Defiance (1980) [G98F5366]

For some time I was hoping to find the 1980 movie Defiance on laserdisc which was only released in Japan.



Given I appear to be the only person who currently has this in their collection I thought it was one worth offering a review of as it is an movie that seems to have been largely forgotten about despite the fact it is rather good.

Think of it as a modern day (set in the late 70's) version of High Plains Drifter where a stranger comes into a neighborhood that is overrun by a ruthless gang and shows his neighbours how to stand up and be counted. Jan-Michael Vincent delivers a powerhouse performance as an out-of-work seaman who has to set up temporary home in a New York slum until he can get a job aboard another ship. The opening scenes depicting the area he is living in would make you feel sorry for anyone having to endure such a run down hell hole. This could of course be any city in the world.

As is so often the case in a poor neighborhood the people are friendly, helpful and honest with everyone struggling to makes ends meet. It is a tightly knit community where everyone knows everyone else. Jan sees first hand that the entire neighborhood is being terrorized by a street gang who call themselves the Souls. They steal from the shops, threaten neighbours with violence and generally make life total misery for anyone living there. Whilst Jan tries to keep his head down and ignore the gang it is not long before he gets into direct confrontation with one of them and pays a heavy price for doing so. This however does not deter him from helping others who are being targeted by the gang and he soon establishs a reputation as the local hero in the neighbourhood even if he doesn't want to be!

Jan develops a romance with Theresa Saldana who is a neighbour who lives directly above him. When he finally gets another job offer at sea he tells his closest neighbours that he is leaving and Theresa is heartbroken and the rest of the neighbours are devastated as they were hoping he would help them quash the gang. One of the neighbours gives a statement to the Police after the local bingo hall is raided and is then beaten up by the gang upon their release. Another neighbour builds up enough courage of his own to confront the gang himself even being so bold as to punch the main leader in the face......unfortunately that proves to be a fatal mistake and he is found dead in the streets the next morning. While Jan is being driven out of the ghetto, he is distracted by a friend from the ghetto running towards the murder scene and gets to find out what the gang have done. This is the final straw as far as he is concerned and he returns back to the neighbourhood in defiance rather than worry about the job.

A few of his closest friends in the neighbourhood join him and they visit the Souls hideout and destroy their vehicles. They then plan to regroup for a direct confrontation with the gang. The plan being that one of the friends will get an army of helpers from the neighbourhood. Unfortunately the army of helpers do not materialise as the people in the neighbourhood are too scared of the gang retaliating. It seems like all is lost when Jan and three others reluctantly go to war with the Souls by themselves and get cornered and vastly outnumbered in a side alley with nowhere to run. Suddenly many more neighbours show up to help out - too ashamed to let Jan and his friends have to face the gang alone having seen what the gang has done to other neighbours previously. The gang is now vastly outnumbered by the neighbours and they try to escape. Jan targets the leader of the gang and makes sure he does not escape at any price even if it dam near kills him! The final scenes show a united neighbourhood where they are all prepared to give statements to the Police to have these hoods banged up in jail.

Although many scenes in the movie depict hopelessness and devastation there is actually a very positive message that comes out which is that that good will always prevail.
The movie is also underpinned by an excellent music soundtrack which helps add to the tension particularly during the fight sequences.

I'd last seen this movie over 20 years ago shown late one night on TV but had always remembered it. Seeing it again recently on laserdisc only served to remind me what an excellent movie it is even if it was neither a critical or commercial success upon its release.

The laserdisc was only released in Japan so features subtitles in the image. Picture quality was excellent with no signs of rot on the laserdisc.
Although it was released in 1986 it features only an analogue audio soundtrack which was a little low on volume at times but still clean if turned up.

What sets this movie apart from so many other exploitation or vigilante type movies from this same era is it doesn't try to glorify violence or encourage it.
No one in the neighbourhood wants to fight the gang - they are just ordinary people trying to lead a normal life.
It shows how confrontation can occur though and how to tackle it by joining together and supporting one another rather than taking the law into your own hands individually.
Honestly the final few scenes are so upbeat that you will be standing up and literally cheering when you see the ruthless gang defeated as everyone pulls together 'rocky style' and beats them at their own game!
It also has a romantic element to it and some time for some humour via the 'big fish' and 'basketball' scenes where he gets to know one of his neighbours in a rather strange manner!