This is one the best rock 'n roll movies ever made, but that doesn't say much since there haven't too many that much good to begin with. However, this IS good.

It features solid music by John Cafferty, whose "The Dark Side," is played quite a bit during the movie but is a great song and always enjoyable to hear. The movie also has interesting characters and a somewhat intriguing story. The story features a decent imitation of a Jim Morrison-type lead singer without getting too dramatic.

A very young Ellen Barkin is the female lead here. She looked better when she got a bit older. A young Joe Pantolione also is in here and Michael Pare was effective as the lead singer.

Don't listen to the national film critics who didn't care for the film. The public liked it and most times, they are a better judge.

If you don't mind the anachronistic approach the movie takes it can be fairly entertaining. The music is upbeat and designed to move your feet, but the whole time I listened to the Cruisers of 1963 I couldn't help but think about the actual music of the era bearing no relationship at all to what the band was playing. OK, it was mentioned that their music was ahead of it's time, but it actually took twenty years for Springsteen, Southside Johnny and John Cafferty to make their mark with the Asbury Park sound. This movie had it up and running during the Dion and Elvis era, and even before the Beatles led the British Invasion to the States which occurred a year later. So that part of the movie didn't work for me.

But if you were born in the Eighties and watch this film today, not having the perspective of growing up with the music of the Sixties probably won't make much difference. The hunt for the missing 'Season of Hell' recordings drives the story as former members of the Cruisers make an attempt to relive past glory without their leader, who mysteriously disappeared in a car wreck following a recording session. When Doc Robbins (Joe Pantoliano) was exposed by Frank (Tom Berenger) for running the Eddie scam on Joann (Helen Schneider) it solved one mystery, but who was it that went around wrecking the rooms of the other band members looking for the missing tapes? That was never adequately addressed, and if it was Doc himself, he got a much bigger pass for being a jerk than the story allowed.

At least in keeping with the spirit of the Sixties, there's a handful of tunes like 'My Little Runaway" and 'Run Around Sue' to keep things anchored in the proper time frame, and that song about Betty Lou and her new pair of shoes would have been right up Jerry Lee Lewis's alley. I see the movie has it's base of fans on this board, including some who regard it as one of the best music films ever. But writing today, when I plug the picture into my list of 'Concert and Music Movies' I've reviewed here on IMDb and run the list in ranking order, it comes out #45 out of fifty seven films. That places it one notch above the Four Seasons flick "Jersey Boys" - who would have come up with that coincidence?

A television newswoman (Ellen Barkin) picks up the story of a 1960s rock band whose long-lost leader Eddie Wilson (Michael Pare) may still be alive, while searching for the missing tapes of the band's never-released album.

The 1980s, among many other great things in the movie world, were apparently the decade of music films. We really do not see them anymore, but the 80s brought us this film (1983) "La Bamba" (1987) and this film's sequel (1989),just to name a few. Apparently it was also the decade where Joe Pantoliano appeared in music films, because he is both here and in "La Bamba".

Roger Ebert wrote at the time that the film was "so frustrating, so dumb, so unsatisfactory", but he was so wrong. This may not be high art, and it may be odd to hear Springsteen-esque music allegedly being played in 1963, but it is a darn fun film.

Although the film had a strong cult following when it was played repeatedly on HBO, those under 30 today may not remember the movie. Yet, the hit single "On the Dark Side" still receives regular radio play, so it is anything but forgotten. This might be the time to visit (or revisit) the film, especially now that we have had thirty years to reflect on the careers of Michael Pare, Tom Berenger and Joe Pantoliano.

Hats off to Shout Factory for releasing this as a double feature on Blu-ray. Unfortunately, it comes as bare bones release, with only subtitles to speak of. Michael Pare was not asked to do a commentary (though he probably would),and it would have been a really cool thing to include a remastered soundtrack CD. Maybe we have not seen the final release of this film yet.