Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

BobbyT24 Okay, I'll admit it. I'm an Eddie and the Cruisers fan. I loved the first movie, although I thought the story was a little dry. But the ending always made me want to know what happened to Eddie Wilson in the early-'60s since we all knew he didn't necessarily end his life at the end of that bridge.Enter "Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!" taking place roughly 25 years after the original time frame. Again, I'll admit... this is a guilty pleasure of mine. This may not be "Gone With The Wind", but it makes me smile each and every time I put on this corny movie. The supporting acting is so-so. The story is fairly by-the-numbers. As a sequel, it ties up most of the loose ends from the original. The lead actor and his love interest let's say aren't necessarily of the Academy Award caliber although they try. But the plot isn't necessarily why we watch this movie and the director knew this. The music and what ultimately happened to Eddie is all this story aspires to. And the music is in one word... W-O-W!!! It's sad to note John Cafferty - the REAL voice of Eddie Wilson - has since passed away. I once watched him open for "Journey" decades ago. His perfectly soulful singing voice was unique and hits my heart just right. Having Michael Pare lip-syncing to those amazing tunes always puts a smile on my face, no matter the day.Now if you're expecting some blockbuster movie, this isn't the one for you. This is a movie by what looks to be a group of people who simply wanted to give a proper send-off to a movie mystery that the audience wanted to see. It isn't grand. It isn't intellectual. It may not even be all that good. But it's fitting - and the music is special.I'm thankful to watch this every few years. Some of the music is on my iPod and I listen to it often. As a movie, this is at most a 5 simply because it ties up the loose ends of the original and watching a movie hero create a band is creative and enjoyable. But the music... a solid 10 as far as I'm concerned. :-) RIP John Cafferty. You are missed.

bluesman-20 Eddie and the Cruisers 2 Eddie Lives was a pleasant surprise. To me the film was about love. Eddie loves music but was hurt he became scared so that one night in 1963 Eddie's car blew a tire and went over a guardrail and Eddie escaped he saw this as his chance to escape to get out of a life that had spun out of control. He split and just left everyone and everything behind and in the process hurt a lot of people. But Eddie also created a legend. Now Eddie and the Cruisers are enjoying a revival and Eddie is tortured he's living as a construction worker named Joe West and when he sees a band with the same drive he once had struggling he steps in to help and in the process creates a whole new band.He begins to create music again and this time is the added fear that he'll be found out. The movie is good from start to finish and the soundtrack is superb. This one got a bad reception when it should never have and is good enough to stand beside that first movie. This movie is pure entertainment dynamite from start to finish.

bobafett_ski An example of how not to do a sequel man.Its obvious that this script was thrown together at the last minute man. The dialogue is laughable man, and the direction is as well man.The original had some depth to it and a dark, mysterious aura. The sequel, not so much.The storyline is ridiculous. It takes place right where the first one left off. Eddie (or Joe if you will), who resides in Canada, still has his musical passion but is afraid of revealing himself as the true Eddie Wilson. To make matters worse, the last album he recorded has been released 20 years after he 'died', and Eddie Wilson is once again a hot topic in the music world. Eddie ends up in a bar one night and runs into some musicians, a sax player who reminds him of Wendell from the first movie, and a young (and highly annoying) guitarist. Eddie compliments the sax player and criticizes the guitarist and thus begins the makings of a new band. For some reason the next half hour of the movie is basically the young guitarist stalking and harassing Eddie about becoming a better musician. It's laughable how the kid always knows where Eddie is. He somehow knows he is a construction worker and at what site he is working. He knows he is at an art show with the boring love interest. He knows Eddie is at a roller skating rink, and so on. The scripted dialogue between the two goes something like this, "Hey man, leave me alone." "Come on man, I wanna learn." They eventually put a band together, but Eddie never believes they are ready to perform. "Come on man, we want to play." "No! We aren't ready man." After another half hour of bickering, the sax player (a Billy Dee Williams clone by the way) finally reveals he knows who Eddie is. This of course brings the band closer and Eddie caves in about performing.After all the build up of the great Eddie Wilson throughout the film, the big reveal at the end is less than climactic. The only hold over character from the first movie is Sal. I guess all the others knew better. There is a secondary story about a 'mystery' tape with Eddie performing on it, but surprisingly, it isn't needed.The music is okay. It does take up half of the movie (it helps alleviate the pain of the dialogue man) and I really liked the song played during the opening credits.Stick with the original, unless you really need a sip of nostalgia.

marjan-23 Saw the 2 movies again on TV recently (saw them first about 10 years ago) and loved them just as much as the first time around, probably more. "Eddie Lives" is my favorite though - it has great music from start to finish, John Cafferty's voice is marvellous and he has come up with some truly good songs, songs that sound as good today as ten years ago when I bought the soundtrack. The movie has a touching story line and a hunk of a lead in Michael Pare. The final 'huge crowd' scenes are amazing - you wonder how they managed to get the crowd go "Eddie, Eddie!!" Have now bought the movie on DVD and watch it whenever I need a'feel good' movie.