Throwback Review: To Live and Die in LA (1985)

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Some movies were just too cool in the 80's. So cool, they may have not gotten the recognition they deserve until they were put on cable TV. To Live and Die in LA is one of those movies starring William Petersen of CSI and everyone's favorite most handsome bad guy in film, Willem Dafoe.

Los Angeles, where almost everything in movies happens (or New York) has a serious counterfeiting operation going on. Rick Masters, played by Dafoe is the head of the operation and during a sting kills the mentor of the protagonist, Richard Chance (Petersen). Chance isn't having it he goes on his own to find his friends killer and bring down the counterfeiting operation no matter what, even if he has to break the rules.

Chance has a hot girlfriend that is also an informant who lies around naked most of the day. It's the 80's and an 'R' rated film so those things were necessary in action films back then. Anyway, he has help from a newer, younger by the book partner who starts to learn the ways of Chance law enforcement. It is not a bad film but if you like to laugh about the way things were done back then, production-wise you will find some of the more intense scenes kind of funny now.

The soundtrack probably stood out more than the film so it isn't one of the movies that would get referenced on something like Stranger Things. It would more likely happen on Family Guy or something like it. It is probably not a hard film to find and is currently free On-Demand if you need an 80's action chuckle. Check out the trailer below:



They don'r make em' like this anymore.