September 13, 2025 – I bought the blu-ray movie (single disk contains both movies) a while back because Eddie and the Cruisers is a cult film, based on a P. F. Kluge novel of the same name. I was interested in the premise of a famous person who chooses disappearance over success. Luckily, I snagged the disk for a buck and a half at a thrift store, and it is worth that, at least.

The first film, “Eddie and the Cruisers,” released in 1983, was a flop, but it gained a second life on cable TV and VHS tapes. The main thing it has going for it its musical soundtrack, most of which was written and performed by a then obscure Rhode Island bar band, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. The band's real life saxophonist, Michael Antunes, appears in the movie as Wendell Newton, the sax player for the Eddie and the Cruisers band.

There is an uncanny convergence of story lines between the fictional Eddie and the Cruisers band and the real John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. In the movie, Eddie (played by non-musician Michael Paré of “Hope Floats”) is a hard-driving perfectionist who leads his obscure Jersey bar band to fame and fortune, but ultimately disappears and is presumed dead in a car crash after a record deal gone bad.

In real life, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, was a talented, but struggling band. Despite some limited success on the east coast, it was unable to secure a record deal with a major label. That all changed when the music producer-supervisor for the film, Kenny Vance, discovered the band playing in a New York bar, and recommended them for the movie.

John Cafferty was asked to write some songs for the movie, and he did such a good job on those, that he ended up being the film's composer. He was specifically asked to write the song “One the Dark Side” for this film, and it ended up, a year later, being the biggest career hit for John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, rocketing the band out of obscurity and into the musical mainstream. I've been hearing that catchy song on the radio (featuring Antunes' blazing sax solo) for years, without knowing where it come from until now.

It is almost as if Eddie and the Cruisers and John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band are one and the same. There is a very tight, even confusing, connection between the real band and the fictional one. After I watched these movies, and researched the story, I just happened to come across a “Professor of Rock” podcast about it which includes an interview with John Cafferty that was recorded last year. I highly recommend this podcast for those who want to take a deeper dive into this amazing true story.

Kenny Vance also appears as an actor in Eddie and the Cruisers. Ironically, the man who, in real life, discovered John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band plays Lew Eisen, a record producer who rejects Eddie's avant-garde second album for being non-commercial. This leads to Eddie's disappearance. The tapes of this album also go missing soon after. A resurgence of interest in the music of Eddie and the Cruisers years later, and a search for the missing tapes forms intriguing mysteries that are the movie's main storyline, most of which is shown in flashbacks.

Ellen Barkin (“Ocean's Thirteen” plays Maggie Foley, a TV reporter who is on the story of the missing tapes, and she also suspects that Eddie might still be alive. Tom Berenger (“Major League”) plays Frank Ridgeway, teacher who used to be a composer and keyboardist for Eddie and the Cruisers. Joe Pantoliano (“The Matrix”) plays Doc, manager of Eddie and the Cruisers, and Eddie's best friend. These actors, along with Michael Paré, would go on to have long and successful Hollywood careers.

A sequel (also on the same disk) was released in 1989, “Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives!” The sequel is about what happened to Eddie (again played by Michael Paré) after he disappeared, and his return to prominence. His new romance and drama are both rather strained in this quickie production (shot in only 30 days, according to Wikipedia). The sequel is directed by Jean-Claude Lord, after the director of the first film, Martin Davidson (“Looking for an Echo”) reportedly declined this project. Ellen Barkin, Tom Berenger and Joe Pantoliano, who all should have been in the sequel, are also absent from it.

John Cafferty returns as one of the composers for the sequel, which vanished from movie theaters even faster than the first film did. Once again, the music is the real star of the film. Both films suffer from somewhat weak, unconvincing romantic drama subplots, despite a strong overall premise. The music provides good support in both films. Also the plus side, the sequel features a cameo by a true musical legend, Bo Diddley.

I found the first film more watchable than the sequel. It rates a C+, while the sequel rates a C, but the music is the real star. The music rates a B.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff (no extra charges apply). I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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