To Live and Die in L.A.

To Live and Die in L.A.

1985
Drama, Suspense/Thriller
1h 56m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 61.56% from 946 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(946)
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Rated 28 Sep 2007
86
79th
Hell yeah! William Friedkin plus Willem Dafoe as an insane money launderer plus Wang Chung on the soundtrack equals a great film. But in all seriousness, a really damn good actioner with quite possibly the greatest highway chase ever committed to film--Friedkin tops his French Connection chase.
Rated 11 May 2020
79
81st
Very much dated by its look and the soundtrack, but ultimately not harmed by it. This is a very effective modern noire that tends to avoid obviousness, particularly once out of the opening scenes. Features an excellent highway car chase and some fine work by Dafoe. Genuinely interesting and likeable, feeling like an Italian poliziotteschi at times.
Rated 27 Dec 2014
80
88th
The official spoiler page for this movie is entitled: Headshot
Rated 14 Apr 2007
80
68th
William Friedkin is widely regarded as a creep. This is exactly the sort of movie you'd expect from a very talented creep: a grim, violent, cold-blooded but well-made and exciting police thriller. It seems to delight in breaking this rule and that, much like its protagonist
Rated 20 Dec 2008
74
55th
It certainly hasn't aged well in some respects - the fashion, music, and slang scream "1980s!", which gives it kind of a cheesy feel. But the plot is interesting and deviates from the normal cop drama enough to keep you on your toes, the car chase is pretty intense, and Dafoe is great as the very idiosyncratic villain - he's believable enough doing odd things like burning money in the nude and making out with a sexy mime. Petersen and Pankow are kind of blah, though.
Rated 25 Mar 2011
80
79th
Right from the get go it's clear this is L.A. in the 80ies, but the film has a nasty, nihilistic undercurrent that feels more like the Italian exploitation films of the 70ies. A thrilling and morally bankrupt rollercoaster into the sewers of a city more myth than metropolis.
Rated 07 Dec 2018
80
77th
The movie that got me to enroll in a commercial printing program at the local tech-voc school when I was 17. True story. Neither graduated nor counterfeited. Anyway, definitely one of the best crime flicks to come out of the 80's. Oh, and one of the best all time car chases in cinema. Right up there with The French Connection or Bullitt.
Rated 18 Apr 2021
80
67th
Fun little slice of 80s crime thriller, though sometimes it very much feels like a product of its time (not always in a good way). But for the most part it's done quite well and isn't ever boring, crafting a story that takes some interesting turns.
Rated 30 Mar 2010
7
68th
Delightfully trashy. Dafoe is great, Petersen plays the same guy he always does and Turturro was excellent in his limited time. The soundtrack is overbearing and terrible, definitely a product of its time. I also believe everyone involved in this movie was really into cocaine.
Rated 09 Dec 2011
90
94th
Grim and grimy--gets under your skin. It seems to follow a generic buddy cop formula at first but it really rips it to bits. It's not a pleasant movie but I thought it was entertaining as heck. Some people knock the soundtrack but it's very cool and very fitting.
Rated 14 Jan 2014
6
86th
18th century cameroon... yes? your taste is in your ass!
Rated 27 Dec 2014
5
42nd
Willem Dafoe has a great face.
Rated 04 Mar 2007
4
70th
A great portrait of the sleazier side of 1980s Los Angeles. Friedkin is one of those directors who just seems to have an intimidate understanding of public spaces, and how people operate and reside within them. His films move so freely and confidently from place to place without sacrificing complexity.
Rated 18 Dec 2008
80
82nd
An exercise in excess. Brokers in this overwrought, sunbaked conception of L.A. as imagined by people who have never even been to California, and is more resonant and memorable for it.
Rated 21 Nov 2010
65
67th
Begins like any number of other 80's action movies but somewhere along the way the film takes a crazy and nihilistic turn, leading up to a wild apocalyptic ending. A terrific car chase, almost as good as the one in the French Connection. Great cinematorgraphy, vivid settings. Tough, remorseless, unpredictable..
Rated 11 Jan 2011
64
69th
It is hard to say that To Live and Die in L.A. is a good movie, but damn it's enjoyable. Not sure if it's considered a cult movie, but it has many traits to be one. Just imagine Willem Dafoe as a vicious psycho painter turned counterfeiter with homoeroticism aura about him. That alone makes this film worth watching, and there are much more good stuff going on in it. Gos, I love 80's.
Rated 16 Jan 2011
80
86th
Awesome crime drama. Entertaining and surprising.
Rated 28 Dec 2011
92
89th
One of the best cop thrillers ever with so much 80's style it practically hurts (And it will hurt if 80's style isn't your thing). Friedkin tops his French Connection car chase and has Wang Chung record the soundtrack. The ending is so great for what is essentially a Hollywood action movie.
Rated 01 Feb 2012
80
59th
A solid crime drama with only a few minor flaws. Very enjoyable and written with sheer power and acted with precision by Petersen and Dafoe. One of the 1980's best crime dramas in which Friedkin excels by breaking common crime conventions. Great stuff.
Rated 20 Apr 2012
1
17th
Very dated, terrible soundtrack, lots of clichés ("I'm getting too old for this shit", says the cop who gets shots a few days from his retirement). On the plus side, Dafoe plays an interesting character, it looks good and has a fun chase scene.
Rated 26 Apr 2012
8
84th
"Uncle Sam don't give a fuck about your expenses. If you want bread, fuck a baker."
Rated 19 May 2013
87
87th
Imperfect, but it's a compelling and unforgiving narrative with great leads and a very strong sense of 80s style. Whatever small flaws the narrative has with cliches and contrived plot points is made up for by how incredibly well it all comes together and and how much fun to watch it all is.
Rated 16 Jun 2013
7
68th
How unconventional! To Live and Die in L.A. was a delight to watch, the film itself being of more than the average cop drama. Petersen glides through scenes, a complete badass, and Dafoe is equally as impressive as the eccentric villain. I loved the soundtrack and tone of the film. Plot is the strongest exploit here, though: Friedkin's work is definitely unique amongst a tired genre. It could be a little shorter, but this is essentially a perfect cop action drama. Awesome driving!
Rated 15 Jan 2014
65
71st
Surprisingly involving genre movie with no good guys that seems rather uninspired to start out with, getting underway by treading the well-worn path of the cop out for vengeance after the murder of his partner, but gets better and better as it goes along. Seems to have been made with the spirit of wild abandon that is its theme. Title could be a description of the director's career.
Rated 09 Feb 2014
85
84th
Scuzzy, depraved, brutal, thrilling...yeah, Friedkin's in my living room again. The film is unforgivably dark, and though our protagonist's emphatic disregard for any and all semblance of dignity is made clear early on, it doesn't make the downward spiral any less harrowing. I have no freaking clue how there could possibly be a car chase sequence more electrifying than the classic scene in The French Connection, and yet I witnessed it here. Another hell of a movie by a unique American director.
Rated 03 May 2014
97
65th
A great crime drama that pulls no punches and has no real 'hero', only anti-heroes. To live and Die in LA is a very nicely shot film and one that gets the 1985 feel down pat. Willem Dafoe is great as the villain and this is his first major film role and he is awesome. This film is the one that started many of the 'cop' tropes we see more in film and tv now but they were fresh and new in 1985 and still work here. Really worth checking out.
Rated 31 May 2014
66
45th
The aesthetic and the score make this feel like a sister film to Manhunter, and I love that about this movie. The cliché-ridden first half of the movie contrasts intriguingly with the unconventional second half. I just wish the resultant film had ended up something besides a right-wing panegyric for bad cops. The film questions the rectitude of these rule-breaking lawmen, but it never questions the necessity. Because of these things, the film almost feels like the Dirty Harry of the 80s.
Rated 13 Mar 2016
80
81st
friedkin, hem anlatım yöntemleri hem de anlatılar bakımından en ilgi çekici olup da en az üzerine konuşulan yönetmenlerden birisi olabilir. böylesi ucuz bir hikayeyi, izlemesi bu kadar keyifli, estetik bir iş yapabilmek ayrı bir beceri istiyor kesinlikle.
Rated 27 Oct 2019
75
83rd
A fun cop movie that hits all the tropes including the '80s style. Probably could have used more dialogue. Willem Dafoe was a believable bad guy. Fav scene: car chase.
Rated 27 Apr 2020
70
52nd
Was not expecting to see "music by Wang Chung".
Rated 15 Nov 2021
75
27th
An entertaining, but not mind blowing film that has some tasty moral ambiguity but doesn't really go past the surface level much and it's absolutely a product of it's time when it comes to presentation. Which I personally didn't mind, kind of liked it even but I could see it being a turnoff. Still a good performance by William Peterson and it's super cool to see a young Dafoe and Turturro in this film. Oh and that car chase was nice.
Rated 28 Nov 2006
80
91st
An underrated Friedkin movie. It's no French Connection but it is still splendid.
Rated 12 Dec 2006
90
85th
HUGELY underrated... a must see
Rated 01 Mar 2007
65
73rd
Great film.
Rated 19 Aug 2007
85
47th
Was awesome for its day.
Rated 17 Apr 2008
99
99th
One of Friedkin's best films. The car chase scene is unparalleled and "inspired" several films since, like Ronin. Petersen does the adrenaline-junkie-sociopath thing thing so very well, and Pankow is the perfect wet blanket foil to that. Dafoe makes you believe in his extremely singular character. The Wang Chung might make you snicker, but this is seriously one of the most artistically cohesive genre films I've ever seen.
Rated 02 Aug 2009
100
98th
Kiss my ass.
Rated 06 Sep 2009
44
21st
This could have been a decent actioner for me, but the Wang Chung soundtrack is so irritating and ill-suited that it hurts the rest of the movie. I applaud it for breaking some cliches, and especially for the car chase sequence, but it still falls very short of being recommended.
Rated 01 Aug 2010
0
0th
Just didnt do it for me, amigo
Rated 18 Nov 2010
7
65th
Didn't love it yet still an enjoyable experience. Dafoe is so damn awesome to watch at times.
Rated 08 Jan 2011
49
13th
"I love the rain". "Yeah... It's groovy".
Rated 26 Jan 2011
52
52nd
(THE COUNTERFEIT CONNECTION)
Rated 30 Jan 2011
3
32nd
"Uncle Sam don't give a shit about your expenses. You want bread, fuck a baker." Do I really need to say anything else?
Rated 27 Sep 2011
79
78th
Great 80's action flick with loads of style and great cinematography. Only the soundtrack and topless bar scenes haven't dated very well, the car chase is awesome.
Rated 10 Oct 2011
80
66th
80.375
Rated 02 Jun 2012
85
86th
Great cop cliches. Very good for the 80s
Rated 02 Jul 2012
75
60th
Entertaining thriller - although it's aged horribly. Dafoe makes for a great villain, but Petersen just isn't leading role material. Maybe I've just watched too much CSI, I don't know. The soundtrack also seems incredibly over the top, especially 25 years on. Woah, this film is 25 years old.
Rated 30 Dec 2012
80
77th
Im not a big fan of cop movies,but i sure like this one.the editing and the shots are very unconventional, the soundtrack it's GREAT,and the action can be very brutal.the whole thing has a fantastic and very ODD creepy vibe...so who cares if the story is about two fools trying to catch Dafoe being his psycho self as a evil money counterfeiter..yes the villain is a lame fucking money counterfeiter.. ooh,someone MUST stop this terrible menace right?? he might..might.. make MORE fake money! sigh.
Rated 28 Feb 2013
70
53rd
Slowly builds up and reaches the awesome level at the car chase. From that point it gets really dark and more interesting. A solid cop drama.
Rated 04 Mar 2013
86
91st
A bravely dated neo-noir that clings to the final strands of the '70s before torching them in the white-hot cynicism and machismo of the '80s. "If you want bread, go fuck a baker."
Rated 13 May 2013
75
59th
I never knew the CSI guy was a proper film actor. Alway though he was made for tv. He is excellent in this film.
Rated 28 Jun 2013
60
20th
Decent movie with an unlikeable protagonist.
Rated 04 Jul 2013
70
20th
Dear Diary, I didn't think today would be the day that I saw William Petersen's dick and balls, but then I watched To Live and Die in LA...
Rated 16 Oct 2013
82
71st
82.000
Rated 21 Oct 2013
69
35th
It's hard to not compare it to Friedkin's earlier The French Connection, though set in the '80s, in LA, with much more gore and Willem Dafoe's ass and much less characterisation, just about non-existent in this film. Good OTT car chase, as close to a Grand Theft Auto movie as we've gotten.
Rated 03 Nov 2013
4
57th
80s as fuck. A heady mix of the cool and corny and L.A. is the star of the show.
Rated 15 Dec 2013
75
54th
As a whole, To Live and Die in L.A. is a taut thriller with a Miami Vice-like aesthetic and strong performances from the usually-creepy Willem Dafoe and underrated William Petersen. The suspense does go through an ebb and flow, but well worth watching overall.
Rated 15 Jan 2014
59
54th
Decent dirty cop drama. Dafoe and Turturro set this film apart from all the other generic 80s crime stories.
Rated 04 Aug 2014
60
57th
Still a great watch (2014). Also has a fantastic car chase scene. Recommended.
Rated 05 Aug 2014
92
98th
I'm in the extreme minority of people whose favorite Friedkin is To Live and Die in LA, Wang Chung and everything. A great companion piece to Mann's Manhunter - from the same time period, Petersen in common, and the excellent villains in Dafoe & Noonan.
Rated 11 Aug 2014
85
68th
Aggressive, unsettling and cruel, some sporadic clunkiness precludes this movie from being near the same level with Friedkin's 1970s work, this West Coast overtooling of his gritty blueprint is still a visceral film of aberrations and obsessions: a Friedkin film.
Rated 29 Dec 2016
74
67th
A dirty look into a grimm, industrial side of L.A. rarely portrayed in movies. The sleazy characters were cool, with Dafoe as a naked money burning madman stealing the show. Also: epic car chase.
Rated 11 Jan 2017
54
44th
Like The Usual Suspects, a film that conflates gun violence and homoeroticism in an icky way. Hits all the beats of a story, but utterly fails to create stakes for any of its flawed characters. Does have one of the most most incredible fully-practical car chases I've seen on film.
Rated 28 Mar 2017
55
26th
Maybe this crime thriller was considered gritty in the 80s but so much of this hilarious by today's standards. Partner shot days before retirement. Driving through stacks of cardboard boxes. William Petersen's over acting. Willem Dafoe's arse ... well I suppose that was the only thing that isn't funny by today's standards seeing as we're so used to seeing it now. Anyway TLADILA does have an awesome car chase and a few worthwhile plot points, but it just hasn't aged well which is a shame.
Rated 04 May 2018
3
45th
One of the great Los Angeles portraits: a flamboyant theater of the absurd and sordid. What better venue for such reckless abandon, a tale of cops who, in their bloodthirst for vengeance, operate above, below, and around the law, scribbling the thin blue line as it suits them best. It's too bad, then, how wildly inappropriate the Wang Chung soundtrack is, always seeming to kick in and alleviate the film of seriousness when it's needed the most.
Rated 11 May 2018
8
72nd
what really stood out are the chase scenes, either on foot or by car. in some movies you can tell they aren't really going that fast, and are using frantic camera movements to try to convey action, but the running in this is them actually hauling ass, the car chase is insane.
Rated 26 Aug 2018
34
30th
What if Michael Mann, but like, dumber?
Rated 01 Dec 2018
80
89th
Damn good cop drama. I didn't expect it to be this brutal and uncompromising - a pleasant surprise. Also has some nice-looking scenery and good score.
Rated 18 Sep 2020
83
51st
This had a delayed affect on me, where while watching I knew I was caught up and interested but still waiting for it to wow me; even the famous car chase scene felt a little muted against my expectations. Still, I enjoyed the little twists all the way to the end. But on reflection, it's done nothing but shine in my memory. It's so wholly of its own breed. It may be cheesy at times, but no other cop thriller looks like it. Friedkin made an impossibly memorable flick.
Rated 30 Sep 2020
75
73rd
Solid. Excellent story, superb car chase. Excellent cast.
Rated 20 Dec 2020
75
88th
A gorgeous looking film
Rated 23 Jan 2021
83
69th
For those who thought MANHUNTER just wasn't 80s enough... almost grotesquely of its era in terms of style (and its casual blending of graphic sex and violence), it's almost difficult to view it as anything other than an artefact, but quite enjoyable on that basis - taking the time to develop Dafoe as a counterpoint to the ever-blockish Petersen is an intriguing narrative choice; film tells more than I would ever need to know about the nitty-gritty of counterfeiting cash!
Rated 08 Feb 2021
74
82nd
I don't usually like car chases, but liked the one in this.
Rated 30 Mar 2021
85
73rd
Given that the whole weight of the feds are at their disposal, there's a lot of silly lone wolf antics going on, causing a lot of trade-offs between dramatic suspense and suspension of disbelief. I'm not sure there's anything quintessentially Los Angeles about this flick except as a nod to its noir origins, but the setting did make for a decent car chase scene.
Rated 02 Apr 2021
60
27th
Probably a bit unfair because this might actually have given birth to those cliches, but this is very much a collection of cliches you've seen a million times before (too old for this shit and 2 weeks before pension are both used without any irony).
Rated 10 Jul 2021
58
42nd
An exciting car chase and hard boiled action are its virtues, but Friedkin's shallow nihilism is a real wet blanket.
Rated 23 Jul 2021
76
30th
I'm getting too old for this sh*t, to find out every cop movie parody means to reference this movie
Rated 04 Aug 2021
30
8th
Rewatched. Even dumber than I remembered. Did I miss something or did Pankow discover Dafoe's warehouse halfway through the film...and then he just forgot about it until the end? That made no sense.
Rated 03 Jul 2022
84
84th
William Friedkin's attempt to recapture the magic of The French Connection with 80s LA replacing 70s New York, and he succeeded. The crème de la crème car chase is the big showstopper, but there's also a scene where Willem Dafoe shoots a guy in the dick, so there are multiple reasons to watch this movie is what I'm saying.
Rated 25 Jul 2022
5
91st
wouldn't be surprised to find that friedkin made petersen actually drive against freeway traffic.a grotesque, insane movie, i love it
Rated 18 Oct 2022
79
69th
Very 80s and very L.A.
Rated 13 Dec 2022
94
75th
Back in the day this movie was like the forbidden zone of really extreme stuff that your parents would not let you watch. It is a classic noir film detailing the pursuit of personal truth and justice by a character who has essentially stepped outside the social norms that constrained him. If you wanted "Miami Vice" to get darker, this was the option back then.
Rated 16 Mar 2023
75
71st
This is just such a great movie. The 80's moods, the cityscape, the characters with their various motivations and the great car chase that manages to feel more suspenseful than most car scenes in modern movies do. There are not fully good characters here and even the ones that seem good will have their own vices and faults to be uncovered as the plot progresses. Especially nice if you're into those 80's moods because having a thing for them feels really integral for enjoying this one.
Rated 05 Apr 2023
92
83rd
Cool movie. Interesting how the main character sucks at their job but is still intriguing.
Rated 29 Aug 2023
100
96th
Dafoe vs Peterson in a battle of wills, intensity and both men being a mirror of each other. The car chase is fantastic, yes, however I loved how chaotic the finale is as well. Friedkin covers the dark side of LA in a way that would make Miami Vice proud. I love this movie, the Wang Chung score is excellent.
Rated 21 Oct 2023
70
41st
Way to Wang Chung your movie, Billy
Rated 21 Oct 2023
45
40th
I would've loved to have seen this in the moment, but 40ish years later it comes across as R-Rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with bad acting and the worst sound mix I've ever heard in a movie. Dafoe, Friedken and Wang Chung really carry this movie to watchable levels. Somewhere inside is a masterpiece, but this ain't it.
Rated 19 Feb 2024
60
39th
Revels in stunning hyper-stylisation, with gorgeous, 80's as hell everything and a rockin' soundtrack that sometimes gets bizarre. It's a slick production where nearly everything is done right. The script quickly heads into dangerously uncontrolled territory, and while it never ceases to be entertaining, it's also messy and inexplicable. A number of fantastic scenes, but fails to be solid on account of the weird plotting.
Rated 25 Mar 2024
1
1st
Am I the only person who thinks this is bad?

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