Colors (1988) on Netflix
In the gang neighborhoods of Los Angeles, veteran Bob Hodges and rookie Danny McGavin are paired in the C.R.A.S.H. unit. Hodges talks with the gangs; McGavin, aggressive and cavalier, does not.
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- IMDb6.7/1034,088 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes78%
Trailer
Plot summary
Bob Hodges has spent years on the Los Angeles force and served in Vietnam; Danny McGavin is a confident young officer. The two are teamed in the C.R.A.S.H. unit, whose patrol covers the city's gang neighborhoods. Hodges works by talking with gang members, aware that the streets watch every move the police make. McGavin handles people roughly: he hits a drug dealer in front of onlookers and turns a graffiti writer's paint can on the man, and Hodges confronts him over his methods. McGavin also has a short romance with a waitress, Louisa Gomez. Ron Delaney fails to persuade members of the 21st Street Gang to give up gang life. The colors a member wears declare his gang, and the Bloods, the Crips and the Hispanic gangs fight.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Colors (1988)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Real gang members were hired as "on-location security" as well as actors and extras by producer Robert H. Solo, and two of them were shot during filming.
- The NAACP accused the film of promoting racist stereotypes and asked for its release to be delayed, and the civilian crime-fighting group the Guardian Angels protested outside Penn's estate, their West Coast director Scott McKeown saying the film would "act as a recruitment vehicle for real gangs by glorifying them".
- On April 2, 1987, Sean Penn was arrested for punching an extra on the set who was taking photos of him without permission, and was sentenced to 33 days in jail for the assault.
- The original script by Richard Di Lello took place in Chicago and was more about drug dealing than gang members; Dennis Hopper ordered changes, so Michael Schiffer was hired, the setting moved to Los Angeles and the focus shifted to the world of gang members.
- The joke Hodges tells McGavin about two bulls was lifted from Pat Conroy's novel The Great Santini, which was made into a movie that also starred Duvall, where it explains how the character Lt. Col. "Bull" Meechum got his nickname.
- A soundtrack containing mainly hip hop music was released on April 15, 1988, by Warner Bros. Records; it peaked at 31 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold on July 12, 1988.
- The theme song "Colors" was written and performed by American rapper Ice-T, and was issued as the title track for the soundtrack to the film.
- Three Southland theaters canceled their exhibition contracts for the film, and similar protests, along with police monitoring, took place in Chicago, Detroit and Miami.
