Watch Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! For Free

Just what I expected

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

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.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Having met a future Grammy award winner while I was in the Army, and then subsequently playing in the music business for 16 years -- it was "prima dona" types like "Eddie" that took the fun out of playing music. His hot-shot over-the-top approach is like a power back muscling his way through a sweaty line -- and real music isn't like that at all. It allows for the sensitivity in others that results in artists becoming more creative when they're not bossed around like a chain gang; and a supportive group blends as a musical thinking pot -- instead of losing interest because of a dictatorship of one ego controlling everyone else. Nice fantasy film...or else an expose on why they're so many "former" bands now lying in the trash-heap of time -- because of guys like Pare's character. Besides, for him to take 20 years to get everything "just perfect"...is usually outdated by the time he DOES get everything "perfect" -- and nobody cares about it anymore anyway by that time, because of the constant emerging talent-pool of all types, that are even MORE talented. Furthermore, for something to emerge as "good" 20 years later, is actually the sign of the times, of how the bar of taste and ethics has been lowered so much over the years -- that formerly rejected material is now considered tasteful. Still, the music in the movie wasn't bad...just the over-acting of an unrealistic character who'd be banned for life for punching a record producer who initially rejected his music, and for continually running away from things that didn't go his way, like a big baby. No REAL musician with any self esteem would want an immature character like this as their leader, and, as you can see, hundreds of great bands are getting along just fine, without him.

Eddie and the Cruisers 2 Eddie Lives was a pleasant surprise. To me the film was about love. Eddie loves music but was hurt he became scared so that one night in 1963 Eddie's car blew a tire and went over a guardrail and Eddie escaped he saw this as his chance to escape to get out of a life that had spun out of control. He split and just left everyone and everything behind and in the process hurt a lot of people. But Eddie also created a legend. Now Eddie and the Cruisers are enjoying a revival and Eddie is tortured he's living as a construction worker named Joe West and when he sees a band with the same drive he once had struggling he steps in to help and in the process creates a whole new band.He begins to create music again and this time is the added fear that he'll be found out. The movie is good from start to finish and the soundtrack is superb. This one got a bad reception when it should never have and is good enough to stand beside that first movie. This movie is pure entertainment dynamite from start to finish.

Entertaining 80s musical tale is self-important, posturing, and as cinematic as star Michael Pare's mustache, fake sideburns, and pompadour. Too bad the script's philosophical ramblings, these mumbled prophetically by our curiously musclebound and surly star, are so contrived, they almost rival the movie band's music. Warning: if you're as terrified by 12-bar blues numbers and shrieking rock n' roll saxophone as I am, you might not last the film. Even more challenging, Pare's words in defense of the wretched soundtrack are certainly delivered with passion: "You gotta play music that's got something to say, not something to show!" The iconic rock-star-from-the-grave, Eddie Wilson (Pare'), now doomed to either reclaim his crown or pout in obscurity (in Toronto, CA.) later delivers dialog about hearing some kind of earth tones while stranded in a desert. If this noble form of environmental muse music comes in the form of John Cafferty and Beaver Brown Band, who composed the movie's nauseating score, I'd have to say Eddie Wilson's biceps exceed his brain capacity. Musicians can't help but delight in the movie's totally uninformed--and moronic--truths revealed about everything concerning rock bands. It's very likely 80s gang members found more accuracy in their depiction in the "Death Wish" movies. The band members vary quite a lot in appearance, ranging from body-building (and shirtless) Manowar types in tight jeans to Pare's Elvis-meets-Bruce Springsteen persona to a nerdy Power Station keyboardist to a geeky metal guitarist, whose Joe Satriani shredding enables the movie its funniest scenes of Pare' "educating" the idiot on how lead guitar's "got to live, man! It's got to breath!". Meanwhile, the black rock n' roll saxophonist clogs too many songs and rehearsals with more soloing(!) Even more one-dimensional and baffling (and anti-Semitic) are the characterizations of the movie's diabolical Jewish producers, who provide hateful stereotypes wanting to further exploit poor Eddie Wilson's talent. One fumbling Hebrew musicologist named Schindler(!) appears in a t.v. segment worthy to rival one Isaac Abrahams, soon to appear in the Depth Charge production of "Naples Never Dies...It Shoots!" Lots to enjoy here, from the dancing 80s extras in the club scenes--many seen earlier in "St. Elmo's Fire", dancing to Rob Lowe's saxophone solos--to Pare's breaking into song so bogus, audio-wise, it's reminiscent of "Dr. Doolittle". Definitely a worthy sequel to "Eddie And The Cruisers", and warranting a double-feature.

I thought the movie was pretty decent, especially for a sequel, but it lacked original music. I say this because there were times when I thought that they were actually playing obscure Bruce Springsteen B sides, complete with a vocal imitation of Bruce. I actually came here to see if they were obscure Springsteen songs. I guess if you are going to borrow from anyone in a Jersey based movie it would be the Boss.I am a musician myself and I thought the feelings and references he made toward his passion for music were good, but I think he took the hard ass routine too far. The whole starving artist idea went out the window with me on the merits of playing unoriginal music that had been done for years prior. JMO