I'm discovering that I love the atmosphere of those movies that capture the urban decay of the 70s/80s, particularly those set in New York, where the city itself is a character, and I'm on the lookout for more. Any suggestions? So far, I've got:
The Warriors
Street Trash
Escape from New York
Larry Cohen's stuff (Q The Winged Serpent, The Stuff)
Frank Henenlotter's stuff (Basketcase, Brain Damage, Frankenhooker)
TMNT 1
Friday the 13th VIII
Taxi Driver
French Connection
Taking of Pelham 123
Panic in Needle Park
Born to Win
The Seven-Ups
Death Wish
Serpico
*Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Summer of Sam
The Exterminator (first one mainly, 2 is ok though it just has a better poster). It's just a shame the main guy is woefully miscast.
Dog Day Afternoon
It's just a shame the main guy is woefully miscast
You mean Robert "Coke Zero" Ginty?
Three Days of the Condor is 70s NYC kino. Mann's Thief takes place in Chicago but has the same vibe and a great soundtrack.
New Jack City
Romper Stomper
It's a fascinating time/place to behold personally. I've watched a bunch of docs and footage from the era. I love anything resembling a walk around late 70's New York.
Streets of Fire (1984) is exactly what you're looking for.
Assault On Precinct 13
They Live
12 Monkeys
King of New York
Pretty good doc about New York gangs in the days when it was more like The Warriors.
the new york ripper
fort apache, the bronx
maniac
The Ultimate Warrior with Max Von Sydow and Yul Brinner.
On YouTube there were and night still be news reports from that period, specifically about urban crime.
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Prince of the City by Sidney Lumet is God tier NY kino. Recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it
1990: The Bronx Warriors
I gotchu bro. Check out Fear City and all of the other Abel Ferrara stuff from the 80s and 90s.
Also, Blue Steel and Savage Streets.
Robocop 1&2 if you haven't seen them already, you never know these days which of the classics you young whippersnappers have slept on.
Marathon Man
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Got this from some anon. maybe OP
Death Wish, Dirty Harry, Cobra.
Streets of Fire, one of my favorite movies.
It's a great movie, my favorite of Al Pacino's, but it doesn't really fit.
The timeframe sure, dead in the middle of what he wants, but 90% of the movie takes place in the bank lobby.
Hobo With a Shotgun is exactly what you're looking for, dialed up to almost the point of parody.
Tenement
Death Wish 3
Ms. 45
Very obvious rec but eyes wide shut shows a lot of the city
So underrated.
Yeah I was gonna say midnight cowboy
Little Murders is like taxi driver crossed with woody allen, its fucking great
Someone mentioned Ms. 45 already but really most of Abel Ferrara's stuff is great
I'll always know him as "The Paperchase Guy", because that episode of MST3K where they watched Warrior of the Lost World.
Lumet > Scorsese
The obsession with 50s greaser rockabilly culture in a lot of 1980s movies is really stupid.
I saw this the other day
are any comedies?
ctrl+f rocky
0
Basket Case was filmed guerilla style with no permits, and most of the small parts were played by regular newyawkers.
Great low budget grindhouse movie. The sequels kinda suck, but they're worth a watch if you really liked the lead actor and want to see more of him.
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100% Lumet is my favorite director of all time. Scorsese is great too but it's not close in my eyes
A good part Abel Ferrara's kinography
Ms.45
Cruising
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is Boston but the same vibe.
1990: The Bronx Warriors
Escape From The Bronx
Wolfen
Mimic
C.H.U.D.
Nighthawks
A Vampire In Brooklyn?
The Super
Friday the 13th VIII
step off the boat into NYC
teen girl immediately gets kidnapped and taken to the designated raping alley
been in Manhattan for three seconds and Jason isn't even the biggest threat anymore
I love this movie so much.
Streets of Fire is based and one of my go-to hidden gems to recommend to anyone. I usually sell it by saying the climax is a sledgehammer duel. is a homosexual. Shame there are probably no existing prints of the unreleased R-rated cut, though the only thing I know confirmed to be trimmed is the stripper scene (there's topless footage in the trailer that didn't make it to the movie).