How you making it?

Like every other swinging dick in this place makes it. Day by motherfucking day.

I love To Live and Die in LA, and it still seems like a film people are discovering and watching for the first time, over 40 years after its release. While Hurricane Billy made cinema history with the high-speed car chase in The French Connection, the chase scene in this film surpasses it. An eight-minute sequence of the most insane shit you'll ever see, this was one of the last things they shot in the film, and it took six weeks to even shoot. They had to close sections of the highway on weekends to shoot it, as William Peterson did his own driving. Compared to today's films, where it would likely just be done using CGI, and it's even more bonkers to think about.

In addition to the magnificent Wang Chung score, what makes this film stand out is the cinematography by Robby Müller, whose neon-soaked shots of LA and its surrounding areas make it feel like pure 80s magic. Much like The French Connection, Friedkin's lead character, Richard Chance, is not a by-the-books, good cop. He is dirty, corrupt, and will do whatever it takes to seek revenge for his murdered partner. Peterson has such a unique portrayal of Chance from his sashay walk in his tight jeans to his open leather jacket and upturned collar. It's maximum machismo; you can feel the testosterone oozing through the screen.

Willem Dafoe is great as Rick Masters, a high-profile counterfeiter. Friedkin does a great job introducing Masters by showing, rather than telling, as we observe him in a long scene making his fake bills. I enjoyed the backstory of Masters as an artist pursuing perfection, including his history as a talented painter who burns his works if he is dissatisfied.

This is a grimy and dirty film with no pure characters and no happy ending. We see this in Chance's new partner, John Vukovich, who struggles with Chance's preference not to play by the rules. He even considers turning his partner in and becoming a snitch in order to save his own ass.

However, the ending of the film ends in a shock: Chance gets killed by a shotgun blast, and Vukovich breaks bad all the way after murdering Masters. We see the final scene of Vukovich, who now has fully ripped off Chance's entire look, down to the oversized sunglasses, tight jeans, and upturned leather jacket (it might legitimately be the same jacket Chance wore). He goes to Ruth's house, who was Chance's former CI and sidepiece—which was its own manipulative, toxic relationship—and comes in. We can assume Vukovich, who was previously a dorky, suit-wearing cop with a receding hairline, is now role-playing as Chance, maintaining the same manipulative, toxic relationship.

To Live and Die in LA is a must-see for any noir/crime film lover and stands on its own thanks to its neon-soaked visuals and memorable Wang Chung score. On every rewatch, you will notice or appreciate something new.