Road House (1989)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Tim S

  
  Some might call Road House one of the worst movies ever made, and they would be both right and wrong in that estimation. The movie is a conundrum, because it's entertaining on the most basic of levels but yet you still want to hate on it. It's actually got all the classic… More
  Some might call Road House one of the worst movies ever made, and they would be both right and wrong in that estimation. The movie is a conundrum, because it's entertaining on the most basic of levels but yet you still want to hate on it. It's actually got all the classic 80's ingredients (big hair, strippers, monster trucks, etc) and it's got a sort of western vibe with the hero coming to town to save it from an evil overlord, but it just doesn't really work all that well... but yet it does. I can't say that it's amazing or a classic, but it's definitely an interesting watch - and somewhat entertaining.

• Cassie H

  
  Patrick Swayze kicks serious ass in this movie where he plays a cooler at the Double Deuce, Dalton. Awesome 80s music and and awesome cast consisting of Kelly Lynch, as Elizabeth Clay who Dalton falls in love with and Sam Elliott who plays Wade Garrett, Dalton's best friend who… More
  Patrick Swayze kicks serious ass in this movie where he plays a cooler at the Double Deuce, Dalton. Awesome 80s music and and awesome cast consisting of Kelly Lynch, as Elizabeth Clay who Dalton falls in love with and Sam Elliott who plays Wade Garrett, Dalton's best friend who works at the old bar he used to work at, Band Stand. Among them there are also Red Webster (played by Red West) and Emmett (played by Sunshine Parker). Then there's Ben Gazzara who plays the villein Brad Wesley, a money hungry man who's out to destroy Dalton's life. A great movie, with a very revengeful ending, Road House is definitely a movie that you want to see! :) :) :)

• AJ V

  
  I caught this on TV once a little while ago, there's just a bunch of fighting and tough guys in bars. The dialogue is bad, and the story boring.

• Conner R

  
  If you were to ask me if Road House is a whole-heartedly good movie I'd say no, but it's just so out of it's mind and testosterone driven that it has won the title of the quintessential 80s action movie. Patrick Swayze explodes on to the screen as Dalton, the stone cold… More
  If you were to ask me if Road House is a whole-heartedly good movie I'd say no, but it's just so out of it's mind and testosterone driven that it has won the title of the quintessential 80s action movie. Patrick Swayze explodes on to the screen as Dalton, the stone cold bouncer with one goal in mind; justice. His wardrobe of choice: karate tunic and silk pants. Weapon of choice: His roundhouse kicks and throat ripping hands. Vehicle of choice: a beater car to keep his beautiful Mercedes in pristine condition. Enemy: Brad Wesley the town tycoon, a bizarro Dalton, henchmen and a Monster Truck. There is so much to pick apart and love about this movie that you literally can't find it to be anything but glorious. The action is in your face, emotions run wild and you learn the wise teachings of Dalton.

• Alexis N

  
  it was pretty b.a. (bad ass). a lot of ass kicking, tits and Swayze shutting it down. too bad that town couldn't rally sooner.

• Chris G

  
  Road House is one of those rare movies that are really, REALLY bad. But damn it, you can't help to watch it. It is so hokey, cliched, and bad that the mind can't fathom why you're watching this film. You know the plot- Patrick Swayze plays Dalton, the typical moral good… More
  Road House is one of those rare movies that are really, REALLY bad. But damn it, you can't help to watch it. It is so hokey, cliched, and bad that the mind can't fathom why you're watching this film. You know the plot- Patrick Swayze plays Dalton, the typical moral good guy with one name. He's a bouncer. He gets hired to bounce at some shithole town that is ran by the worst villain I've ever seen named Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara). I don't get it. Who in the hell is going to be afraid of a guy named Brad Wesley? So Dalton takes it upon himself to clean up the shithole town, meeting a doctor in the process. They get it on in his rented horse stable loft. Now an amazing thing about Road House is in its clientele. Before Dalton gets there it's filled with numerous women, dressed in the height of late 1980's fashion and hair taller than Kareem Abdul Jabar. There women look like they just walked out of a Whitesnake video. It's these women that are hanging out at this shithole bar in this shithole town, hanging out with a bunch of guys that look like rejects from a Deliverance sequel. BUT... when Dalton shows up, the male clientele gets better looking, dressing nicer, looking not as imbredish. That must be the power of Swayze. That's what is great about Road House. You can't take it seriously. It's like streaking or drinking a marshmallow shake- you're not really getting anything out of it. It's mere junk food, but it mesmerizes you. Maybe it's the mullets? Maybe it's that rare appearance by the legendary Terry Funk. Or maybe it's the hippie Sam Elliott. Whatever it is, it's good, clean, American fun.

• Jason O

  
  "Road House" is one of the many classic movies of the 80's. Patrick Swayze stars as a bouncer who is hired to clean up the bar that he works for. He believes in being nice to everybody and to try not to fight, but if it comes to a fight, he won't back down. And… More
  "Road House" is one of the many classic movies of the 80's. Patrick Swayze stars as a bouncer who is hired to clean up the bar that he works for. He believes in being nice to everybody and to try not to fight, but if it comes to a fight, he won't back down. And back down is something this movie never does. "Road House" has all the makings of a great action movie. The movie's plot is understandable, it's entertaining, and best of all, it has great action and fighting sequences. Patrick Swayze does a great job of acting and so does Kelly Lynch and all the enemies in the movie. If you like classic action movies that never back down, I recommend getting "Road House." It revolutionized many of the action movies that were to come in the later years, and it still stands up as one of the most memorable and best action movies ever made. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000.

• Chris W

  
  Ridiculously cheesy, but very damn entertaining. Sam Elliott is great.

• Jason S

  
  Not a bad action flick. Swayze kicks but and takes names and there are some really good fights in the flick.

• danny d

  
  its cool when he snaps that guys throat out of his neck. good watch but it doesnt stand the test of time well.

• Ken S

  
  Dalton once thew a punch so hard it went back in time and hit Amelia Earhart; making her crash.

• David L

  
  To begin,. I grabbed a dvd of Roadhouse for a friend of mine this past weekend. It made me feel a wave of nostalgia for the film along with the recent news of Swayze's battle with pancreatic cancer( I hope he beats this and recovers very soon)Road House is a movie about tough… More
  To begin,. I grabbed a dvd of Roadhouse for a friend of mine this past weekend. It made me feel a wave of nostalgia for the film along with the recent news of Swayze's battle with pancreatic cancer( I hope he beats this and recovers very soon)Road House is a movie about tough guys (and a few tough gals) hitting each other along with some philosophy, a couple of steamy sex scenes and some gratutious nude scenes( even a butt shot from" the Swayz" just for the ladies). For nearly two hours we are asked to sit back and enjoy folks getting stabbed, shot, head-butted, struck with bottles, struck with pool cues, throats torn out, eyes blackened, heads smashed against tables, and so on and so on.What can I say but it's a movie thats alot of fun and I enjoy it more each time I watch it For the few who haven't seen the film, Dalton (Patrick Swayze) is a super-tough bouncer ? known in the trade as a "cooler" ? who specialises in turning violent, lawless bars into sophisticated night-spots. He is offered a phenomenal wage if he can transform a run-down Kansas hell-hole, named the "Double Deuce", into a more civilised, respectable kind of place. Dalton visits the "Double Deuce" to find out what he's letting himself in for, and finds it every bit as rough and tough as anywhere he's ever worked. Within a few weeks, though, he starts to get the joint's reputation sorted out ? firing the incompetents, coaching those that show potential, and maintaining strict discipline amongst the drinkers who frequent the place. He even gets a girlfriend in the shape of local nurse Elizabeth Clay (Kelly Lynch). It's not all smooth sailing, however, as the town's resident crime lord Brad Wesley (Ben Gazzara) starts to get irritated by Dalton's successful attempts to clean up the town and the "Double Deuce". Seems Wesley preferred it as it was. Various thugs and hired hands try to drive Dalton away, and their campaign against him slowly starts to wear him down. Dalton calls his friend Wade Garrett (Sam Elliott) ? the ultimate bouncer, and the guy who taught Dalton every trick in the book ? and together they stand up against Wesley's reign of fear. There's really very little to say about Road House. It has mindless action for those of us who crave such things; some of the dialogue is curiously quotable; and its choreographed fist-fights are every bit as brutal as they're supposed to be. Director Rowdy Herrington (an apt name, if ever there was one) knows exactly which target audience he's trying to satisfy, and he gives them what they want. The film is photographed efficiently, and Michael Kamen underscores the proceedings with simple but suitable music. Performance-wise, well no Oscar winning performances here but in this kinda film its not needed. Swayze does some good work here, just to bad he didn't do more action films( I guess Roadhouse can fall into being the 1st film in the Swayze action trilogy with Next Of Kin And Point Break rounding things out), Gazzara smiles jovially even when being threatened just as any evil villian in a action film is suppose to do , Elliot delivers juicy lines with snarling relish, and Lynch basically stands around looking sexy. This is one film where it's unlikely that anyone will be glancing at their watch every five minutes wishing that the movie will hurry up and finish. At the very least, one can appreciate it on the level of entertaining trash. In the end is this as I've heard it called "Macbeth With Mullets", a Friday night no-brainer or a film of lasting significance and high art, you decide

• Daniel P

  
  This is barely better than an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. An interesting little premise, with a lot of potential that crashes out faster than, well, Patrick Swayze. The gradual decline of this movie is hilarious, right up to the ending, which might be the corniest ending ever… More
  This is barely better than an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. An interesting little premise, with a lot of potential that crashes out faster than, well, Patrick Swayze. The gradual decline of this movie is hilarious, right up to the ending, which might be the corniest ending ever made. Too entertaining in the first half to not watch the second half, but wow, does this fall off. I'd say it climaxes when Swayze has to look sad, or you know... act... he just can't do it.

• Red L

  
  The movie is pretty corny. My wife likes it because of Swayze, I'm less impressed

• Keysha H

  
  Swayze, mullets and karate-esque bar brawls...what else could you ask for?!

• Dean !

  
  A good bar brawl film as Patrick Swayze looks to clean up a bar and whole town that has got out of hand.

• xGary X

  
  You know the old cliche of the tough guy cop who's appartment is full of vintage wine, modern art and jazz to show his "sensitive" side? Well this is a film about a vicious bouncer with a degree in philosophy. WHO WRITES THIS SHIT?? One of the pinnacles of moronic 80s… More
  You know the old cliche of the tough guy cop who's appartment is full of vintage wine, modern art and jazz to show his "sensitive" side? Well this is a film about a vicious bouncer with a degree in philosophy. WHO WRITES THIS SHIT?? One of the pinnacles of moronic 80s excess.

• Dean M

  
  Good action as I found out Patrick Swayze is a real-life martial artist.

• Leigh R

  
  It was okay.

• Burger S

  
  Best B Movie of all time!

Read all 20 featured audience ratings