Hearts of Fire

Hearts of Fire

VHS cover of Hearts of Fire
Directed by Richard Marquand
Produced by Doug Harris
Jennifer Miller
Iain Smith
Written by Joe Eszterhas
Starring Bob Dylan
Rupert Everett
Fiona Flanagan
Suzanne Bertish
Music by John Barry
Cinematography Alan Hume
Edited by Sean Barton
Distributed by Lorimar Productions
Release dates
  • 1987 (1987) (U.S.)
Running time
 95 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $17 million

Hearts of Fire is a 1987 American musical drama film starring Bob Dylan, Fiona Flanagan (billed only as "Fiona") and Rupert Everett. The film was essentially a vehicle for Dylan based on his success as a rock musician. It received poor reviews, a limited theatrical release[1] and was later written off by Dylan himself.

Origin and filming

Originally written by Scott Richardson, the screenplay was rewritten by Basic Instinct writer Joe Eszterhas because Lorimar Productions felt that Richardson was a "baby writer" and not experienced enough to take on the responsibility of a starring vehicle for a rock icon of Dylan's stature. Hearts of Fire is also regarded as the film that "killed Richard Marquand", who directed Return of the Jedi of Star Wars fame and died of a stroke the same year.[2][3]

The film was shot in Canada (Hamilton and Toronto) at the defunct Davenport Works of the Canadian General Electric Company and the United Kingdom (Southerndown and Coney Beach at Porthcawl).[4][5] The film's concert scenes were shot at the Colston Hall in Bristol,[6] and Camden, North London (UK).[5] Concert scenes filmed at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton Ontario

Release

Hearts of Fire did extremely poorly in theaters. It was first released in the UK in 1987, being pulled from the theaters after approximately two weeks. As a result, the film was not even released to theaters in the United States, and was sent directly to video in 1990.[7] Hearts of Fire was re-released once more on VHS by Warner Brothers on December 6, 1993.[8]

To date, the film has not been released on DVD.

Reviews

Variety lamented that it was "unfortunate that the last film of helmer Richard Marquand, who died shortly after completing it, should be Hearts of Fire" and that the film failed "to fire on all cylinders despite a nimble performance by the enigmatic Bob Dylan typecast as a reclusive rock star."[9] Channel 4 deemed the film a "blunt instrument of 80s vacuity."[10] DVDLaser stated that it is "a really bad movie," but also that the viewer's opinion of Bob Dylan is "the key to liking or disliking the film."[11]

Time Out London said that Dylan "hovers enigmatically on the sidelines, offering jaundiced comments."[12]

Soundtrack

In 1987, Columbia released the soundtrack to the film. Dylan was apparently originally contracted to write and contribute four new original recordings to the album,[13] but would only turn in two original songs and one cover tune. The tracks included a cover of John Hiatt's "The Usual," along with the Dylan originals "Night After Night" and "Had a Dream About You Baby." Dylan would later release an alternate version of "Had a Dream About You Baby" on the 1988 album Down in the Groove.

References

  1. ↑ Heylin, Clinton (2003). Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited. HarperCollins. pp. 603–604. ISBN 0-06-052569-X. C1 control character in |pages= at position 5 (help)
  2. ↑ Eszterhas, Joe (2005). Hollywood Animal. Random House, Inc. p. 35. ISBN 0-375-71895-8.
  3. ↑ Eszterhas, Joe (2007). The Devil's Guide to Hollywood: The Screenwriter as God!. Macmillan. pp. 176, 352. ISBN 0-312-37384-8.
  4. ↑ "Internet Movie Database - List of Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario". Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  5. 1 2 Hearts of Fire (1987) - Filming locations
  6. ↑ "History 1980s". Colston Hall. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (2003). Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 2004. Plume. p. 598. ISBN 0-452-28478-3.
  8. ↑ Hearts of Fire Amazon.com
  9. ↑ "Hearts of Fire Movie Review". Variety. 1987-01-01.
  10. ↑ "Channel4.com/film - Hearts of Fire". Channel4.com. 2006-06-24. Archived from the original on 2006-06-24. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "Hearts of Fire Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London". Timeout.com. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  13. ↑ "Hearts Of Fire Press Conference". Interferenza.com. 1986-08-17. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

External links

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