Customer Ratings & Reviews

Silver Streak is a classic 1976 film that teamed up two inspired comedians: Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. Two comedians/actors who had different styles of comedy but when they got together, boy did they create some amazing comedy and had terrific chemistry. Though not exactly friends in real life (When making their second film, Stir Crazy, a rather infamous incident fueled by Pryor's drug addiction strained their relationship severly) they managed to make four films together and each one with their chemistry on full display. So is this film any different, the third of their four films together? David Lyons(Gene Wilder), a former actor who runs a newsstand in New York City,after going deaf from a bout of scarlet fever in his youth. Managing to fool everybody for the most part, mainly by learning to read lips, he gets by rather well independently. Wally Karue (Richard Pryor) is a blind man who isn't too great with money, managing to lose at the tracks over and over again, and owes his bookie several grand in losses. Finding a job opening at Dave's newsstand, he manages to easily befriend him and land the job, after a bar fight celebrating Wally's success of landing a job. First day on the job, Wally's bookie comes looking for him, but is away gathering the morning deliveries of papers. Unbeknownst to the bookie, he was followed by two rather shady people: Eve (Joan Severance) and Kirgo (Kevin Spacey), who work for Sutherland (Anthony Zerbe). The bookie was running a stolen coin for Sutherland, but was about to run off with the coin to sell it himself. While tricking David to read a box of antacid to him, the bookie is shot dead, and David and Wally are confused as the murderers. They take his belongings and try searching for the missing coin, but the bookie hid the coin in David's coin box. While being detained, the duo manage to escape from the cops, and they set out to solve the mystery of who killed Wally's bookie, why they killed him over a coin, and try to earn their freedom, along with Wally's sister, Adele (Kirsten Childs). I remember watching this film as a young kid in the early 90s (Weird choice, being an R rated comedy though edited heavily on TV) and discovering the talents of Wilder and Pryor, and enjoying them to this day, and being over 20 years later since I first viewed the film, how does it hold up? Rather well actually. I recall learning years later about Pryor's and Wilder's difficulties, kind of saddened but watching their movies, its never noticeable they were indifferent to each other. Their pairing here is still successful, managing to mine comedy gold in almost every scene throughout the film, despite some questionable screenwriting here and there. Joan Severance and Kevin Spacey also have good chemistry as well as the main villains, with Severance as Eve successfully playing a seductive killer. Spacey showcases his talent fairly early in his career, and while not on the level of Verbal Kint or Frank Underwood, manages to be quite evil here. Alan North as the exasperated police captain Braddock is very amusing, made to look like a fool by the duo who should be seemingly easy to catch with their disabilities. Zerbe is effective as Sutherland, making the most as a mostly heard role, and Childs as Adele is also good as Wally's sister. Arthur Hiller, teaming up 13 years after Silver Streak with his stars, manages to direct his actors well, finding the right balance throughout, and pacing it well for most of the run time with a few slow spots here and there but is mainly just exposition, which brings me to the screenplay. Credited to six (!) people (Marvin Worth, a producer on the film helped write the story with Earl Barret & Arne Sultan who wrote the initial draft, with Eliot Wald & Andrew Kurtzman doing another pass with Gene Wilder himself writing a draft as well), the film is a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. The plot is fairly lazy (Imagine of Hitchcock directed an R-rated comedy) , some dialogue being fairly poor and is just an overall jumbled mess, but the actors and director manage to roll with the punches and craft a fun movie. The cinematography by Victor J. Kemper creates a sleek, crisp look to the comedy, managing to capture the hustle and bustle of New York extremely well (He did film Dog Day Afternoon after all in NYC) and still looks terrific. The score, by Stewart Copeland of The Police, gives us a nice score, with some nice electric guitar undertones, with a nice synth beat giving life to the film and helps set the tone for the film. Production design is nice, editing is okay, but there are a few scenes where it could've used some better takes or added some inserts to help things flow a bit more smoothly, but better than a lot of movies out there and the costumes (Especially Severance's wardrobe) is very well done as well. Moving onto the BluRay, we start off with the PQ and for a 20+ year comedy that was shot on 35mm film, the results are quite good. Film grain is present but never obtrusive, colors are accurate and saturated well, the New York locations are detailed very nicely and the details of the costumes are rendered well. The AQ is also rendered well via a LPCM 2.0 stereo track that has some great stereo separation and dialogue and music come through very well here. Unfortunately there are no extras to be had, not even a trailer or a TV spot for the film. On the original DVD release and on a few other Sony DVD's, there was a couple of trailers present for the film. Its a shame Image Entertainment couldn't be bothered to include them or nab some interviews from Wilder and Hiller, a commentary or even some deleted scenes. Overall, this is a fun comedy, worthy to watch over and over again, but it can't quite nab the suspense like SIlver Streak, or have a few classic moments Stir Crazy had, but you can count on this film being superior to their last film together, Another You. That is a different review for a different time.

This movie was hard to find. I ordered it from Best Buy. They had it.

With the passing of the great Gene Wilder, I just had to buy this movie, and for less than 5 bucks, what a deal. Yes, it is not as funny as Blazing Saddles (co-written by Pryor, and co-starring Wilder), but it is a cute movie and it's funny to see Kevin Spacey with an accent- and hair, you won't even recognize him. Alan North you'll recognize as the harried top cop from the Police Squad movies- and this movie is not for kiddies, thanks to a shower scene with a young Joan Severance. Cute laid back comedy that starts slow, builds up and has quite a surprise ending. 4 out of 5 stars in my book. Enjoy.

There isn't a doubt in my mind that Richard Pryor, and Gene Wilder are great comedic actors. This movie was recommended to me by a friend. I don't know about you, but most comedies really don't stand the test of time. This is one which I can honestly say does! Most comedies rely on shock value, "See no Evil, Hear no Evil" relys on its witty banter, between these comedic stars of yester year. I wish more comedies would go back to this formula, rather than relying on sophmoric redundancies

This camera was purchased for my daughter's 14th birthday. A cute and quick way to capture quick moments and also great for her to use when hanging out with her friends. Easy to setup and use. I purchased fun colorful bordered film as well which creates nice photos to display in her room/locker. For the price it was a great buy and I am very satisfied with my purchase .

A great combo is Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor...A Classic LOL movie and even my kids (who are 19 and 22) loved it. There is some language and brief nudity so not for younger kids. It was a favorite of mine when it came out and now I own it and can watch it over and over - and I have already watched it twice since I bought it!

Considering the stars and the story this was bound to be offensive to someone...or many someones. But this is a good time once you get past the range of politically incorrect things that are said. Just enjoy yourself. Pryor and Wilder are always good.

Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder are fantastic in their comedic duo roles. Richard plays a blind man and Gene plays a deaf man so the interaction of the two from start to finish is hilarious. The plot is simple but very enjoyable.

This is a very funny movie -- Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder are hysterical together. My son and nephew appreciate great movies (regardless of when they were made). When I found this movie at Best Buy for $5.99, buying it for each of them was a no-brainer.

This movie holds up well. The BluRay itself is of good quality. Some film graininess but that's to be expected given the age. Great price for a classic Pryor/Wilder movie.

Two great comedians team up, and the sum is greater than the individual parts !

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor are both very funny. I was happy to find a copy of this DVD ( especially for the price). The two main actors get framed. The one character is blind and the other one is deaf.

Both these guys are comedic geniuses. And they compliment each other really well, especially in this. Again, great premise - one is blind, one is deaf. Comedy ensues. Definitely worth seeing again and again.

I was born in 86' I'm somewhat old but not too old. This movie I watched a long time ago as a kid and figured I buy it. I thought it was going to be my kind of funny but not really. That doesn't mean others won't find it funny especially for those older than me that grew up in the richard prior era. There were a few parts I chuckled at but not my type of movie to be honest. A bit cheesy but some movies are meant to be cheesy too. If you are an oldies movie type of person I suggest getting this movie otherwise look elsewhere

My daughter and I watched this movie together and we really laughed alot. One of the characters is blind and he becomes buddies with a man who is deaf. It is very funny!

Old school comedy by two of the best. Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor are hilarious in this.

Seen this movie plenty of times but i just had to purchase it when i saw it in the bin for next to nothing. Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder never let me down. Too bad nothing lasts forever.

These two are great on their own but even better together. The premise for this movie is funny on its own but these guys sell it for all it's worth. Great comedy.

One of my favorite Richard Pryor movies. Joan Severance looks amazing but some of the nudity is not present. You need to look for older full frame versions for that! Still a FUNNY movie!

Two people who are blind and deaf go on an adventure to try and prove their innocence of murder. Saw this as a kid and thought it was funny. Seeing it now and it's still just as funny.