Main Cast: Sean Penn, Robert Duvall, Maria Conchita Alonso, Randy Brooks, Grand L. Bush
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 120 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Colors stars Robert Duvall and Sean Penn as partners on the LAPD's gang crime division. Duvall had hoped to spend more time with his family, but he's pulled back into active service because of a step-up in gang activity. He makes no secret of his contempt for his novice partner Penn, but eventually comes to rely on the younger man as a valuable street contact. The central crisis is the battle for supremacy between the "Crips" and the "Bloods", with every effort to call a truce stymied by the gang members themselves and by undue police intervention. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A freewheeling slice of Los Angeles street life, Colors is a daring, horrifyingly vivid drama about police and street gangs in the modern urban trenches. Directed by veteran rogue Dennis Hopper, the film pairs an old hand (Robert Duvall) with a rookie cop (Sean Penn). The images are jarring, the rap music soundtrack pulsating, and the effect unsettling. The stunning visuals are courtesy of the renowned Haskell Wexler, and Hopper demonstrates his ability to work weird wonders on either side of the camera. The film is an unflinching look at the world of gangs and their battles for supremacy; it's like West Side Story drained of all romantic sentiment. The actors and filmmakers make the drama compelling and unusually bracing. Hopper's directing jobs came infrequently; this was only his third picture in the two decades since his debut in Easy Rider. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Don Cheadle - Rocket; Gerardo Mejia - Bird; Glenn Plummer - Clarence Brown "High Top"; Rudy Ramos - Melindez; Sy Richardson - Bailey; Trinidad Silva - Frog; Charles Walker - Reed; Damon Wayans - T-Bone; Seymour Cassel - Sullivan; Virgil Frye - Sheriff Foster; Courtney Gains - Whitey; Jack Nance - Officer Samuels; Fred Asparagus - Cook; Verda Bridges - C.R.A.S.H. Secretary; R.D. Call - Rusty Baines; Carlos Cervantes - Diaz; Lawrence Cook - Officer Young; Nicky Corello - Phil; Gregg G. Dandridge - Young Crip; Brian Davies - Robert Craig; Kenia - Maria; Tina Lifford - Mrs. Craig; Lawrence Lowe - Cop at Car Wreck; Ted Markland - 3rd Crash Officer; Micole Mercurio - Joan Hodges; Nigel Miguel - Snakedance; Karla Montana - Locita; Allan Moore - Shooter; Leon Robinson - Killer-Bee; Tee Rodgers - Dr. Feelgood; Richard Rust - Hearing Officer; Tony Todd - Vietnam Vet; Dion Williams - Spooky; John Zenda - Officer Rutley; Dennis "Chicago" Fanning - C.R.A.S.H. Officer; Clark Johnson - Lee; David Hubbard - J. C; Mario Lopez - Felipe's Friend; Ray Oriel - Homeboy; Annie-Joe - Shouting Woman; Sherman Augustus - Officer Porter; Bruce Beatty - Spanky; Paula Bellamy - Woman in Recreation Centre; Brandon Bluhm - Tommie Hodges; Mark Booker - Young Crip; Ron Boyd - Cop at Sharon's; Steven Camarillo - Gato; Eugene Collier - Young Crip; Troy Curvey, Jr. - Preacher; Romeo DeLan - Felipe; Diaz-Parton - Rita Gallegos; Nay K. Dorsey - Man at Recreation Centre; Fabian Escobedo - Flacco; Tomas Goros - Phillip; C.E. Grimes - Oso; Trysh Jefferson - Young Girl; Vaughn Jelks - Roy; Roberto Martin Marquez - Grieving Husband; Shawn McLemore - Willie Wright; Peggy Medina - Angie; Howard Mungo - Man at Recreation Centre; Frances E. Nealy - Neighbor Woman; Roy A. Nunez - 1st Crash Officer; Roger Vernon Pamplin, Jr. - Fighting Inmate; Kim Pawlik - Female Officer; Jo Marie Payton-France - 2nd Woman in Recreation Center; Anthony Pena - Traffic Officer; Daniela Piquet - Bird's Girlfriend; David Rayner - J.C.; Sharon Schaffer - Crip Girl; Geoffrey Thorne - Lewis; Ara Thorpe - Sharon Robbins; Peter Mark Vasquez - Veterano; Jeffrey Washington - Dog-Man
Credit
Charles Butcher - Art Director, Lauren Lloyd - Casting, Patrick Alan - Choreography, Dennis "Chicago" Fanning - Consultant/advisor, Gerald Ivory - Consultant/advisor, Roy Nunez - Consultant/advisor, Paul Lewis - Co-producer, Nick Scarano - Costume Designer, Elie Cohn - First Assistant Director, Dennis Hopper - Director, Robert L. Estrin - Editor, Herbie Hancock - Composer (Music Score), Eric B. - Songwriter, Ice-T - Songwriter, Big Daddy Kane - Songwriter, Salt-N-Pepa - Songwriter, Afrika Islam - Songwriter, Richard James - Songwriter, James McCoy - Makeup, Ron Foreman - Production Designer, Haskell Wexler - Cinematographer, Robert Solo - Producer, Ernie Bishop - Set Designer, Jim Webb - Sound/Sound Designer, Charles Walters - Stunts, Chuck Waters - Stunts Coordinator, Michael Schiffer - Screen Story, Richard Dilello - Screenwriter, Michael Schiffer - Screenwriter
Danny McGavin (Sean Penn) is an officer who has just transferred to LAPD's C.R.A.S.H. unit from patrol. Teamed with 19-year veteran Bob Hodges (Robert Duvall), he is a hotheaded adrenaline junkie, much to Hodges' chagrin. McGavin allows no challenge to authority, however slight, to go unpunished.
The older cop is laid back on the surface, preaching "rapport" to gang members to encourage them to offer help when it is truly needed, and recognizes that every action cops take is scrutinized by the people they are trying to help. The lessons are lost on McGavin, and his actions bring him quick notoriety that rubs off on Hodges.
Amidst this, a murder of a Blood gang member leads to a series of escalations between two other street gangs, a relentless intertwining of seemingly random incidents that culminates in a gang war that finds the two partners in the middle of the Crips, Bloods and Mexican gangs' attempts to right what they perceive as wrongs against their respective crews.
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.
Real gang members were hired as guardians as well as actors by producer Robert H. Solo. Two of them were shot during filming.
On April 2, 1987, Sean Penn was arrested for punching an extra on the set of this film who was taking photos of Penn without permission. He served a month in jail for this assault.
Original soundtrack
A soundtrack for the film, Colors — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released in 1988 on Warner Bros. Records.
