Tightrope and City Heat 30th Anniversaries

[Jed Cooper]

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Tightrope and City Heat.  Weigh in with your thoughts and memories.  Are they a favorites of yours?  What were your first impressions?  Where did you see them first, on the big or little screen?  Do you remember who you were with and whether or not they enjoyed them?  How do you feel about these films today?

   

[Lin Sunderland]

Can't remember where, when or with whom I first saw either of the movies.

I like Tightrope very much and watch it a couple of times a year. I still like it and don't feel it is dated.

I know most people don't care for City Heat, however I do.  I like it for what it is. A proper B movie. The jazz in it holds my interest and the slapstick fights make me laugh. My other half gets a real laugh out of parts of it too and we do watch it now and again.

[Jed Cooper]

I saw Tightrope shortly after release.  Like Sudden Impact, I saw it with my brother.  I believe he enjoyed it, but I was sorely disappointed.  I was expecting another Dirty Harry, so go figure.  I decided to give it a second chance and came away liking it.  It's not a favorite but still a good, entertaining film. 

[Jed Cooper]

I forgot City Heat.  Must be trying to block it from my memory... 

Just kidding.  I did enjoy this film upon first seeing it on the big screen.  I'd seen it with my brother and best friend.  We all thought it was good, but not great.  The best movie of 1984 that I can recall is Beverly Hills Cop.  Even Eastwood's two efforts didn't even come close.  I remember being psyched when I heard Reynolds & Eastwood would be appearing together.  I loved (still do!) Smokey And The Bandit and I thought this would be the ultimate pairing.  Unfortunately, it was a ho-hum effort and today it's not a favorite but I'm sure I'll check it out again before long.  I wish they'd worked together again.  Just because this one didn't work out, didn't mean they couldn't have hit a home run with another.

[Jed Cooper]

Can't remember where, when or with whom I first saw either of the movies.

I like Tightrope very much and watch it a couple of times a year. I still like it and don't feel it is dated.

I know most people don't care for City Heat, however I do.  I like it for what it is. A proper B movie. The jazz in it holds my interest and the slapstick fights make me laugh. My other half gets a real laugh out of parts of it too and we do watch it now and again.

Thanks, Lin.  I do enjoy the soundtrack to City Heat.  I used to have it on cassette and listened to it frequently.  I believe Eastwood performed on a song or two and also wrote Amanda's Theme for Tightrope.

[Christopher]

1984 was an interesting year for Eastwood releases! I went to Eastwood's page on Box Office Mojo and saw that Tightrope grossed $48,143,579 and City Heat grossed $38,348,988. No foreign box office is listed for either of those. Comparing the box office for Eastwood's movies during that time doesn't show City Heat as being an awful bomb or anything like that.

I like Tightrope a lot. I remember the first time I ever saw any of the movie was at my grandma's apartment on TV. Even though it was a TV edit, I still felt a little strange watching it with my grandma and possibly an aunt around. I'm not sure how old I was at the time. I know I was watching a lot of Eastwood's movies on TV around adolescence and early teens. I don't remember when I did get around to watching the whole movie. I may have had a chance to see the whole thing on TV before buying the movie on VHS. I can also remember buying it on DVD from a Best Buy store.

City Heat is fun. Several years ago I made it a point to watch some of the various Eastwood movies that I'd refer to as "least favorites," so I watched City Heat, Firefox, and Pink Cadillac. I think all of those are worth watching.

[Jed Cooper]

City Heat is fun. Several years ago I made it a point to watch some of the various Eastwood movies that I'd refer to as "least favorites," so I watched City Heat, Firefox, and Pink Cadillac. I think all of those are worth watching.

I'll admit, about 10 years ago I would've seriously disagreed with you there.  These days, though, I'm happy to have these titles in my collection knowing I can watch them whenever I feel inclined to.  Not his best stuff, but from a fan's perspective, it's great to have them nonetheless.

[antonis]

Tightrope is a good film & if I'm correct marked the first time Eastwood tried to be part of the Oscar race.There was one "for your consideration" ad for his performance.

City Heat one the other hand is a mediocre but,entertaining film.It owes it's bad reputation mostly to modest box office earnings than quality.For sure better than most of today's flicks.   

[Jed Cooper]

I remember hearing Eastwood's name mentioned in the same sentence as "The Oscars" not long after Tightrope's release.  I was pleasantly surprised.

[AKA23]

I've actually never seen "City Heat" all the way through. I've tried to watch it on more than one occasion and can't seem to get through it. From what I have seen, I think it's really tonally inconsistent. It doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be, and ends up failing to deliver an entertaining movie as a result.

I actually think that "Tightrope" is quite good up until the end. I don't really remember when I first saw it, but it was on DVD. "Tightrope" is thematically pretty interesting. In many ways, I think it's subversive because it takes the genre conventions of a crime thriller and manipulates them in ways which are not typical for this type of film. The hero of "Tightrope" is not only flawed, but shares many of the same characteristics as the killer. The darkness of Wes and his sexually deviant proclivities mirror the killer's. As an audience, we are often made to feel as if Wes and the killer are two sides of the same coin, and that the roles could have been reversed had circumstances been different. This is made pretty explicit right at the beginning when Eastwood's voice is looped in place of the killer's. The fact that Wes and the killer have so many core similarities makes the viewer uncomfortable, and leads the audience to have their expectations manipulated in a way which turns the conventions of the genre on their head. In this way, this film shares similarities with some of Eastwood's best work, which all in one way or another subvert genre conventions and manipulate audience expectations. This same theme is further explored in many of Eastwood's films, including "High Plains Drifter, ""Unforgiven," "A Perfect World," Mystic River,"Million Dollar Baby," and "Letters from Iwo Jima."

[KC]

Nice comments on Tightrope, AKA.

[Jed Cooper]

Yes, I agree.  Thank you, AKA. 

[Perry]

J. Hoberman of The Village Voice raved about Tightrope when it came out and it deserved to be. After Sudden Impact which I thought was horrible and a tired character the year before I liked the fact Eastwood did a riskier role and he was good in it. Also, Rebbecca Perle remains the most obscure and yummiest actress in any of Eastwood's movies. She faded from the industry.... Pity.

[Jed Cooper]

J. Hoberman of The Village Voice raved about Tightrope when it came out and it deserved to be. After Sudden Impact which I thought was horrible and a tired character the year before I liked the fact Eastwood did a riskier role and he was good in it. Also, Rebbecca Perle remains the most obscure and yummiest actress in any of Eastwood's movies. She faded from the industry.... Pity.

Funny how time can change one's perception.  I enjoyed seeing Sudden Impact the first time I saw it (twice on the big screen) and sorely disappointed with Tightrope.  I decided to give Tightrope a 2nd chance and did come away enjoying it after viewing it with an opened mind.  Still, for a long time I preferred the Dirty Harry sequel out of the two.  Nowadays I lean more towards Tightrope.

Yeah, Rebecca sure was a looker back in the day.  There was much more of her to see in Heartbreak Ridge, but that was very brief. 

[Jed Cooper]

Here's some alternate Tightrope movie posters.  Out of these, I like the last one the best.

         

[Gant]

I remember quite clearly being very dissapointed with City Heat.. I was expecting somke kind of action wam bam 100 miles an hour comedy/adventure movie.. It was like the film was wading through treacle.. Turgid..mostly unfunny..and worse of all..boring. I havnt seen it since and have no plans too..

I immediately liked Tightrope..a lot. Its been one of my Fave Eastwood films ever since..pretty much for all the reasons mentioned above by AKA25...
Great performance by Clint and Genevive Bujold... a worthy co star..

[Perry]

I remember watching Burt Reynolds on Merv Griffin one night @ that time and he was talking about that film before it was released. You got the impression this was going to be something special instead of the ridiculous film it became. Hugely disappointing.

I still love Rebecca Perle

[Jed Cooper]

I watched Tightrope last night.  I very much enjoyed seeing this again.  It's definitely a much better film than Sudden Impact.  I got a kick out of an exchange that took place between the characters played by Eastwood and Bujold:

Beryl (hearing Wes standing in her office doorway, bouncing the tennis ball he picked up at the end of her anti-rape demonstration): I'll bet you were just about to knock.

Wes: Actually, I was just gonna hang out here and be tacky.

Beryl: Tell me, uh, Detective Blot...

Wes: Block (tossing the ball to her, using a discreet obscene gesture), Wes Block.

Beryl: How do you like the Rape Center?

Block: I love it.

Beryl:  Would you care to make a charitable donation?

Block: Any reason I should?

Beryl: Yeah.  Maybe... Maybe I'll talk about the mayor.

Block: Yeah, I hear you go out with him.

Beryl: Once in a while.

Block: I hear he's gay.

Beryl (winking at Wes): Would you like a date with him?

Block: Well, I would like him off my back.

Beryl: Oh, don't tell me he's interrupted your busy schedule.

Block (smirks): Awful, ain't it?

Beryl: Yeah, we'll maybe you should've told him you were out of town.

She then looks directly at him, to see his reaction to her reference to their first meeting.  Wes looks down, recalling the incident, having been caught in a lie by her.

Beryl: Look, I called him...because I'm playing by your rules.  Now, if you help me, I'd like to help you.

Block (standing up, giving in): The killer is a Caucasian, blood type O...(reaching into his back pocket, taking out his wallet))...about in his mid-40s.  We found traces of a red fiber on all the victims.

Beryl: From what?

Block: We don't know (picks up a donation envelope off of her desk and puts money inside).

Beryl: Any suspects?

Block (places the envelope with his donation back on her desk): About 120,000 of them.

Beryl: Anything you'd like me to tell the mayor?

Block (exiting): Yeah. He's one of 'em.

Not a photo from the scene above, but I couldn't find one showing the both of them from it.



Like Sudden Impact, I saw this with my brother.  It came out in the summer of '84 while I was working my first job out of high school.  Because I enjoyed Sudden Impact so much, this was a big disappointment upon first viewing.  Like Firefox, I decided to go back and give it another chance.  Unlike Firefox, I didn't think it as horrible anymore but still disappointing.  It would take quite some time for me to appreciate this movie and now I consider it one of his best of the 1980's.

[Jed Cooper]

I gave City Heat a viewing last night.  I must be turning soft, because I very much enjoyed watching this from beginning to end.  I guess it's age, coupled with now having two kids to raise that's clouded my judgment... No, I'm just kidding.  Not clouded, no.  Not by any means.  If anything, time has changed my perspective on a lot of things and as for Eastwood films I otherwise disliked, discarded and even hated I'm now enjoying.  This isn't a great comedy or cop movie by any means.  It's not Smokey & The Bandit meets Every Which Way But Loose or Dirty Harry meets Sharky's Machine.

The look of the period is great and I love The Public Enemy billboard showing at the end of the street in one of the shootout scenes.  I love Irene Cara's voice and enjoyed hearing Clint's piano playing in-between scenes once during the film.  The humor is silly at best that gets a chuckle here and there.  Rather than be disappointed at how much better a film this coulda/woulda/shoulda been, I'm extremely grateful the film got made at all because it's enjoyable enough to return to periodically.