Road House (1989)

A tough bouncer is hired to tame a dirty bar.

Director:

Rowdy Herrington

Writers:

R. Lance Hill (story) (as David Lee Henry), R. Lance Hill (screenplay) (as David Lee Henry)

Stars:

Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Swayze	...	Dalton
Kelly Lynch	...	Doc
Sam Elliott	...	Wade Garrett
Ben Gazzara	...	Brad Wesley
Marshall R. Teague	...	Jimmy (as Marshall Teague)
Julie Michaels	...	Denise
Red West	...	Red Webster
Sunshine Parker	...	Emmet (as 'Sunshine' Parker)
Jeff Healey	...	Cody
Kevin Tighe	...	Tilghman
John Doe	...	Pat McGurn
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Carrie
Travis McKenna	...	Jack
Roger Hewlett	...	Younger
Kurt James Stefka	...	Hank

Storyline

Serene and laconic, yet powerful and lethal, Dalton is an expert in martial arts and the best professional bouncer in the business. With such a reputation, Dalton is summoned in a small town in Missouri to clean up the sleazy bar called The Double Deuce from the troublemakers who terrorize the customers, without knowing, however, that the villainous local entrepreneur, Brad Wesley, wants things to remain unchanged. As Dalton cleans up the nightclub, and with it, the town from Wesley's hired goons, a deep wound from a knife will inspire a passionate affair with local Dr. Elizabeth "Doc" Clay. Now, the corrupt Wesley has enough reasons to take Dalton out of the way, nevertheless, the bouncer has the final say.

---

Plot Keywords:

wet g string contest | female frontal nudity | leg spreading | having sex with skirt hiked up | woman disrobing | 

---

Taglines:

Dalton's the best bouncer in the business. His nights are filled with fast action, hot music and beautiful women. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

---

Genres:

Action | Thriller

---

Certificate:

18A

Did You Know?

Trivia

Patrick Swayze and Marshall R. Teague did one fight around seventy-one times. It took five days. Rowdy Herrington says they were exhausted.

---

Goofs

When Garrett and Dalton are done fighting with Jimmy, Sam Elliott blows his next line. He says, "Same town, new story", a line which makes absolutely no sense, as they've never been here before. What he meant to say was, "New town, same story", which would have made perfect sense. Clearly, either the director missed the mistake, or felt that it wasn't worth the time, effort, or cost to re-shoot the very end of the fight just to correct that one line.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Bouncer Checking IDs: [to Frank Tilghman, as he enters the Bandstand] Go ahead, sir.

---

Crazy Credits

While the end credits are rolling, the house band does one more number.

---

Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was intact, although the video release was cut by 10 seconds by the BBFC to remove a knee kick, a double ear-clap and a groin punch. Dialogue about felling enemies by kicking them in the knee was also removed. The cuts were waived in 2001 for the DVD release.

---

Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Fights in Nightclubs and Bars (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Good Heart
Written by Maria McKee
Produced by Jimmy Iovine
Performed by Kris McKay
Courtesy of Arista Records

User Reviews

One of the best bad movies ever

I love this movie. Why? Because it's sooo bad it's good. It dosen't

take itself too seriously (for the most part) but the lines really put

this one over the edge. "It's gonna get worse before it get's better"

""Be nice until it's time to not be nice" and "Oh baby, your gonna

be my regular Saturday night thing!" are classics of bad cinema.

The characters? All one dimensional hillbillies. The acting? Awful.

The plot? Yeah right. This movie is great because you can't take

your eyes away. What cheesy line comes next? When's the next

fight? And Who's the hot blonde? A guilty pleasure through and

through but it is fun sitting around with a bunch of guys watching

this and laughing your ass off. A great guy movie. Recommended.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

19 May 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bar routier

Filming Locations:

24650 Arch St, Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,957,656, 21 May 1989

Gross USA:

$30,050,028

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$30,050,028

Company Credits

Production Co:

Silver Pictures, Star Partners II Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1