Road House

It started out SO much stronger than the 2024 remake. I'd probably give it a solid 3 stars based on the first half or 3/4 of the film. I liked Sam Elliot and Jeff Healey quite a bit. I've never much liked Patrick Swayze, but I thought he was pretty good at first too, and the overall setup and dynamic was fun. And then it just turned into absurd "revenge porn" -- not, obviously, in the modern meaning of the non-consensual release of intimate photos of videos, but in the sense of "food porn", "gear porn", "violence porn", etc.: Over-the-top, extreme violence, driven purely by immature, unbridled revenge, clearly for the purpose of the glorification of brutally violent revenge, clearly meant for unhealthy members of the audience to enjoy.

A nostalgia review. Having just seen the rather bad Jake Gyllenhaal 'remake' I decided to seek out the original. Sure enough the likeability of Patrick Swayze immediately made the first Road House more relatable and watchable, well for 20 minutes or so. After that we descend in to a strange 80s mullet laden homage to 1950s westerns and the whole thing becomes palpably ridiculous. This is the issue revisiting things you once thought were ok, my wife convinced me recently that a baked bean and corn beef toastie was fantastic because she loved it so much as a teenager. Well we made one and it was bloody awful which sums up both the new and old iterations of this movie, cosy past memories cannot be trusted!

The original Road House was poorly received by critics when it first came out, (when do critics actually applaud anything anyways?) Road House had a pretty solid box office return. Road House made $30 million domestically in theaters in 1989, which, adjusted for inflation, is equivalent to about $75 million today. The film over the years became so well known for it's quotes and soundtrack. With the Jeff Healey Band carrying the film. Eventually Road House developed a cult fanbase and became a household film. And became famous enough for Hollywood to agree to a Reboot, which, like all reboots, failed.

Clássico absoluto, vale a pena ser assistido.

Patrick Swayze as a PhD? That pushes the bounds of reality. Good action though.

At that time, I loved it. Still better than the remake. Not textbook script and cinematography, but hey, who cares, if Swayze & Elliott was in a movie, it's gotta be great huh? Lots of wild, untamed and unfiltered action and some cheesy, though memorable 😜, one-liners. Never boring ...

Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliot in an 1980s movie sign me up anytime! Remember above all be nice!

Great film, easy to watch, and constantly entertaining. Have watched this movie a few times and have never gotten bored. Patrick Swazye plays the character well. Really enjoyable film!

There was something so refreshing about this movie. It knows exactly what it is, and tells you exactly what it's going to do within the first 5 minutes. Also, it totally understands the principle assignment...Entertain the audience.

Action from beginning to end!