CROSSROADS (1986)
Director: Walter Hill
Columbia Pictures
Eugene nervously grips the guitar pick that rests somewhat unsurely in his young hands. Suddenly to the left of the stage, Jack Butler emerges with a fearless swagger, swathed by his black mane of wild hair. Jack acknowledges the eager crowd with a confident wry smile and then plugs his guitar lead into a sheer wall of Marshall amps.
Stealing himself, Eugene (Ralph Macchio) opens with the first lick from his Fender- Stratocaster guitar, a soulful Blues ditty that subtlety mocks his rival. The "Head-Cutting" dual has now commenced and Butler (Steve Vai), modern Blues-metal man and chosen shred-meister of The Devil himself, unleashes a furious barrage of sinister riffs that descends into a thundering solo; as if a thousand black stallions reared and neighed at once.
The faithful crowd watches on as the two "axe-men", battle it out on the stage. There’s a whole lot more at stake than mere pride, endless cases of Budweiser beer and adoring floozies; the ultimate prize is to keep a man away from the burnin’ pits of Hell itself. In order to save his cantankerous mentor, Willie Brown, Eugene must employ all of the skillz the old man has shown him since they both busted out of New York City just a few week earlier.
Crossroads is a journey of redemption to the heart of the Mississippi, where many years ago, a young man sold his soul to The Devil ‘round midnight at a fork in the road for blues-fame and fortune.
This film shreds like a mother-bitch!
- Review by Jordan Bloomer
Here's a scene from the film: