Plot
Ralph Macchio is Lightning Boy. A kid who can make a slide guitar sing. Blind Dog is an old pro who knows it. Together, they're headed to a place where deals are made. And legends are born.
Release Year: 1986
Rating: 6.7/10 (6,095 voted)
Director:
Walter Hill
Stars: Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz
Storyline Eugene is an extraordinary talent in classic guitar, but he dreams of being a famous Blues guitarist. So he investigates to find a storied lost song. He asks the legendary Blues musician Willie Brown to help him, but Willie demands to free him from the old-people's prison first and to really learn the blues on the way to it's origin: Mississippi Delta. Eugene doesn't know yet about Willie's deal with the devil, that he now wants to revoke.
Cast: Ralph Macchio
-
Eugene Martone
Joe Seneca
-
Willie Brown
Jami Gertz
-
Frances
Joe Morton
-
Scratch's Assistant
Robert Judd
-
Scratch
Steve Vai
-
Jack Butler
Dennis Lipscomb
-
Lloyd
Harry Carey Jr.
-
Bartender
John Hancock
-
Sheriff Tilford
Allan Arbus
-
Dr. Santis
Gretchen Palmer
-
Beautiful Girl
/
Dancer
Al Fann
-
Pawnbroker
Wally Taylor
-
O.Z
Tim Russ
-
Robert Johnson
Tex Donaldson
-
John McGraw
Taglines:
'The Kid' keeps the legend alive....
Release Date: 14 March 1986
Filming Locations: Burbank, California, USA
Opening Weekend: $2,071,680
(USA)
(16 March 1986)
(982 Screens)
Gross: $5,839,031
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Arlen Roth was Macchio's guitar tutor for the film and played many of his pieces in the movie. According to Roth on his site, arlenroth.com, the final duel was arranged from parts played by himself, Vai, Cooder and Bill Kanegiser, who did the classical playing throughout the film. Roth wasn't credited for his work on the movie, due to a contractual disagreement.
Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized:
When the kid is dueling with Steve Vai, you can clearly see in the background the audience applauding his guitar skills, and yet the only sound to be heard is coming from the guitars.
Quotes: Scratch's Assistant:
Ain't got no chance Blind Dog. You SOLD your soul. You goin' down, all the way down. Hell hounds on your trail, boy, hell hounds on your trail.
User Review
Why Is This Movie Forgotten?
Rating: 8/10
This is a really, really good movie and I don't understand why no one ever
mentions it or why it is never on cable.
It has everything that I love in a movie: good story, great characters well
acted, fine comedy and powerful touching drama.
Ralph Macchio is a brilliant young guitar student, Eugene Martone, at
Julliard (or some other equally good music school) who does not want to play
Mozart. He wants to play guitar like his idol, a long dead blues guitar
legend. In search of his dreams, he breaks an elderly black blues player
out of a prison nursing home.
The two of them go on an odyssey to the Mississippi Delta in quest of
memories and dreams. As in any odyssey, they meet a variety of fascinating
and/or dangerous characters along the way. Eugene must also overcome the
obstacles and tests that all those who quest must face - until it is time to
face the ultimate test against the greatest blues guitarist in the
Delta.
I enjoy music, but my knowledge is superficial. I probably wouldn't know a
good guitar riff from a raft, but even I could recognize awesome guitar work
in the final sequence of Crossroads.
So, if you like good movies and good acting and great guitar music, please
check out Crossroads. If enough of us spread the word, it may no longer be
a forgotten classic.
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