Load of rubbish!!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

On avenues A, B, and C, you have everything you want and need. What are you looking for? Name your price, and its yours! All three streets were given to a young 19 year old lad named Johnny, who has many responsibilities, but his main responsibility....keeping track of the drugs! And money! As if that wasn't enough of a burden, he has his home life, which is an absolute stink fest. His mom will sleep and dump a man quicker then you can know his name, and his sister doesn't stay around long enough to know what is going on. When Johnny is instructed to torch the same building his family is staying in, he wants his mom to go, but she doesn't know where. He doesn't care where, he just wants her to...go. In the meantime, poor Johnny is catching heat from the New York mobsters who want full control of their streets back, but Johnny's not going down without a fight, or a care in the world. Lucky for Johnny, this is a low budget movie, so its not going to get too brutal...or believable. On the plus side, we have some cool 80's effects going on in Alphabet City, but it can't make up for the lackluster script or plot that barely exists. Many scenes just drag, and its boring as hell. However, its a great attempt, the efforts seem to be there, even if it does fail on every level, and it does have a good concept to work with. It just doesn't....work....as bad as I would have wanted it to, it just doesn't work. A likeable movie? Sure, why not! It's not a bad movie, even if it does have its flaws. It's not a good movie either, so be prepared for a lot of....oh, can you please overlook the bad editing? The EDITING! It's way too obvious, and its one of my main complaints with the film. They either didn't know what they were doing, or they didn't have enough time to work on it. I don't know. Packed into this, a few scenes of awesome, and a few scenes of pure adrenaline rush! Does it make up for the downfalls? NO! But it sure doesn't kill the watch, either. 5 out of 10 stars from me.

I watched this Saturday night on TCM, thinking how cool the mid-80's were until I witnessed watching this piece of sheet, simply unwatchable, the backdrops were obviously, cheaply and hurriedly put together, Spano can't act, easy to see he had no career, all he does is his best Richard Gere from scene to scene,looking more confused as this thing progressed, Jamie Gertz also appears, easy to see she had not enrolled in any acting classes and if I hear the name Johnny again, I'm going on a murder spree in Alphabet City. Furthermore, I felt raped and then left for dead in Alphabet City, you will too, if you watch this. -10 out of 10.

Alphabet City does have a cool style about it, with Spano, so good in this, mirroring a kind of younger Pacino (watch the way his eyes move in this) as 19 young street smart Johnny who controls the drug market for the big guys. But what AC scarcely makes up for in style, it lacks in it's prolonged and insufficient story. When asked by his boss to torch the building his parents reside, he's stuck between a rock and a hard place, literally, cause there's no way in hell, his folks are gonna split. He implores little sis (Jamie Gertz) to be the one to talk some sense into him, but like her parents will be, she's against it too. The movie is basically set over one night, with Johnny now wanting out, running back and forth, trying to figure a way out of this nightmare, first trying to collect his doe. You don't really have to be Einstein to figure out where the story goes from here. Yet still, with it's flashy appeal in a tame R rated movie, almost void or gore or bad language (I don't see how it earned this, like a few other movies of these 80's) this still manages to be an okay drama, on a bit of a flat running level. But honestly, this flick with some cool hip music, is worth watching, just for Spano's performance. Where the hell is this impressive 80's actor these days. Love Spano's boss's young floozy, Karen, in the red dress.

Overlooked movie from 1984. As a movie I give it a 7 but as a 1980's "street drama" I give it a 10. excellent performance by a young Jamie Gertz as the whiny little sister coming of age in the cement Jungles of NY. Vince Spano I thought gave a realistic performance as the young street hustler who was actually a nice guy underneath. Michael Windslow, the human sound effects guy who made his fame in the "Police Academy" movies was really good as drug house leader who is slowly spinning into a life as a junkie.The Music....Now the music was just amazing. It was written by Nile Rogers from the disco era Chic. There is music on there that I have never been able to find anywhere. Look for a song called "Lady Luck"Anyone who was a young adult in the 80's will see a blast from the past especially if they were around the big cities. It has its cheesy moments but all in all a decent flick.Rent it from Net Flix.