From my favorite movies..

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Tuff Turf is an entertaining and fun Teen film that mixes Teen film,Gang film and Action film. Filled with great direction,a wonderful cast and a fantastic soundtrack,Tuff Turf is an entertaining 80's Teen film and a fine guilty pleasure.Set in Los Angeles,Tuff Turf tells the story of Morgan Hiller(James Spader),a rebellious teen who's family has moved to Los Angeles for a fresh start. Unfortunately,Morgan gets into trouble with a local street gang who's leader Nick(Paul Mones)wants Morgan's blood. To make matters worse Morgan starts falls for Nick's girlfriend Frankie(Kim Richards) which angers Nick and leads to violent confrontations and chaos between Morgan and Nick who want to survive in the Tuff Turf.The 1980s were arguably the golden age of Teen films and there were Teen films that broke down into two categories Teen films that were recognized during the 1980s and became classics years later and Teen films that are obscure and little known but find audiences years later. Tuff Turf fits into the latter category. Tuff Turf is a flawed but entertaining Teen film that is a combination of Rebel Without A Cause and West Side Story with elements of The Warriors and Class Of 1984 and while Tuff Turf doesn't match the greatness of those films I mentioned and doesn't do anything groundbreaking in terms of story Tuff Turf is a movie works in it's own right. Tuff Turf is also a genre mash-up film mixing together genres like Teen films,Gang film,Action film and a little bit of Musical thrown in as well and I think the mixture of all of those genres makes Tuff Turf a guilty pleasure and unintentionally hilarious. TT is a guilty pleasure in a sense where you watch the film and like but you as the viewer are almost afraid to say you liked it. TT is unintentionally hilarious because there are scenes and moments in the film that are really supposed to be serious and straight-forward but are so wild and over the top you can't help but laugh at how absurd at how serious the film tries to be. Although Tuff Turf is silly and very funny,there are times where the film can be dark,gritty and violent with a Film-Noir atmosphere that wasn't seen in Teen films during the 1980s. Morgan Hiller is a great character because he's a rebel who uses his wits and intelligence to get out of tough situations and can handle himself. At the same time Morgan is a character with great depth and is multi-dimensional because while Morgan is a rebel he's not a criminal or thug but just a very troubled and confused teenager that has to deal with the pressures of growing up,his parents,falling for Frankie as well as trying to battle Nick and his gang. The Morgan Hiller character is one of the reasons TT is memorable and entertaining to watch and you will like him as soon as he comes on the screen. The Action and fight scenes are well done and memorable with toughness and great pace and truly adds to the film. At 112 minutes TT moves at a good pace,grabs your attention and keeps you glued to the screen from beginning to end. If there is a flaw with Tuff Turf is that the tone and genre of the film is very uneven because one minute the tone can be light the next minute the tone can be dark and serious. Also you never know where Tuff Turf is going to go and what genre it is. TT is a Teen film then it's a gang film as well as an Action film and all of those elements can make the movie confusing at times. I guess TT was trying to make a Teen film that was different from other Teen films at the time by making a genre mash-up film and throwing in everything but the kitchen sink in this movie and sometimes it succeeds and other times it fails The final 15-20 minutes of Tuff Turf are Action-packed and thrilling and a great ending and fun cap-off to the film.The whole cast is wonderful. James Spader is excellent and memorable as Morgan Hiller,with Spader bringing depth,charisma and humor to the role. Kim Richards is wonderful and beautiful as Frankie,Morgan's love interest and Nick's girlfriend. Paul Mones is fantastic as Nick,a gang leader and rival of Morgan and Frankie's boyfriend. Robert Downey Jr. is great as Jimmy,a student who becomes Morgan's friend. Matt Clark is wonderful as Stuart Hiller,Morgan's Father. Olivia Barash(Ronnie),Claudette Nevins(Page Hiller),Panchito Gomez(Mickey),Michael Wyle(Eddie),Catya Sassoon(Feather)and Bill Meyers(Brian Hiller)give good performances as well.The direction by Fritz Kiersch is great,with Kiersch bringing a great pace and style to the film,as well as great camera angles and movements. Wonderful direction,Kiersch.The score by Johnathan Elias is great and effective and matches the tone of the film. A fine score by Elias. The film also has a great soundtrack with songs from Jack Mack And The Heart Attack(So Tuff,Green Onions,She's Looking Good),Jim Carroll(People Who Died,Voices,It's Too Late),Marianne Faithful(Love Hates),Southside Johnny(Tuff Turf),Lene Lovich(Breakin' The Rules(What Do You Do When Opposites Attract),Dale Gonyea With J.R. & The Z-Man(Twist And Shout)and Jonathan Elias(We Walk The Night). Great soundtrack.In final word,if you love Teen Films,Gang Films or Action films,I suggest you see Tuff Turf,a film that's flawed and far from perfect but is entertaining,fun and is well worth your time. Recommended. 8.5/10.

Here is an '85 surprise hit, and something original too. Although this movie only came out at the drive in, I love this movie, every time I watch it. I remember seeing the shorts, and from there I took a vested interest in it, and when it finally came to viewing time, I was in no way disappointed. James Spader is the rebel who gets on the wrong side of the Tuffs, the most feared gang in high school, led by Mick, a fantastic ferocious performance by Paul Mones who outdoes Spader in the acting league. He brings to the role a truly, scared, feared, pathetic, pitiable character. Even though it runs over two hours in running time, time just breezes past in this movie, that saw Robert Downey Junior in one of his first roles, as an out there student/wannabe rocker, who befriends Spader. He brings that same Downey charm as he does in all his roles, even though he only has a small one. The movie opens up with a great soundtrack, as our rebel crusader, Spader, prevents a mugging from the Tuffs, which is how he ends up on the wrong side of them as they happen to attend the same school, that he's just started at. To make things worse Spader falls for the gang leader's woman, Frankie (Kim Richards in an impressive, dynamic, and very real performance, proving later on that's she's not as tough as she acts out. Spader is just average in his role, nothing special, where the older actors are better also. For an R rated movie, this one is quite tame, one scene involving a dead rat hanging in Spaders locker, it's blood dripping onto Spaders books. Sometimes it only takes one scene, but even for under eighteens (I was 16, 9 months when I saw it) this is one you should get your parents to go out and hire for ya. Let's face it, Silence of the Lambs would be much more disturbing than this. Some unexpected surprises arrive in this film too, with Spader and friends (and that includes, Mick's girl) crash a good club posing as members, skimming the huge buffet, smorgasboard, but funny too, is the way they blend in with the other folk, Downey always the comedian. And if this isn't a surprise enough, Spader gets Frankie up on the piano, and sings this beautiful song to her. This is one cool movie, it's climax a blockbuster, realistic as the whole movie is, with an optimistic ending that makes the whole viewing worth it. Fine quality drama, with great music tracks and believable characters. Anyone who disses a film like this needs a brain transplant, immediately.

Anyone interested in seeing what kind of films James Spader started his career with should begin with Tuff Turf. The New Kids would show a darker side of Spader, but that film also covers the same territory. The story deals with a spoiled brat troublemaker (Spader) whose family is forced to move to a seedy area of L.A. from Connecticut after they somehow lose all their money. Back where he comes from, you can tell Spader was the toughest and coolest kid in school, but the tougher kids from his new school quickly have him on the run. After breaking up an attempted mugging by the school's toughest gang, Spader gets his butt kicked and his property destroyed numerous times. To make things worse of course, Spader falls in love with the gang leader's girlfriend (Richards), and she has feelings for him, too. Needless to say, you don't mess around with a gang leader's woman! Even if you are James Spader.The film, though full of clichés as ancient as Romeo and Juliet, starts off with definite promise. The opening scene where Spader stops the mugging is exceptional. It's well-paced,well- filmed, and the action blocked perfectly. Every step the gang members take across the street as they pull out their weapons is well-choreographed. The film shifts gears somewhat as we see Spader adjust to his new school the following day. We are introduced to Robert Downey Jr.'s character, and he always livens things up in any film. His character is a bit of an enigma, to be certain. He quickly befriends Spader, yet he seems to know the gang well enough to borrow the gang leader's Camaro and things like that. He also plays drums for a pretty cool punk band we are introduced to a while later.The tone of the film is wildly inconsistent. The second half hour is bewilderingly bad. Spader, Downey, Richards, and another chick take the gang leader's car for a joyride to some posh locations where presumably Spader feels more at home. The group invades a country club in an excruciatingly bad scene which culminates with Spader playing the piano for his new love interest while she sits atop the instrument and looks embarrassed. Spader's singing performance sounds a lot like the first out-take of a James Blunt recording session before he's warmed up. In other words, it sucks. Things get worse as the group moves to a trendy dance club and Richards does some kind of dirty dance while the entire venue stops to check her out. Simply put, the scene is horrible.The acting is good enough. Spader and Downey just pretty much be themselves. Richards is certainly worth risking your life over. She's pretty, and she's cool enough to have Motley Crue pictures all over her bedroom walls! Paul Mones, who plays the gang leader is charismatic, but ultimately kind of wimpy. He really isn't too intimidating without his homies, and none of them look that tough, (excuse me...TUFF) either. Some of the music is a great example of the early 80s punk scene in L.A.. That Jack Mack and the Heart Attack band from the club is pretty lame, to say the least! No wonder some guy bombed the 1996 Olympics while they were playing a show! The Verdict: 5 of 10 stars. Basically for James Spader fans, only.The Hound.

I rented this film because I'm a fan of Kim Richards, who starred in "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Return to Witch Mountain."This movie reminded me so much of "West Side Story" because of the gang violence, all the dance numbers, and the events that parallel the story in "West Side Story." You can tell that whoever wrote the screenplay for "Tuff Turf" closely patterned it off of the sequence of events in "West Side Story" and "Romeo and Juliet." A guy meets a girl at a dance, she's part of a gang that doesn't like this guy, and despite being on opposite sides of the tracks, the guy and the girl fall for each other, and obstacles and bad things happen as a result. At the end of the movie, Kim Richards even channels Natalie Wood by picking up the gun and saying "How many bullets are left!? Enough for you!?"Anyway, if you're a fan of the '80s time period, this movie should be enjoyable. I really enjoyed this movie, it had a good love story, and there was a lot of suspense because you really didn't know whether this movie would have a happy ending or a tragic ending.I'm surprised Kim Richards never made anymore movies after this. She gave such a great performance, and she had the LONGEST hair, giving her such an edge to her hotness!