Today’s quick review: Nighthawks. New York police officers Deke DaSilva (Sylvester Stallone) and Matt Fox (Billy Dee Williams) get a crash course in counter-terrorism when Peter Hartman (Nigel Davenport) recruits them for a special task force. Their mission is to hunt down Wulfgar (Rutger Hauer), a European terrorist who has set his sights on New York. But as time runs out to stop Wulfgar’s latest attack, DaSilva and Fox are pushed to their limits.
Nighthawks is an action thriller that pits a pair of skilled cops against a ruthless terrorist. DaSilva and Fox must adopt new, more aggressive tactics to hunt down Wulfgar and stop him from killing again. Nighthawks is a plain but solidly constructed action movie with good leads and a strong conflict. The professional hostility between DaSilva and Wulfgar quickly turns personal as each man finds a capable and relentless foe in the other.
Nighthawks has just enough meat on its bones to set up this conflict and see it through to the end. DaSilva and Fox are fine heroes for an action movie, bold cops who aren’t afraid to act but still care about collateral damage. Wulfgar makes for a suitably dangerous villain, a cold-blooded killer whose rare mistakes are enough for the police to get a bead on him. The story sticks to the essentials, skipping the usual frills in favor of tight pacing.
Nighthawks doesn’t stand out from the field of action movies, but what it has to offer will almost certainly please fans of the genre. Those willing to give it a shot will be treated to a tense cat-and-mouse game with a tidy plot and a fair amount of action. Skip it if you dislike the conventions of the genre or you’re in the mood for something more elaborate.
For an action thriller with the same appeal, try The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. For a more grounded crime drama with a similar setup and a seedier protagonist, try The French Connection. For a more iconic action movie about a cop taking on an international terrorist, try Die Hard.
6.4 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for a focused story with solid fundamentals.