Sorry, this movie sucks

Best movie of this year hands down!

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

A fabulous William Friedkin Police Thriller that was a little forgotten, due to the director's previous works having been failures, after the successes of "the exorcist" and "the french conection", this last one winning the Oscar of better film and Friedkin the Oscar for Best Director. The film is frantic and explosive, has a dizzying development and action, true scenes of anthology and fantastic performances, especially of William Petersen (I still do not understand why this actor did not become a star) and Willem Dafoe. In addition, there are innumerable unusual surprises in the movies of the genre. In my opinion, the best Police Thriller of the 80s.

TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. is like a cocaine rush; from the first beats of Wang Chung's awesome soundtrack and the crisp, colourful images of LA you know you're in for a ride. The plot - based on a novel and co-written by an ex-Secret Service agent - sees two Secret Service men, one of them hurting from the death of his partner, trying to hunt down a slick counterfeiter (with a taste for modern art). Peterson as the hotshot agent captures the darkness of a man determined to do anything to get his man (and if many of his actions are foolish, the man is supposed to be reckless) whilst Dafoe brings all his Weimar-style creepiness to his pseudo-yuppie criminal genius. The images have that brisk, bright feel of the 80s which is combined with the brutal realism of the 70s (when dudes get shot, it ain't pretty); when the film confronts sex or violence or ugly realities it pushes in rather than backing away. There's plenty of hard-boiled cop jargon, sex scenes that manage to be erotic rather than pornographic and an underlying realism to its depiction of criminality. The highlight is of course the car chase, which is simple yet brilliant and will have you holding your breath as the heroes zoom down loading docks, through traffic and along the LA water system. If the film never quite gels - in part because the leads aren't all that sympathetic - it's still a whole lot of fun which is happy to push boundaries.

A lot of people (the great Roger Ebert included) would have you believe that To Live and Die in L.A. is a stunning, suspenseful thriller beautifully shot and directed by William Friedkin. I know that the eighties were a lean time for quality cinema, but the pumping Wang Chung soundtrack and William Peterson's appalling acting annihilates any tension that may have been attempted in pretty much any given scene.Oh. And when I say "Wang Chung soundtrack" I don't mean a handful of tastefully or cleverly placed songs, like say, The Graduate, Harold and Maude or Magnolia. I mean SOUNDTRACK. Not just the appalling songs distastefully and carelessly strewn in the background, but weird techno-synth monstrosities attempting to build the tension of action scenes or underscore quiet moments.When someone says that this film is a "lost treasure"... and a lot of people do... It only makes sense if they are referring to it as one of the great lost comedies of the eighties. I still regularly, randomly will laugh out load thinking about one particularly Wang Chung heavy chase sequence in that movie and a couple of ludicrously overwrought faces that William Peterson makes with his "acting".Five Stars.......Out of Ten

By the end of the film, I thought it was a cheesy clichéd 80s crime thriller. But then I realized all of the films that I was comparing it to, copied off of this film. This film set the bar for the 80s crime thriller, and the crime thriller in general. Of course, it is undeniably 80s. Wang Chung provided the soundtrack. However, Friedken does not disappoint with his chase scenes. Chase scenes that some films today can't even hold a candle to. What adrenaline, there are not many films that can get your heart beating as fast as this one can. William Peterson gives a truly dynamite performance. But, personally, I believe Willem Dafoe stole the show. Nobody does the criminal like he does. Jesus Christ, he was so evil! This is a film that would not let me look away. I really was mesmerized by it. Friedken, thanks to the French Connection and this Film, is officially the king of the chase. What a wild ride, definitely worth a view.