Night of the Juggler, Revisited

This is a cult classic from 1980 that I reviewed over a decade ago; finally, I watched the restored 4K version that I bought on disc two months ago: 

Finally, I watched the 4K disc I’ve had of this film for the past two months. Night of the Juggler I first learned about many years ago via a messageboard-in fact, it was seen and reviewed by me almost 11 years ago already. At the time, everyone only had VHS rips or rips off of rare cable TV airings—for reasons still unknown to me, until Kino Lorber this year, Juggler never made it to the disc era. There certainly were rumors-including that the rights were owned by a soap company (?!) and they prevented release. No matter the truth, the UHD quality sure beat the initial viewing.

The movie is as loud and chaotic as its hot summer day New York City setting. James Brolin is a working blue-collar man (truck driver) who is an ex-cop; he has an ex-wife but still loves his daughter Kathy, who is celebrating her 13th birthday that day. Kathy is kidnapped by a psychopath after being mistaken for the daughter of a rich property developer who purportedly ruined his South Bronx childhood neighborhood.

Brolin’s Sean Boyd witnesses the kidnapping-his rage meter runs hot for hours-the movie is one set during a long day and night. A particularly wild scene is early on-Boyd hops in a cab driven by an OOT Puerto Rican. Sure, that character’s portrayed by a young Mandy Patinkin (decidedly not of Puerto Rican heritage) but that part was hysterical and his screentime was brief. There’s car chases, foot chases, carjackings, fights, stabbings, brawls, etc. in a vibrant New York City. Shooting on vacation was a key asset in bringing character to this film. Another colorful character was Dan Hedaya, playing even more of a Hedaya-esque character than typical. Various different ethnicities are shown & the finale takes place during a salsa concert in Central Park.

Sure, the movie has moments and lines definitely of a “politically incorrect” nature 45 years after the fact-including racial slurs-but that’s the vibes of the film. Boyd (who limps for part of the film because Brolin broke his foot during filming) feels he can’t trust the typical NYC law enforcement, instead relying on people like street-smart Julie Carmen. One of my favorite aspects is seeing the bad New York City of old; well, plenty of that is on display, from Bronx locations that look like a warzone to the adult establishments that used to fill Manhattan.

Night of the Juggler is wildly entertaining, often fast-paced and a product of its time in the best ways. The main cast was quite enjoyable, not just Brolin as the loving albeit loose cannon father who delivers a great physical performance. Cliff Gorman was suitably creepy as villain Gus Soltic-in another sign this was from the past, his relationship with Kathy becomes what I’ll deem “increasingly inappropriate.” He does have a somewhat wise scheme to get the ransom money-the film also has a somewhat credible path for Sean to follow to find his daughter in such a populated area. Thankfully there’s Richard S. Castellano as a Lieutenant who is gruff yet is a cop who attempts to do his job right.

The special features haven’t been dived into yet; the presumption is that there will be an explanation as to why the movie was first filmed by Sidney J. Furie but was replaced by Robert Butler. In any event, if the description sounds enticing and tasty for your palette, Night of the Juggler is well worth a viewing.