
Fair point. I think Henry Cavill (current Superman) did Mission Impossible with a mustache but he has done other projects with a clean face.
thats it exactly, in just about every non superman movie he did he looks almost exactly like Superman! i remember watching stuff of his back in the 80s and 90s like Deathtrap, Somewhere in Time, Remains of The Day and every time he came on screen youd be like 'its superman!' (my folks/family would be too).. i guess it was similar with Connery - maybe thats why he grew the beard and was happy to embrace his baldness!
Reeve definitely needed to do some of those action movies he turned down just so to be in popular stuff that wasnt superman
He has a mustache in The Bostonians which looked pretty good on him and gave him a different look.
Agree! Always thought the same about the Bond actors. Especially Roger Moore looked the same in every single project over his Bond years!? Only Connery really escaped Bond later in his career.
But it’s sad, Reeve was a talented actor. Should have done more different genres!
Interesting.. Maybe some long hair or something.. Needed to look gritter and NOT so clean cut..
Its weird seeing morgan freeman aggressive like that
Fast Black almost strikes me as sort of an evil version of Easy Reader on The Electric Company. I think that's why Morgan Freeman's performance in Street Smart is so jarring, after knowing him primarily, as this smooth, laid back operator in a kids show.
@@TMC1982Part2 I was about to say "wait'll you see him as Easy Reader";-D
He should have played villains more often.
What's weird is he does it so convincingly.
If we ever had to thank Superman 4 for is for this film and Morgan Freeman.
I could have done without Superman IV 😅
@@Bale4Bond In my opinion Superman 4 had the wrong producers. I didn't have problems with Sidney Furie as director. If you watch The Ipcress File it so innovative at the time with dutch camera angles with has got a graphic novel feel. Even The Entity has got that feel. Superman 4 could of had that feel. I know most fans blame Masters of the Universe for Superman 4 budget. I person blame Jean Luc Godard "I can't be arsed" King Lear.
@@ninfilms What does Godard have to do with Superman IV?
@@Bale4Bond Well Golan and Globus finance King Lear which some of that budget could of gone to sfx of Superman 4
What an underrated gem!!! Shame they messed up the marketing on this one.
Reeves had plenty of underrated movies.
Reeves was great in Somewhere in Time and Remains of The Day.
@@ninfilms And *Speechless* (sharing the screen with Batman 😄) and Chris is the main reason I like John Carpenter's *Village of the Damned*
With poster art like that, I'm not surprised.
@@williamshaw9047 Out of interest how would you market this film.
Can’t wait for reviews of DeathTrap and his two collaborations with Merchant-Ivory!
I feel that this film is similar to Primal Fear with Richard Gere. You an A list star which suddenly the supporting actor like Edward Norton steals the show.
The Somewhere in Time retrospective introduced me to that incredible film and now I am going to see this. Great Content!
Both are great films.
When it came out I listed it as ‘overlooked and under-rated’ on my top ten poster in my video store and it became a top renter, so much so that the video tape wore out! Brilliant!
Schatzberg is a tremendously underrated filmmaker. Big fan of his very underseen feature REUNION scripted by Harold Pinter (who Schatzberg photographed when he worked at Vanity Fair)
I tracked this film down a couple of years ago after you showed like, three seconds of the poster in another review and I had such an overwhelming moment of "my God, Christopher Reeve looks ridiculously handsome in this" that I had to track it down :D It's a go-to recommendation to friends because no one has ever heard of it and it's so good, so I owe my cool movie cred to you. Great review, dude.
Thanks for doing this retrospective. One of my most favorite Morgan Freeman movies. His performance is nothing short of riveting
Dude i just love all the investigation you do to make your videos is really amazing, amazing job.
I feel that 1987 was a good year for film (This film, "Full Metal Jacket", "Fatal Attraction", "The Big Easy", "Lethal Weapon", "The Lost Boys", "Dead of Winter", "Tin Men", "Dragnet", and many more are some of my personal favorites), and it probably was one of the more gritter years in terms of film content in the 1980s, although I think that the perception of 80's films having a lot of fluff is overblown (it simply wasn't a decade like the 1970s and having so many films with strong messages, which viewers were sort of burned out on).
Actually, my favorite decade of film is the 1970s, as I think it's the best, considering the films and the fact that the ratings system was used the entire decade, along with directors having a ton of creative control over their artistic vision. Still, I love those 80's as well!
MOnster Squad,
@@JnEricsonx Oh yeah, I LOVED "Monster Squad"; a buddy of mine started a Monster Squad club, my father built me a treehouse at that time, and my parents even had roles in the club!
Morgan Freeman took a frequently stereotyped role and made it into a genuine character. Brilliant indeed.
One of Cannon's few genuinely, unironically good films.
Nice!! Do some more 80s films like this, I’m gunna watch this tomorrow!
Oliver Harper, have you considered covering the movie The Fugitive from 1993? It's pretty straightforward story but really well executed, maybe Harrison Fords' best film, IMO
I just noticed that, at least to me, Mimi Rogers & Kathy Baker look a little bit alike in this film; I guess Reve's Jonathan Fisher had a type!
I think Christopher Reeve should have walked away from the “Superman” role after the first two movies. That might have saved him from typecasting, if that was a problem.
Me: hi Morgan Freeman! *Young morgan takes a knife out!
Me: but morgan why.... 😢
Oh, I am pleasantly surprised seeing this pop up. I liked that movie very much. Morgan Freeman has played sleazy characters before, but here he is quite scary and violent. He is of course the highlight, but the rest of the cast are great as well. I will enjoy this review.
Good film, watched it a few years ago. The information you provide is great, thanks.
14:50 ive never seen it but Im about to. Im trying to digest as much of Christopher Reeve’s work as possible.
Christopher Reeve was a wonderful actor thank you so much for the video friend
I **like** Superman IV as a nostalgic pleasure, but hindsight being 20/20, after Cannon screwed this film over and cut the budget of Superman IV, Christopher Reeve should have lawyered up and walked away.
Why would Reeves need to lawyer up?
@@cbalducc *Reeve, but if he had withdrawn from Superman IV at that point, Golan and Globus (probably) would have tried to sue him for breach of contract. With the caveat that I only play a lawyer on TV, I think he had the legal high ground in that it was Cannon who were violating the spirit, if not the letter, of their contract (s) with Reeve.
So in this hypothetical; Cannon puts no support in Street Smart, and then cuts Superman IV's budget by more than half (the numbers I usually see are $36 million to $17 million). When informed of this, Reeve, through his lawyer, issues an ultimatum; restore the budget or I'll have to react appropriately. They refuse, so he withdraws from the film (hopefully not rocking the personal boat too much with his costars, because I want all the casts of the shows/movies I grew up with to be just as cool behind the scenes. The Great Star Trek Reconciliation is coming any day now...!) Cannon then files a lawsuit against Reeve, who either countersues or mounts a strong enough defense that the court sides with him. Cannon makes an even worse Superman movie with (I've read Tony Danza was once offered the part, so let's say Tony Danza). Or, now that I'm having a little fun with these ultimately unimportant mental gymnastics; Reeve and the cast band together and demand that Cannon make Superman more of a priority (because did we really need American Ninja 2 that same year?!) Cannon refuses, so they walk in solidarity. Cannon, realizing that trying to engage everyone legally is going to hurt them even more, puts that $17 million (or at a significant portion) into Masters of the Universe, which goes on to be a solid performer; grossing $50 million dollars at the domestic box office alone, launching a sequel which coincides with the (I think better) He-Man retool in 1990, and we see Dolph Lundgren's He-Man wear trousers through the second film.
Or I'm just totally insane, you decide!!
According to Jennifer Pryor, Richard Pryor brought Dave Freeman's script to Reeve's attention on the set of Superman III because he wanted to play Fast Black opposite Reeve & also felt the movie would catch the attention of the Academy come awards season however pre-accident Reeve could be very ruthless, he bought the scripts option but point blank refused to even talk to Pryors Indigo Pictures wich hurt Pryor, Reeve used the negative reception towards Superman III & said audiences wouldn't accept him & Pryor on screen again but in private Reeve confessed to the movies original director Joseph Zito (later replaced by Jerry Shatzberg) that he was scared that Pryor would upstage him & his performance would be buried wich would happen eventually anyway when Morgan Freeman was cast
I finally watched this movie on TUBI before Christmas of 2020. I really enjoyed it.
This Movie had one of the Greatest "Smacks" in Movie History....
Ok I've never heard of this movie before and now I REALLY want to see it. I'll watch the rest of this video afterward!
That time Lucius Fox beat up Superman.
Funny Chris plays a reporter here. Coincidentally Reeve's son Will Reeves is reporter for ABC news in real life.
I didn't see this movie until a while later, mostly running across while searching non Superman Reeve films. It's not bad, if a bit of its time, but I can see why it gave Morgan Freeman's career a boost. He's excellent in it.
Another great retrospective Oliver love the cannon films stuff. Now all you have to do is Switching Channels and Village of the Dammed.👍
Village of the Damned is something I will cover in the coming months.
This was quite excellent. Keep up the good work
You finally did it Ollie!
nice review. i had herd of this movie but never watched it. thanks
Damn Morgan Freeman looked old in the 1980s , I think he has been old his whole life.
I had never, ever heard of this movie!
It shows you a different side of Morgan Freeman thats for sure
It's not that great, outside of Morgan Freeman.
Morgan Freeman has worked with Batman and Superman.
What a legend.
Andre Gregory from My Dinner with Andre! Everyone loves the film, lol.
Great Movie.. Mr Freeman's Performance Was Excellent.... Like All The Rest..
Great seeing Street Smart get a proper nod here--far too few people know of it (no thanks to Cannon Films' lousy promotion and shitty poster design.) I love seeing Reeve do something different (damn, The Running Man would have been PERFECT for him) and Freeman is just phenomenal, a complete 180 degree turn from being Easy Reader, Mel Mounds, and Marcello (Rita Moreno yelling "MARCELLO!!") on The Electric Company.
Hey Oliver- love your reviews. Could you please do a retrospective review of the Dean Cain Superman show Lois & Clark
Good film with some excellent performances. Reeve's character certainly needed to be fuller, more of a loveable down & out type of character.
Nobody saw Superman _because_ of Christopher Reeve, people saw it because of the spectacle. He just had the perfect look for the part, and a certain woodiness in his acting that fitted an old-style comic book hero. He were never destined to be a great and celebrated actor, although he could be OK but nothing more.
Considering Christopher Reeve, was an unknown actor, at the time Superman The Movie, went into production I would have to say you are correct here.
I know he got offered other roles, of course my theory is he was probably offered to audition for those roles, and turned down the audition. The only movie I liked him in that wasn't a Superman movie, is Deathtrap from 1982.
Yooooo, that premise is on point!!!
Retrospect "Necessary Roughness" please kind sir?!
Nice. Been waiting for another vid. I marathoned all of them too fast lol
Never seen it but looks a good film.
Oliver can you please review the Spawn movie from 1997!? I'm a huge Spawn fan and August is right around the corner which was the month of the movies release.. furthermore it's a lot of hype surrounding the character since breaking the Guinness record 2 years ago for longest running independent comic and being featured as a playable character in Mortal Kombat 11...with talks of a new movie, a brand new multiverse comic series that just launched, and the character itself approaching its 30th anniversary it's a good a time as ever to be a Spawn fan and get on the hype train. Whether you love the movie or hate it without question its worthy of discussion and I always enjoy hearing your reviews and would love to hear your thoughts on the 97 cult classic, thank you for your work!💪🤙
Whaaaat?! No Spectrum or GBA tie-in games?!
Wow that’s awesome hell of a cannon double feature!
I’d definitely have loved seeing both on the big screen!
yeah it was pretty awesome!
What I remember most about this movie was the menacing performance of the pimp. Soon to realize the talents of Morgan Freeman.
Never heard of this one
Great film
8:08 but couldn't have they sold the all of the Armani items after the movie to collectors and made a profit on the whole lot?
I've been wondering stuff like that lately
Would be nice if someone like Shout Factory or Arrow Video gave this a proper Blu-ray release, either one of them would do a great job, especially if they got to talk to Morgan Freeman about his experience working on the film.
Awesome
Morgan should have been the villain of Superman 3 and 4.
I have noticed that there hasn't been a review on the movie Small Soldiers yet,that would be a good retrospective.
@@thejamesbondshow9754 Thanks did not know about the channel you mentioned but I was hoping to get Oliver's response on this more cause he hasn't done it yet and know that obscure cult films are usually his specialty.
@@thejamesbondshow9754 yes I will probably check out his stuff to see if I like it better than Oliver, I'm starting to think maybe I should just start my own videos since I have a decent knowledge of obscure movies but am also deciding if I should showcase my artwork/comic books here.PS will look at your channel.
21:03 ghostbusters
Great review - Street Smart felt like an interesting failure to me. Freeman is undoubtedly magnificent in it, Reeve feels a bit out of place - I get that he was passionate about the film, but he just feels wrong for the role, he always just feels too likeable for the slimy character he's playing and you find yourself just disappointed by his deceitful actions, rather than being engrossed by them.
Definitely agree that he would have been wiser to stick to some of the more commercial roles offered to him and that maybe if he'd done that he could have segued into more dramatic roles.
I applaud Reeve for trying to do something different here even if it doesn't quite pan out for him versus Morgan Freeman who pretty much steals the show as Fast Black.
Chris was good this is underrated but could be made better now Morgan stunning in this Chris just dosent make a effort enough left in his shadow ,and should of done more action films, his only good guy role was superman he did make wrong choices needed new management can see how it's a great show reel for Morgan
Reeve could be great in other roles, he's very funny in Noises Off. He was a character actor at heart, maybe even a comic actor, he didn't bring much to parts where he played it straight, apart from Superman. And even then part of it was the contrast with bumbling Clark Kent. If he had the accident he probably would have relaxed and settled into more fun roles. He was quite self-serious which hampered the roles he took on.
@@DenkyManner noises off is good above suspicion to
This film is so hard to find in Australia 😕
Morgan Freeman and Kathy Baker were really good in this. Riveting really.
The DVD is on Amazon for under 10 bucks.
Super Street Smart!!!
ooh, haven't seen this movie in decades.
Now, the age old question: watch it again before the retrospective.... or after?
AH! STOP THE INSANITY!
Great film...reeve was also great in deathtrap.
Well Mimi... what do you have to say for yourself?
Jesus, was Morgan Freeman _ever_ young?
One of the rare "Black DOES crack" exceptions…
His career picked up pretty late. He was 50 in this one lol
He was already 50 when Street Smart came out. Some guys just have late break throughs.
@@Bale4Bond its just how hes face looks he didn’t even crack in the first place lmao
@@s3rp Samuel L Jackson, Gene Hackman. Never count a good man out.
Morgan Freeman was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for by the Oscars and Golden Globes.
Its a shame to learn that Christopher Reeve a literal childhood hero of mine....was actually quite a prick
I need to watch this film. I'm disappointed that Reeve told the director to cut Freeman's parts because he's too good. Reeve seemed like a petty a$$hole.
Yeah that was disappointing & shows why he never truly became the star he wanted to be. The great ones take on the challenge & step there game up instead of being intimidated. Morgan on the other hand wasn't afraid to be great which explains the greatness of his career.
@@rxtsec1 agreed.
Christopher reeve superman forever
How can you mention Andre Gregory but not mention My Dinner With Andre? Lol
Now you owe us a My Dinner With Andre retrospective
good to see this channel review films overlooked by the hype of the "block buster" films that's sucks all the air outta the room. The research and care this channel does works for both kinds of films but we hear enough of the big names. Its also a relief to not have to sit through the video game adaptation segment. Sorry. Not my thing. I always fast forward that part.
If you do pursue "hidden gems" that feature pop stars doing risqué projects I was recently reminded of 1984's Crimes of Passion. In some ways as boring as Street Smart. I found both on VHS (for free) but let the Kathleen Turner and Anthony Perkins psycho sexual tape go. Foolish. A Ken Russel strike against civilized society. You might like it
Never heard of this one. However from the trailer both leads appear miscast.
I always wanted to be Superman but Superman wanted to be a sleazy writer
Please review Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone or Sorcerer's Stone
It is t easy, these ‘current’ actors are trapped in scifi and fantasy. Whenever they reach outside of it, their films fail.miserably. Those marvel amd star wars people are doomed. Very poor choice for actors who are serious about their work
What, no game? ;) **joke**
haha well there is a fighting game called 'Street Smart' but has no relation to the film, it would be funny if it was.
movie does a great job of showing the large difference in moral codes observed within different racial groups. should be shown to young white ppl who need to gain a sense of the world they are inheriting from us.
I've seen the film on VHS years ago. It was not that good. But it was enough to take your breath away.
ah yes, the 80s. the black man is the villain, blatant sexism all throughout.... that's how they rolled back then.
That's one way to look at it.
Thanks woke Jon.
The first time I saw the poster for Street Smart, I was about 10 years old and thought it was Superman singing karaoke and Morgan Freeman egging him on by saying "Right on, brotha! Right on!"
Oh, how the mind of a 10 year works! 😁😁😉
Took me ages to work out from the poster that CR was playing a TV reporter. I thought he was singing. Also dressed way too trendy to be a TV reporter.
@@davidjames579 I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thought that 😅
omg i too remember the big box VHS in the video store and thinking he was playing a singer! it was only when i looked on the reverse and saw the photo on which the poster was based and read he was a reporter (in the photo he also looked like he was singing in a seedy club next to a hooker)
I forgot just how TALL Reeve was. Weirdly you don’t really notice it in the Superman movies, but here when he’s playing a normal character it’s unmistakable.
There were clips that show how Reeve reduced his height when he was Clark and then became a bit taller as Superman when he straighten his back and pull back his shoulders.
Yes I agree you can’t really tell how tall he was in the Superman movies, however there is one shot in Superman IV when Superman and Jeremy enter the UN and Jimmy and a handful of other grown men walk in right behind them and Chris easily towers over all of them. That’s the one shot from the Superman films that really puts his height into perspective.
He was just one inch away from Lou Ferrigno, the Hulk. A inch isn't very much a difference. You have to look up to them both.
He was 6’4. The tallest Superman to date.
I could only dream :(
@@Grandmaster_Dragonborn until now (Corenswet also 6ft 4,) i guess James Gunn was after that huge superman look again after Cavill was kind of short for a superman (6ft 1)
chris as the lead in running man would have been excellent.
Would he have tried to play it serious though? Running Man needed a goofy, over the top performance like Schwarzenegger's. Reeve was great at comedy but at that time in his career I fear he would have tried to get to the serious heart of the injustice of The Running Man contest.
@@DenkyManner i dunno, all have to measure by is arnies performance. i think from what we saw of the script the role and world of the running man on screen it lends itself to the same opportunities for that meta commentary and moments of humor. he would likely recognize the openings for the one liners and straight humor given his experience with the superman films. its just a shame the world was denied a potential action star to join the ranks of arnie, stallone, norris or jcvd. heck just imagine his take on the punisher instead of dolf (no shade on dolf just an example). but lets be fair he is a better fit for the frank castle as drawn in the books of the time and its a role that combines action and comics and gritty subject matter. chris reeves should have been the punisher. imo.
There is no way anyone would have cast Reeves over Arnold.
While Reeves is the better actor, Arnold was and is an absolute megastar and much more suited for the part.
Yeah it would've been cool to see Reeve in the Running Man but as others have suggested I think tonally it would have been a lot different. Taken a more serious direction, which isn't a bad thing but what we love about the movie with Arnold is the charming goofiness of it.
Interesting take, I’d be curious what that would be like
The one good thing to come out of Superman 4: The Quest for Peace.
The movie Superman 4 was great alone. There i said it. #superman4isagoodmovie
@@whatsit2ya234 You said it. You just shouldn't have.
I still say nothing good came out of Superman 4. It was a terrible movie, which I call an embarrassment to cinema and it practically killed Superman on film, and even today it's hard to get a Superman movie off the ground.
Street Smart as far as I'm concerned was not worth, suffering through Superman 4.
It sucks Chris lived in the time when actors still got stereotyped. He was an amazing stage actor, and aside from Superman had no real interest doing action movies. Many of his other films are very good. Outstanding actor, RIP
They still are. It's just part of the business. Always will be.
@@dongeraci8599 Not really. Not like the old days.
One of his better films he made was The Great Escape II The Untold Story. It's worth watching even if some of the events are fictionalized.
Freeman was so good in this. He should've played more villains.
He played a villain in a film called Hard Water or Hard Rain.
@@Supremmo I remember that. Keanu Reeves. Didn't know he was the bad guy.
Great, important pick. Without Reeve, _Superman IV,_ & _Street Smart_ there'd be no _Lean On Me,_ no _Unforgiven,_ no _Se7en,_ no _Shawshank,_ no Lucius Fox. It's difficult to articulate how radical it was that Easy Reader from _Electric Company_ - a PBS kids show - would break through as a top dramatic film actor. Freeman landed like a lightning bolt in '87 with Fast Black, one of the best performances of the decade. Thanks, _Superman IV._
It's ironic how this film runied Christopher Reeves carrer but skyrocketed Morgan Freemans carrer.
@@seanchukwuezi3079 this film didn't ruin christophery's career Superman 4 ruined his career for a number of years. But by the time The Remains Of the Day was released Christopher Reeve was actually about to get a leg up he was getting ready to star in numerous films and was even set to direct a film for HBO then unfortunately in May of 1995 he had his accident which didn't destroy his film career but definitely hindered it. There's a lot of what if scenarios that I could think of about Christopher Reeve had he never had his accident, maybe he would have gotten the roles that he deserved post Superman, maybe he would have become one of Hollywood's most revered directors as Glenn Close had said recently, maybe he would have done the cape one last time, or maybe he would have gotten to play Jor El in Smallville as a form of passing of the torch. We may never know what we do know is that Christopher Reeve was a very underrated actor outside of Superman when he didn't need to be.
@@satyendrandonibanerjee8682 well they came out the same year and street smart bombed at the box office
@@seanchukwuezi3079 the judgment of someone's career should not be put on the box office alone. Christopher Reeve might have not been a bankable name outside of Superman but he was by no means a box office poison. I can think of people who are far worse. It's stagnated his career probably but I don't think it destroyed it.
I can actually see Reeve playing Andy in Shawshank. It came out before his accident. Reeve ultimately messed his own career up by turning down many different roles that made stars out of other actors. He was a great actor but he should have been so much better had he made better role choices. Superman & sadly his activism for disabled people is what he will be remembered for. Still not a bad legacy
You should do John Carpenter's Elvis
& Gremlins 2 - The New Batch
I drank Yoo-Hoo’s for a straight year after watching this film. Such a great performance and screenplay by all.
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the soundtrack and audio design for this video? The song selection was great and then there's the sound effects and ambient sounds to add richness to compliment the excellent recording work. Then to show off he created a whole drum and bass track for the sake of a pun! Typically I only really notice sound in UA-cam videos when it's obvious bad or hard to hear. Alex is legit making mini movies now.
Simp
20:20 “3 HOT GIRLS” lol straight n to the point. I like it
I never seen or heard of Street Smart before, but I want to check it out since this was the film that jump started Morgan Freeman's career.
I only knew it was Morgan's first Oscar nomination and was surprised Chris Reeve was the lead
Christopher Reeve saying " Time Square pimp" feels off.