MovieChat Forums > Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989) Discussion > Eddie And The Cruisers

Eddie And The Cruisers

posted 18 years ago by Steve_Walls183
24 replies | jump to latest

In the reality that this movie sets-
there ARE no Beatles; we're not supposed to wonder
what Eddie Wilson thought about them- they don't
exist in this movie... like why doesn't Stallone ever
mention Muhammad Ali in the Rocky films?
Because- this is fiction!
Eddie & The Cruisers weren't a real band.

And the 60's and 70's aren't important.
The sequel skipped OVER thos years-
and it's obvious by the way Eddie dresses and acts
that he didn't become a hippie...or care about Vietnam.
What's it matter, anyway?

The History Of Rock that we know....
is not the same history of rock that's
shown here in this movie.

Another thing......
Part two takes place the same year as part one.
In the end of part one- Frank gave Doc the "lost tapes"
so that he can sell them to the media....
and this movie takes place only a few weeks after that.
The movie just does a crappy job at explaining it all.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Steve_Walls183 18 years ago

Where do you get off calling ME stupid?
Have you even watched part one?
I'll bet you haven't even seen part one.....

Because if you had- you'd know
that the first movie takes place in the EARLY 1980's
20 Years after Eddie disappeared-

And part 2 just picks up where it left off.
Both movies use the same flash-backs.

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[–] jasonguru13 17 years ago

The first movie takes place 18 years after Eddie vanished. Not in the 60's. It has flashbacks by Wordman that go to the 60's, before Eddie vanished. Ellen Barkins character is doing a story on the Cruisers almost 20 years later. I just watched the movie last night. Go back and watch it again if you dont believe me.
I just ordered the second and havent seen it in some time, but from what I can remember, it does take place right where the first one left off.
Sorry, but youre wrong on this one.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] drwfan33 18 years ago

What I remember is that the first movie is told in flashbacks, while they are trying to find the Season in Hell album. The second movie does pickup after the end of the first one - remember the end of the Eddie and the Cruisers? It show Eddie stopping in front of a tv shop, and the Darkside is playing.... The first movie is the backstory of what happened to Eddie, and the second one shows what he did after the tapes were found.

[–] Steve_Walls183 18 years ago

Right You Are, Old Boy!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Kismetra 17 years ago

In the sequel, when Eddie/Joe is working on the roof of the construction site and kicks the radio off of it, is the radio playing Dark Side, or Tender Years? And is this right after they find the lost tapes from Part 1? I vaguely remember them mentioning in part 2 something about Eddie jamming with Bo Diddley etc.......... Were those the tapes that were found?

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Kismetra 17 years ago

I am going to have to watch part 2 again to find out which song it was. I thought it was Tender Years, as Joe/Eddie got so angry. I always wondered if he was angry that they played it after he was told in Part 1 that his record was garbage, or was he mad at himself for losing all those years by believing those a**es at the record company. Instead of living in obscurity, he could have possibly been having a very lucrative career.

[–] jmb721 17 years ago

Kismetra,

The song that was playing on the radio that Joe / Eddie kicked off the roof was Tender Years. I think it was more frustration than anger that drove him to take that action. At that point in the movie, he was still trying to be Joe West, yet everywhere he turned (multiple shows on TV, the radio) there were reminders of the life he left behind when Eddie Wilson faked his own death. He's frustrated.... and feeling a little guilty....and conflicted about how to react to all the media attention..... and he takes it out on the radio (hopefully no innocent bystanders were walking along the street down below :)

[–] BlackArmy13 17 years ago

Not trying to start a Holy War about Eddie and the Cruisers. The first is set 18yrs after Eddie supposedly died. Cause he disappeared in 64 and that would put the 1st movie somewhere 82. The movie is mostly made of flashbacks and real time with Frank, Sal, Doc, Joann and Kenny & with Kenny you learn about Wendell overdosing. This is probably one of my favorite movies ever. I havent seen the 2nd one in a while. It was alright, I'll will probably own it. With the second one they had the right idea. But you can tell the script was thrown together. Cause the 1st didnt do hot until it got a cult following. Then whoevere in charge, they are like SH** we have a winner, lets make a second one. Id love to go back in time and tell them to take their time and make a script that wont taint a great character like Eddie Wilson.. I have said my piece and I know someone will sh** on my thoughts. So let it begin..

Freebird Born and Freebird Bred and When I Die, I'll be Freebird DEAD..

[–] spudda 17 years ago

Well the Hippies and Vietnam thing was kind of irrelevant since the initial story took place in the early 60s with Eddie supposedly dying a year before the war even started and a number of years before the summer of love

[–] JPCaveman13 17 years ago

First off, the song playing right before he kicked the radio off was Tender Years. Right after that, they started to play one from Season in Hell and he kicked it off in frustration.

Also, the first movie was told mostly in flashback but it was set almost 20 years after his death. The second was a short while after they recovered the Season in Hell album and the "mystery tape" of him jamming with Wendell and Bo Diddley.

As far as what he did in the years after his faked death, being a hippie or Vietnam era wouldn't matter to him since he was supposedly dead.

[–] drwfan33 17 years ago

And in Canada.

[–] firebaptzd 17 years ago

QUOTE:The first movie takes place 18 years after Eddie vanished. Not in the 60's. It has flashbacks by Wordman that go to the 60's, before Eddie vanished. Ellen Barkins character is doing a story on the Cruisers almost 20 years later. I just watched the movie last night. Go back and watch it again if you dont believe me.
I just ordered the second and havent seen it in some time, but from what I can remember, it does take place right where the first one left off.
Sorry, but youre wrong on this one.ENDQUOTE

Eddie died in 64 so that would put the ending of the first movie in 82. The second movie was based in 84 and there's proof. In the gallery when Eddie/Joe walks in and sees Diane's portrait of him, the little reader card for the painting says "Joe West, 1984."

So the second one is set roughly 18 months after the ending of the first film which makes sense since it would take a little while to be able to produce the Season in Hell album along with the mystery tape...

[–] RussellDunn 16 years ago

The Cruisers had their fifteen minutes of fame just before The Beatles became popular. Who knows what Eddie thought of Viet-Nam or the 70's. It really wasn't an issue as far as the plot went. Good films but as Eddie said in the second movie "Its the music that counts, not the hype".