Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

jfgibson73 This was a fun story about two teenage girls who came from very different backgrounds, but formed a special friendship in which each had something very important to offer the other.Pammy had always lived a sheltered life, the daughter of a prominent politician. It is just as her dad is gearing up for an important campaign that she has a breakdown that leads to her sharing a hospital room with a homeless punk rocker, Nicky. Pam is immediately drawn to the uninhibited Nicky, and together they steal an ambulance and flee.Over the course of the movie, Nicky helps Pam build confidence by encouraging her to do things she never would have on her own, such as dropping TV sets off of rooftops. Pammy seems to provide a sort of stability for Nicky that allows her to finally utilize her creativity in a positive fashion.Because the story of the politician's daughter makes the news, the girls gain a reputation throughout the city, which is helped along by encouraging words from a DJ, played by Tim Curry. At first, he only speaks to the girls on the air, giving them words of support. Eventually, he allows them to perform on-air and spreads word of their deeds, creating a cult following. Calling themselves "The Sleaze Sisters," the teens build a cult following. Yet, with all the resources of his position of power, Pam's father is unable to find where the girls are hiding.The important parts of this movie are the girls' friendship, the setting, and the soundtrack. I didn't like Tim Curry's performance that much, but I think that's just because I don't like him in general. I found his broadcaster more annoying than anything.The movie ends with Nicky disappearing into a crowd after a successful performance on top of a movie theater marquee. It is left open as to whether she and Pam keep in touch, and where their lives go from here. It seems to be suggested that they will both be healthier and more successful because of the friendship they shared. They helped each other learn to deal with things they couldn't before, taught each other valuable life skills.Suggested double feature: watch this movie back to back with Liquid Sky. Both look at life in early-80's Manhattan and place a large emphasis on creating their atmosphere through their soundtracks. But whereas Liquid Sky focuses on death and sex, Times Square shows lives full of joy and hope.

sol1218 **SPOILERS** Movie about two punk rockers Nicky & Pamala, Robin Johnson & Tirni Alverado, who set the city of New York on fire with their Punk Rock music and flying TV's! It was the girls way of expressing themselves, in their total disgust with modern society, in a way that had people's heads turn! Especially when an 19 inch TV dropped from a high rise building was about to land on top of them!This all started when the two troubled girls met in the New York Neurological Hospital and realized that it was not them but the adults who put them there should have been committed. Nicky was a homeless person who didn't know in which direction to go with her life but the well off and far fortunate, in having a home and family, Pamala's hang-us even exceeded hers. Her old man the city's Environmental Commissioner David Pearl,David Coffield,now wants to turn Times Square, what turned out to be her and her friend Nicky's happy stomping grounds, from the gritty and anything goes swinging district that it is into a Disneyland on the Hudson gaga-land with no personality at all!It's not until popular radio disk jockey Johnny LaGuadia, Tim Curry, started giving the on the run from the law, and men in white suits, girls free publicity on his all night radio show that their, Nicky and Pamala's music as well as Punk Rock ideas about life, really started to take off! To the point where entire New York City's, and it's surrounding, population of disenfranchised and ignored young people revolted against the establishment with both Nicky & Pamala leading the way.The road to the top of the heap, in the Punk Rock world, was not without is hard knocks for the two girls who had to suffer through a number of heartbreaking incidents that almost had them beak up and join the crowd, the entrenched establishment, that they so desperately tried to escape from. It was late in the film when both Nicky and Pamala went on their own, with the behind the scenes help of Johnny LaGuadia, as the popular "Sleaze Sisters" to express their feelings about life hope and the future of America's youth as well as their relationship with each other. It's then that the whole Times Square District exploded, in a pre-announced concert that they gave there, that even Pamala's stuffed shirt dad David finally saw the light and joined in along with them!Sing along and snap your fingers type of movie that despite its many inconsistencies you just can't dislike or turn off no matter how ridicules it gets! Even though the film was the non actor Brooklyn born Robin Johnson's debut she did as good a job playing the punk rock and incorrigible Nicky Marotta as any establish and polished actress could have possibly hoped to do. The scenes with both Nicky and Pamala even though corny were touching in that they seemed to come straight from the heart not the script. Among all the other good things to say about the film "Times Square" what stuck out more then anything else, beside Nicky and Pamala, was it's memorable and catchy soundtrack that packed some twenty, count em' twenty, songs in the less then two hours in length motion picture!

veday67 This movie was so important to me as a teenager. It was very empowering. I have visited New York City several times now due to my interest that was kindled by this movie. I started looking for it on DVD literally 2 weeks before it was released and was thrilled to find it available. A reunion of some sort would be well received I am sure. They are making me submit at least ten lines so I am filling those up with more accolades for the movie, I love this movie yeah yeah yeah. The soundtrack is amazing...I have it on cassette and have recreated most of it from Napster. Hello Robin and Trini where ever you are..thank you.

aimless-46 I must confess up front to a favorable bias toward "Times Square". Just before its release I recall seeing the trailer and being won over by the scene in the hospital where Nikki begins eating the flowers. Since this was only about 10 seconds into the trailer it is fair to say that I immediately connected with the film. The same trailer is included with the DVD and I was happy to see that my memory of the event was accurate. After seeing the actual feature I went out and bought the double album, which I still own.I know more about films now than I did 25 years ago and thanks to the DVD commentary (by Director Allen Moyle and Robin Johnson-who played Nikki) I now know a lot about what went into the making of "Times Square". Unfortunately Robin's co-star Trini Alvarado (Pammy) was not available for the commentary. Although most viewers consider Nikki the central character, Nikki really needs Pammy to play off (much like Charlize Theron needs Christina Ricci's reaction shots in "Monster"), plus Pammy's scenes without Nikki are some of the best in the film and Pammy is the character who undergoes all the changes in the story, so you can't really say that one of them is more important than the other."Times Square" suffered the same fate that Orson Welles' "The Magnificent Ambersons" did 40 years earlier. The producers took control of the final cut, re-shot some scenes, deleted others, and released a version that did not reflect the director's vision. Apparently no one has ever been able to find the deleted footage for either film. Although "Times Square" was butchered even more than "Ambersons", it seems to have been less damaged. In part that is because the originally intended version would never have approached the perfection of the original "Amberson's". Perhaps more importantly, "Times Square" has a Haskel Wexler gritty documentary style that simply transcends the narrative elements of the story. So changes to the storyline could not take away from its basic ambiance nor from its preservation of the look of 1979 Times Square-something that was even then a ghost world.Moyle now wishes he had not left the production after a dispute over including additional songs (so they could have a double album) because his continued presence would at least have had some damage control value. Producer Robert Stigwood ("Saturday Night Fever", "Saying Alive", "Jesus Christ Superstar", Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" ) was determined to release yet another of his musical exploitation films designed to make a lot of money on the soundtrack. This accounts for the inclusion of the completely inappropriate "Help Me" (The Bee Gees), the movie actually goes out on that song although they switch to something more appropriate midway through the credits.The commercialization of the film also included dropping all obvious hints of a lesbian relationship between the two girls. This was probably a commercial mistake because a public controversy might have actually increased attendance. Ironically, if the lesbian angle had remained Moyle would have been accused of exploitation because it is really unnecessary for the storyline. Likewise the script changes needed when Alvarado refused to dance topless saved Moyle from looking like an exploiter.While what survives has major continuity and character development issues, the core of the story may actually work better. Two emotionally damaged girls-polar opposites- bond and help each other. It ends with Altman's cool "Kansas City" twist where the seemingly weaker girl becomes protective of the tough girl. I like the way that Pamela's father finally gets it and backs away, letting her continue to help Nikki until she feels that Nikki can continue without her. You first realize how strong and together Nikki has made Pammy by the end of my favorite montage sequence. After ordering her out, Nikki trashes their room, tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide, and completely breaks down at the radio station. Inter-cut with this is a shot of Pammy standing outside her father's home. At the station Nikki is screaming "Pammy" over and over as they agreed to do earlier in the film in moments of total despair. The audio of these screams is extended into the morning after establishing shot of their dock building. Johnny comes into the seemingly empty room and lifts the blanket revealing a peacefully sleeping Pammy sucking her thumb-she has returned to help Nikki.Another highlight is the scene I already mentioned of Nikki eating the flowers in their hospital room. What makes this work is its point-of-view dynamic. Moyle artfully connects us to Pammy for the first time by allowing us to see Nikki from her POV. Later he places us back into Pammy's POV as Nikki non-verbally convinces Pammy to leave the hospital with her. The hospital exit scene only works credibility-wise because the first scene set us up for it.Finally there is Nikki's "people dig dyin on me" line.