Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumblefish is one of the more visually striking movies of the 80s.

It was shot back to back with Coppola’s similarly themed, but far less stylish, The Outsiders. Rumblefish has a deliberately avant-garde style, shot in high contrast black and white, with lots of noir overtones. The experimental approach extends to the music, with a percussive score is by Stewart Copeland, drummer with The Police.  

Sadly, the movie was an undeserved box office bomb. It stars Matt Dillon as wannabe hoodlum Rusty James (hence the rather uninspired French title on the poster). He is overshadowed however by Micky Rourke as his elder brother “The Motorcycle Boy”. Rourke’s mannered performance oozes cool. It’s a pity he threw his career away with a series of poor professional and lifestyle choices shortly after.