Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

best movie i've ever seen.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The '50s nostalgia spawned by "American Graffiti" was bound to include a number of movies imitating "American Graffiti". "The Lords of Flatbush" - deliberately rendered with the grammatically incorrect "Lord's" - is an example. I wouldn't call the movie a ripoff since it's more of a drama. The movie does have character development. It's clear that the main characters don't have much ambition beyond their greaser lifestyle. Whereas most nostalgia movies have soundtracks of songs that people are immediately going to recognize, this one contained songs that I didn't know. As for these guys' future, I sometimes wonder if any greasers went through a hippie stage.Anyway, it's not a great movie but still worth seeing.Doesn't it seem as if, watching Henry Winkler's character, you keep thinking that you're watching a serious version of Fonzie?

In 1958 Brooklyn, we follow the Lords (or grammatically incorrect "Lord's", according to their jackets and the main title), a group of leather-wearing, greased-haired, immature, high school tough guys. At the head of the gang is Stanley (Sylvester Stallone), an intimidating thug with a guarded heart of gold, who's in a dilemma when his rough-talking girl Frannie (Maria Smith) announces she's pregnant. Her best friend Annie (Renee Paris) is dating the handsome Chico (Perry King), but Chico only uses her for sex while really setting his eyes on the new girl in school (Susan Blakely). Butchey (Henry Winkler) is the most bright of the Lords, and could make something better of himself if he wanted. Wimpy (Paul Mace) is a short member of the group who hangs out with his friends for the security it gives him.Most of what occurs on screen has no plot, and consists of vignettes with its cast members. Stallone fares best of all, and some good moments include him bullying a rival gang member in a pool hall, and especially the film's best scene near the end that takes place inside a jewelry store, when Frannie and Annie push Sly into buying a $1600 engagement ring against his will. Henry Winker's promising part was, unfortunately, under-written... but he's got one good scene occurring after hours alone in the local candy store hangout, where the shop owner tries to drill some sense into his head about how much more wisely he could be spending his time. Perry King's Chico is the main character, but he's such a jerk in the movie that he's hard for us to invest in.Ultimately, the movie has a good deal of problems and is only average. At best, this is watchable to me every few years as being one of those nostalgic guilty pleasures that I first saw in the theater when I was around 11 (it even featured the now-defunct Sunrise Drive-In, which was not far from where I lived back then). It's a very cheap film that was shot on 16mm and blown up, which accounts for its rough looking quality, and also for some poor sound issues that make it difficult to discern occasional dialogue. It's got a 1970s rock n roll soundtrack of made up '50s tunes of varying quality, some of which drown out moments of talking at times. But it's still worth at least one viewing to see a young Sylvester Stallone (who would later become ROCKY) and Henry Winkler (in a rough draft for his Fonzie character of HAPPY DAYS) getting to shine in a couple of brief moments. ** out of ****

No review here. Just a memory of seeing The Lords of Flatbush, a cheapjack greaser of a nostalgia flick that was designed to cash in on the whole '50s nostalgia craze thirty-odd years ago.I saw it once at the drive-in and once more on ABC a year or two later. In the short time between its theatrical release and television debut, Perry King, Sly Stallone, and Henry Winkler had hit it from moderate to big and I thought my opinion would have improved with the recognition of early work from a talented group of actors. It didn't, and it still hasn't.TLOF is dull and embarrassing, sporting one deep and memorable observation about a character, something to the effect that he weeps when he ejaculates.Them thar's great writin', huh! Skip this greasy mess.

A good, decent film about leaving adolescence behind, and the threshold to adulthood.Sylvester Stallone is very good as Stanley, the pug of the gang, who is facing fatherhood and marriage, and tries to amiably go along. He's not too bright, but he understands there is much more out there. His scene on the roof with Perry King is his way of trying to communicate that the world they have been living in is coming to an end, but, through their dreams and imagination, they can go places and experience other things. Things are changing for him, and he instinctively realizes there is much more to the world than their little corner of Brooklyn.Perry King's Chico, on the other hand, is brighter than he lets on, and he understands all too well what is out there and is waiting for them. The trouble is, in the adult world, he will never again have the freedom and power that he has running the streets with the Lords. Growing up is not something he looks forward to. He resents what he sees as the end of the road. He wouldn't mind living out the rest of his life with the Lords, prowling the streets, knocking up girls, fighting with the clean cut kids. In this world, he is powerful and respected, but he senses it coming to an end. His argument on the roof with Stanley is his rejection of dreaming or imagining something, or somewhere, else. His unfortunate episode with Susan Blakely is his inability to relate to her as another human being. To him, she is still just a chick to be laid, not someone he may have to relate to. Everyone around him is growing up and passing him by, and Chico resents it. He basically wants things to stay just as they are.The final rumble at the football field is an example of the Lords in their element, when they are at their happiest. The aftermath of the fight (the accident) is a further reminder that this life is at an end, and adulthood awaits, whether they are ready for it or not.A decent, entertaining movie. Quite an interesting character study, well-acted, especially by King and Stallone.