Tony This still remains the guitar fan go to movie, this soundtrack is unsurpassed. It has it all, classical & blues acoustic, then R&B / rock electric. This is from a time people argued whose the best guitarist or drummer. Sadly now music challenges are who can rhyme most insults. Yes I think rap should be spelt with a c, and DJ sampling is nothing other than theft. There'll never be great musicians again apart from niche listening.

tieman64 Next to Hal Ashby's "Bound for Glory" and Sidney Lumet's "Running on Empty", this little film by Walter Hill looks decidedly pointless. It's a tale about a young white kid who so loves blues music that he rescues a legendary blues musician from a minimum-security hospital. The duo then hitchhike to the state of Mississippi, the elderly blues musician using unorthodox practises to teach the white kid how to be a "great player" along the way.In other words, it's "Karate Kid" with harmonicas, both films fetishizing the exotic (Japan, Martial Arts, The Blues) and using white characters as an entryway into some heavily sanitized fringe culture. Indeed, actor Ralph Macchio plays the kid in both films, Macchio becoming a kind of symbol for cultural co-option.More interesting is the film's approach to myth. The blues musician sold his soul to the devil many years ago in return for artistic success. Unfortunately, though he is well known by a small fringe group for being a great blues musician, he never found happiness, riches or success. At the end of the film, the kid makes a similar deal with the devil, only in this case he offers to play in a "musical duel". Should the white kid win, he will save the soul of the blues musician. The film, of course, ends with the kid winning by creating a song which mixes blues with white metal and white classical. There's something really sinister about this, blues music unpalatable unless some superstar white kid comes in and fuses it with tasty whiteness.A better film would have made the point that being successful at the blues requires one losing the pact to the devil. Blues music is often about despair. To be a successful blues player one must, paradoxically, be unsuccessful. One must channel the ruts of one's life into the strings of one's guitar, forever tortured by devils.Perhaps this is too bleak an avenue for the film to pursue, Hill content to offer a rather middlebrow slice of commercialism.7/10 – There are flashes of greatness in this flick, but one can't get over how generic it ultimately all is. Hill would make the interesting "Extreme Prejudice" some years later.

chadaaron75 This movie is one of my favorites! It's got some historical truth that makes you feel like This actually happened! Some of the lines in it you'll never forget. My hats off to the man who wrote this movie, you couldn't ask for better writing and plots than this movie!! I've watched is multiple times and it doesn't get old. It makes you feel like you're a part of it after awhile! As a guitar player, this movie is a must see! It's got awesome classical guitar parts that have really inspired me over the years. Nice blues parts too. Plus the end part duel with Steve Vai is very cool too. This is a movie I wouldn't hesitate to share with anybody at any age. --Chad Bakersfield, CA

Superunknovvn At the crossroads Robert Johnson, the greatest blues guitarist of all time, sold his soul to the devil for talent and fame, so the legend goes. "Crossroads" is a bow to the great blues musicians and the myths surrounding them. The movie was made in the middle of the 80's but thankfully director Walter Hill avoided including too much of what was hip at the time and concentrated on the classy, timeless coolness of the blues. Even the devil, who plays a certain part in the story, isn't portrayed as some kind of cheesy monster, but appears as a regular guy with a sinsiter smile. On the other hand, this movie could only have been made in the 80's. It's the classic story of a young rookie meeting an old, grumpy legend and learning how to become a giant himself with a lacing of fantasy thrown into the mix. Ralph Macchio who had incidentally already been the "Karate Kid", a movie with a different subject but a similar setup, does a great job at mimicking to play the guitar. He has to act as if he was playing some really tricky stuff and he pulls it off quite well. In reality, Ry Cooder was responsible for all the amazing guitar work. If you're a guitar buff and own a Telecaster yourself (like I do), you'll find it delightful to see that guitar in action so much. What I like the most about "Crossroads" is that it takes all the clichés and myths of blues and handles them with a lot of dignity while never forgetting to move on with the story. The movie's heart is of course the guitar duel at the end, where Steve Vai makes a prominent appearance. It's the one scene that people will watch repeatedly, although it's also the scene, in which "Crossroads" reveals when it has been made. Such a finale just wouldn't be possible nowadays as shredding guitar heroes aren't popular anymore. I love the scene for what it is, but it's not set up well and the movie ends a bit too quickly afterwards.All in all "Crossroads" is no masterpiece, but it's certainly one of a kind. The most likable thing about it is that it doesn't seem like it was made for a huge commercial success, but for the love for its subject. This one's not just for blues geeks, but also recommendable to "normal" people.