Hodges' views on policing are appreciated on the local streets where he is outwardly diplomatic, preaching "rapport" to gang members and realizing the vulnerable gang populations scrutinize every action the police take. When a 21st Street gangster throws a rock at Hodges's car, Felipe is caught by Hodges. Elsewhere, the Bloods' funeral for Robert Craig is attacked by a carload of Crips. When Hodges and McGavin chase them, the Crips are killed when the car crashes. At the 21st Street Gang hangout, Ron Delaney fails to convince their members to walk away from the gang life.
McGavin has a short-lived romance with a waitress named Louisa who life lessons are seemingly lost on the aggressive, cavalier rookie. McGavin assaults a graffiti artist with his own paint can and punches a drug dealer named T in front of angry bystanders. Hodges physically confronts McGavin about his abusive style and Louisa reveals the graffiti artist is her cousin. The murder of a Bloods gang member escalates tension and the two partners finding themselves in the middle of the Crips, Bloods, and Hispanic barrio war. McGavin wrecks their first unmarked car during a pursuit and its vivid yellow replacement earns McGavin the nickname "Pac-Man".
CRASH arrests a gang member named Oso who informs on drug dealers like Hi Top. Hodges and McGavin chase Hi Top after he steals a motorcycle, and arrest him after a crash through a restaurant window. McGavin apologizes to Hodges about his misconduct and in response, Hodges tells McGavin that he will be getting a new partner at the beginning of next month. Hi Top is severely beaten in jail by other inmates and confesses that Rocket, leader of the Crips, is the killer of Robert Craig. Hodges, McGavin, and the LAPD arrest and question two black males about a dark van used in the killing. Trying to find Rocket, the police raid his girlfriend's house and Officer Baines kills a Crips gangster named Killa Bee. Thinking McGavin was responsible, the gang puts a hit out on him.
The 21st Street Gang, led by Frog, attempts to negotiate a peace. To protect McGavin, Hodges unwittingly exposes Frog as his source of information about the Crips' plan to kill McGavin. The Crips stage a drive by attack on the 21st Street Gang in retaliation for giving information to police. When the police respond to the scene, McGavin encounters Louisa dressing after having sex with a 21st Street gang member. The 21st Street Gang retaliates by assaulting the Crips hideout and killing everyone in it. One of their own is lost in the firefight. CRASH moves in on 21st Street Gang and Hodges is fatally shot by a 21st Street Gang member nicknamed “Bird” while arresting Frog. CRASH shoots and kills Bird in retaliation. Meanwhile, Hodges falls into delirium and McGavin rushes to try to comfort him and breaks down in regret, as Hodges finally dies from his wound.
Sometime later, a more reserved McGavin receives a rookie partner, a black cop who grew up in their patrol area. McGavin describes his new attitude toward policing, including the two bulls joke that Hodges taught him earlier, but his new partner reciprocates in the same way McGavin had. The film ends with McGavin considering the cycle of violence as the pair drive on and continue their patrol.
Jack Nance as Police Officer Samuels, Los Angeles Police Department
David Raynr as J.C.
Production
The movie was filmed entirely in Los Angeles in 1987. 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 and the setting was changed to Los Angeles and the focus of the story became more about the world of gang members.[2][3]
The joke that Hodges tells McGavin regarding the two bulls was lifted from the Pat Conroy novel The Great Santini (which was made into a movie that also starred Duvall) and explains how the character Lt. Col. "Bull" Meechum got his nickname.[4]
Real gang members were hired as "on-location security" as well as actors/extras by producer Robert H. Solo. Two of them were shot during filming. Well-known gang leader and community activist T. Rodgers was cast as Dr. Feelgood.[5]
On April 2, 1987, Sean Penn was arrested for punching an extra on the set of this film who was taking photos of him without permission. Penn was sentenced to 33 days in jail for this assault.[6][7]
The theme song, "Colors", was written and performed by American rapper Ice-T, and issued as the title track for the soundtrack to the film.
Release
Box office
Colors grossed over $46million in the United States and Canada.[8]
Critical reception
Colors received both praise and criticism. The film has a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 40 reviews, with the consensus; "Colors takes a hard-hitting yet nuanced look at urban gang violence, further elevated by strong performances from a pair of well-matched leads."[9]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.[11]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times stated that it "has a superb eye for the poisonous flowering of gang culture amid ghetto life, and an ear to match; along with brilliant cinematography by Haskell Wexler, it's also got a fierce, rollicking sense of motion."[12]
Roger Ebert hailed it as "a special movie – not just a police thriller, but a movie that has researched gangs and given some thought to what it wants to say about them."[13]
The Washington Post's critics, Desson Howe and Hal Hinson were split, with Howe stating that Hopper "covers the mayhem with unadorned, documentary immediacy that transcends otherwise formulaic cop-fare"[14] and Hinson stating that it "must be the least incendiary film about gang life ever made."[15]
One of the more negative reviews of the film appeared on the BBC's Ceefax service, on which critic Louise Hart remarked: "The main weakness of the film is that it concentrates far less on the street gangs than on the growing relationship between the two cops."[16]
Home media
The film was released on video cassette by Orion Home Video on November 17, 1988 with an additional seven minutes of footage added.[17]
Novelization
A novelization based on the film, written by Joel Norst, was published in 1988.
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