Road House

The role of a charismatic tough guy and fighter for good suits Patrick Swayze, and the film immediately draws you in with his character. The simplicity of the story is only an advantage – high-quality eighties flicks like this are always pleasing with their sincere straightforwardness. Sam Elliott brings the same level of charisma to the film as an equalising force against a band of villains. As the head mobster, Ben Gazzara reminds us that the worst movie bad guy always works best when he has the face of a kind uncle. Road House is a film rich in rampaging goons and manly brawlers, yet it is significantly more dignified than the silly B-movies starring Chuck Norris. It’s just a shame about the naïve climax, and that it tries to use karate motifs to be like Van Damme and co. It doesn’t need that. (03/24/2024)

It is hard to believe that humanity has made such a huge leap forward, not only in terms of technology but also fundamentally in the field of cinematography in these roughly 25 years. No matter how you look at this accomplishment, you will always laugh and shake your head in disbelief. It is not a comedy, it is not a proper action movie, you do not understand the motivations of the characters, and neither do you understand the actions of the protagonists. It is not even a cool, crazy action film that would not worry about image and dramaturgy. It is an incredible mess with a few decent action scenes. Let's move away from that. Only out of nostalgia – Patrick Swayze was in great shape here. (03/30/2014)

A superb caricature of 1980's guy movies with five Golden Raspberry nominations, it often tops the best guilty pleasure film lists. Road House is essentially a kind of modern macho western with kung fu action, combining Western culture with Eastern philosophy and containing so many memorably absurd moments that it's impossible to be bored for a moment. Patrick Swayze plays a world-famous bar bouncer and Zen warrior with a PhD in philosophy whose life's work includes philosophizing, making out, smoking, practicing Tai Chi, and, for that matter, kicking ass and ripping bites out of necks. Swayze's character is tasked with bringing order not only to one wild bar, but to an entire town that is controlled by a gang of local rich guys. With a stoic expression, he at first tries to resist the unnecessary violence, but in a world dominated by testosterone and toxic masculinity, that can't last long. Road House is entertaining for its simple black and white, maddening stupidity and complete disconnect from reality. It's set in a world where characters beat each other up, blow up their houses without the police ever showing up, and where drunks smash up an entire bar every night that's as good as new the next day. The local hangout, where bands have to play behind an iron fence to avoid being hit by flying shards and pieces of furniture, must have been the inspiration for the vampire hangout Titty Twister in Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn (both films, incidentally, feature the band Tito & Tarantula). As in every 1980s actioner, there is the mandatory batch of unwanted homoerotic undertones. Swayze doesn't waste a single opportunity to take his shirt off, while his fully-clothed adversaries never take their eyes off him. The film is reportedly shown to New York police officers as part of their training, apparently because of the main character's moral code of even if someone calls you a dick, be nice. (07/11/2016)