''Defiance'' is a 1980 American

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

neo noir crime film starring

Jan-Michael Vincent Jan-Michael Vincent (July 15, 1944 – February 10, 2019) was an American actor known for portraying helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke in the TV series ''Airwolf'' (1984–1987) and the protagonist, Matt Johnson, in the 1978 film ''Big W ...

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best known for his role as Ed Norton on the si ...

, and

Theresa Saldana Theresa Saldana (August 20, 1954 – June 6, 2016) was an American actress, activist, and writer. She is known for her role as Rachel Scali, the wife of Police Commissioner Tony Scali, in the 1990s television series '' The Commish'', for which s ...

. The film was an early

Jerry Bruckheimer Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy, and science fiction. His films include '' Flashdance'', ''Top Gun'', '' The Rock'', '' ...

production. The film was unsuccessful upon release, both with critics and the public, though it was shown often on cable film channels (such as HBO) in the early 1980s.

Plot

The film follows Tommy, a suspended young seaman (Jan-Michael Vincent) who takes up temporary housing in a New York neighborhood while waiting for his next orders to ship out. The neighborhood is controlled by a gang called 'The Souls', led by Angel Cruz ( Rudy Ramos), who steal and rob at will. No one will press charges due to fear of retribution, so Tommy takes matters into his own hands to combat the growing violence, spurring his fellow neighbors to join him.

Cast

as Tommy *

as Marsha *

as Abe * Danny Aiello as Carmine * Rudy Ramos as Angel Cruz * Lenny Montana as Whacko *

Joseph Campanella Joseph Anthony Campanella (November 21, 1924 – May 16, 2018) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 television and film roles from the early 1950s to 2009. Campanella was best remembered for his roles as Joe Turino on ' ...

as Karenski *Santos Morales as Paolo *Fernando López as Kid *

Frank Pesce Frank Pesce (December 8, 1946 – February 6, 2022) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in New York City, Pesce was the son of two working-class Italian-American parents. Career Pesce started his film career as an e ...

as Herbie

Production

John Flynn later said working with Jan Michael Vincent was difficult:

Jan was a drinker even then. He had
Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Feb ...
s for breakfast. There was a night scene where we literally had to prop him up. Poor Jan. He latched onto Danny Aiello. Jan loved Danny and tried to give him more of his own lines in the picture. I told Jan he couldn’t mess with the script like that. But Jan was a sweet guy. He never believed that he was an actor, though. He was embarrassed to be an actor. He always thought he was doing an awful job and that people were laughing at him. You had to keep telling him he was wonderful and he would do whatever you wanted him to do. Jan was like a little kid, but he just didn’t believe in himself. Talk about actors’ egos. He was the opposite. This was an actor with a non-ego.

References

External links

* American crime drama films Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer 1980 crime drama films American vigilante films Films directed by John Flynn Films scored by Dominic Frontiere Films shot in New York City Films set in New York City 1980s vigilante films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{1980s-crime-drama-film-stub