Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!
| Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! | |
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| Directed by | Jean-Claude Lord |
| Produced by | William Stuart Denis Heroux Stephane Reichel |
| Written by | Charles Zev Cohen Rick Doehring |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
John Cafferty Marty Simon Kenny Vance Leon Aronson |
| Cinematography | Rene Verzier |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Scotti Brothers |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | Canada United States |
| Language | English |
Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! is the 1989 sequel to the 1983 cult film Eddie and the Cruisers, and despite being a failure at the box office, has since joined its predecessor as a cult favorite. It is directed by Jean-Claude Lord, and based on literary characters created by author P. F. Kluge. Michael Paré and Matthew Laurance reprise their roles as Eddie Wilson and Sal Amato, respectively. The film was marketed with the tagline "The legend. The music. The man."
Director Lord and several members of the film's supporting cast (Marina Orsini, Vlasta Vrána and Mark Brennan) had previously worked together on the French-Canadian television series Lance et Compte. Additionally, cast members Harvey Atkin and Kate Lynch had earlier co-starred in the comedy film Meatballs (1979).
Satin Records rejected rock and roll band Eddie and the Cruisers' last album A Season in Hell twenty years earlier. Now Satin launches an "Eddie Lives!" campaign to make more money off Eddie's image as a publicity stunt, despite their belief that Eddie is dead. The record label re-releases the band's first album, which becomes an even bigger hit than its first release. The "lost recordings" from A Season in Hell that were discovered in the previous film are released and become a major hit album.
Eddie Wilson is actually alive. He slipped away from the car crash which supposedly caused his death and began a new life under an assumed name. He was disgusted by the music industry and decided to leave it behind. The newly generated spotlight on his supposed death angers the reclusive rocker, who now resides in Canada as construction worker Joe West.
Eddie gets involved with a struggling bar band, and his passion for music—along with his desperate anger—resurface. He decides to confront Eddie's talents once and for all. Eddie ("Joe West") challenges the bar band's talent, accepts an invitation to play and quickly dazzles the audience and the band's members. Eddie abruptly leaves the stage, disturbed by memories of Wendall Newton while Hilton plays a brief sax solo. Guitarist Rick Diesel pursues Eddie and badgers him about joining the band. Eddie finally begins to play again and the two circulate through Montreal's music scene, hand-picking musicians for a new band, Rock Solid. One of the recruits, saxophone player Hilton Overstreet, remarks at his audition that you can always identify a guitarist by the way he plays. His eyes widen when he hears Eddie on guitar, but he says nothing about his suspicions.
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