Street Hitz (1992) User Reviews

A tragic tale of two brothers living in the South Bronx

[Captain_Couth · 7/10 · 8 December 2002]

Street Hitz (1992) is the tale of Junior and Joey. Junior wants to finish college and go to law school and become a lawyer, Joey is just trying to survive in the South Bronx and does whatever it takes so his younger brother can finish school. But the stork comes visiting and and puts Junior's dreams in jeopardy. The video box promises a violent gangster tale. This is a grainy, street level drama that shows the lives of people living in the South Bronx and doing what they have to do just to survive. It took a lot of guts for Joseph B, Vasquez to do this movie after he made Hanging With the Homeboys (1991). Instead of kowtowing to New Line Cinema, Joseph B. Vasquez financed and shot this movie with very little help from outsiders. Despite the obvious lack of a major budget and well known actors, Joseph B. Vasquez makes this movie work by returning to his roots. If you liked The Bronx War (1990) then you'll like Street Hitz.

Recommended.

Worth giving it a chance. And, of course, Cookie is in it.

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 18 April 2012]

On the tough streets of New York City's South Bronx, Junior (Lopez) is a well-known and well-respected man in the community. For this reason, local gangster Dino (Cacioppo) is trying to recruit him into his mob family. Junior is conflicted because he wants to do the right thing in life, but he also wants and needs the money this job would offer. But Dino is even extorting protection money from Junior's own father. Meanwhile, Junior's brother Joey has a bright future because he is going to college and wants to study hard and get into law school. When Joey's wife of four months becomes pregnant, Joey wants to stop the track he's on. This angers Junior, which sets off a chain of events which will alter the lives of the brothers forever. What will be the outcome of the tale of Junior and Joey? This is one of those low-budget movies where you can practically see the "blood sweat and tears" that must have gone into finishing this labor of love. There is plenty of realism - perhaps even a large dose of unintended realism - because of the non-actors and super-gritty atmosphere. It even becomes like a grainy documentary at times. But despite some of the standard pitfalls of independent filmmaking like some stiff and stilted acting from some inexperienced performers (which is more than understandable), and maybe a few bits of incoherence or technical issues, Street Hitz is better than you might think it is.

AIP marketed the film has part of the burgeoning "homie movie" trend, but that's not really what this is at all. It's definitely commendable that AIP put this out in the first place, so we have to give credit where credit is due, but Street Hitz is a bit like a Hispanic alternative to Straight Outta Brooklyn (1991) with an even lower budget. It was attempting a serious comment on society. The two brothers represent different philosophies about rising above your current circumstances. It even gets existential in a scene where Junior waxes philosophical about the nature of life. But it never abandons its street-level attitude, even if there is some strange dialogue about eating chicken every night. A perhaps insulting comparison would be if you imagined a more serious-minded City Dragon (1995) without the rapping. But the intentions behind that and this are miles apart, so that's pretty unfair.

Street Hitz is actually trying - even striving - to be a quality and relevant movie, but it seems against all odds. Before overlooking this movie because of its title or box art, it might be worth giving it a chance. And, of course, Cookie is in it.

For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Operatic Family Tragedy...A Low Budget Masterpiece

[Falconeer · 9/10 · 16 September 2019]

Multi-talented Joe B. Vasquez only got to direct four films in his 33 years on this Earth, and "Street Story" is his masterpiece. Though released after his most well-known movie, "Hangin' With the Homeboys," this super-low budget film was in fact his first one. It only saw the light of day because of the commercial success of 'Homeboys,' and true film lovers will be happy that it did. Two brothers, Junior & Joey, living in the South Bronx, are the focus of this family drama. Junior is the neighborhood tough guy and is admired by everyone on the block, but he is essentially going nowhere and he knows it. Tied down to a girl that he doesn't love because he got her pregnant, he is doing the right thing by sticking by her..but he's miserable. He wants his little brother Joey to use his brains, finish school and get out of that dead end neighborhood, but history repeats itself when Joey also gets his girl pregnant, and this begins a struggle of wills between family members, who all have definite opinions about what Joey should do with his life. But when a sudden violent act changes everything, the movie shifts gears and the real intense drama unfolds. "Street Story" is, simply put..brilliant independent film-making at it's most passionate. Director J. Vasquez manages to tell a story that is operatic in scope and rich with drama, and he does it with almost no budget at all. The look is stark and atmospheric, and everything about it shows the professionalism of a much older and more experienced filmmaker. In fact Vasquez was little more than a kid here, and it is a little-known fact that it is Vasquez himself playing the younger brother Joey. He is using the pseudonym 'Cookie,' but it is him. I recognize him from the also great "Bronx War," though he is much younger in "Street Story." This movie reminded me at times of the early Italian films of Roberto Rossellini and Pier Pasolini. In particular I was reminded of Pasolini's "Accattone," in both filming style and the way he tells this family tale. I wonder if J. Vasquez was influenced by the Italian neorealist movies of the 1950's at all. If not, then he was just born with an immense talent for telling stories through moving pictures. At times poetic, funny and always fascinating, plus the vintage South Bronx location shooting gives this film great value. I wonder in what direction Joe Vasquez would have taken with his movies, if he had lived past the age of 33. His last film, "Manhattan Merengue" didn't work, and it seemed like his desire for success and acceptance in the mainstream film industry was his downfall in the end. He should have stuck to making these urban dramas. That was the world he understood, and it's what he did best.

A movie you have to watch more than once to appreciate it.

[FJ-Trescothik · 5/10 · 11 March 2023]

1992's Street Hitz is one of those films you have to watch more than once to appreciate it.

The film is about two brothers living in the South Bronx, New York. The older brother, Junior is the resident tough guy that the block respects, he's pretty much set in the life he has, working a dead end job, and married to a woman only because she's pregnant, the younger brother, Joey, is a college student that has a bright future ahead of him, both Junior and their father want Joey to succeed, and get out of the Bronx, but surprise, surprise, Joey mentions to his brother that his girlfriend is pregnant, immediately angering Junior, thinking that Joey is gonna throw away his future, Joey says he's not, he tells his brother that's he gonna succeed, but an act of violence sets off a chain of events that end tragically.

Aside from Joey's situation, Junior also has his own dilemma, because of his reputation in the community, local gangster Dino is trying to recruit Junior into his crime family. Junior is conflicted because he wants to do the right thing in life, but he also knows the kind of money this job would offer. There's also a subplot with a young boy who looks up to Junior, but I won't spoil this part of the film, so you'd have to watch it to see the outcome.

The film was written, produced, and directed by Joseph Vasquez, a talented writer/director who died young, this film was actually his first one, it was filmed in 1988, but was later released in 1992 after the success of his most well-known movie, "Hangin' With the Homeboys".

For a low budget film, it's a great watch, the acting is good, sometimes a bit over the top, but everyone seems to be giving it their all, you can tell this was a labor of love, aside from writing and directing, Vasquez also was the cinematographer, editor, and production manager on the film, he clearly was a Jack-of-all-trades, and had he lived longer, he would've been a successful filmmaker.

If you're a fan of his work, or a fan of low budget films, then this movie is for you.