Band of the Hand (1986)

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching my Mill Creek Blu-ray of Band of the Hand.

Five teenage juvenile delinquents whose crimes are serious enough for them to be penalized as adults are recruited by survivalist, played by Stephen Lang (Tombstone, Don't Breathe), for a special rehabilitation program, where they are left in the middle of the Florida Everglades to fend for themselves and to work together to find their own way to safety. Once they are back in Miami, the five are then placed in charge of rehabilitating a rec center in a rough city neighborhood. When a local drug kingpin jumps into the fray to prevent their work, however, the "Band of the Hand" must use all of their newfound soldiering skills to fight back.

Band of the Hand was produced by Michael Mann, who was also executive producer of the Miami Vice television series around the same time, and the movie has the same air of sleekness, cool fashions, and great music as that television series did. Paul Michael Glaser, who directed the iconic Season Two premiere of Miami Vice, helms this film as well. I've just finished binge-watching all five seasons of Miami Vice, as I do roughly every 10 years, so this movie serves as a fun addendum to that nostalgic trip.

On top of that, Band of the Hand features a great many cast members who also appeared in Miami Vice episodes.
Michael Carmine, who plays Ruben, appeared in the Miami Vice episodes "Nobody Lives Forever" and "Everybody's In Show Biz."
Al Shannon, who plays Dorcey, appeared as an unfortunate teenager in the Miami Vice episode, "Milk Run."
Laurence Fishburne, whom we all know from Apocalypse Now and The Matrix, stars here as a drug dealer, and he also appeared in a Miami Vice episode, "Walk Alone."
Paul Calderone, who starred in Pulp Fiction ("My name's Paul and this is between y'all.") plays a henchman in this movie, and he also appeared in several Miami Vice episodes, "The Home Invaders", "The Prodigal Son", and "Everybody's In Show Biz."
James Remar, who plays the big bad drug kingpin, starred in the Miami Vice episode, "Buddies", as Sonny Crockett's best friend.
Finally, Martin Ferrero, who routinely guested in all five seasons of Miami Vice as the goofy informer, Izzy, is featured here in an awesome role as a hardware store clerk.

Lauren Holly, who would later find fame as Jim Carrey's love interest in Dumb and Dumber, is a hot little firecracker in this movie as the girlfriend of one of the delinquents turned heroes.

The movie soundtrack for Band of the Hand is perfect.
Bob Dylan's "Band of the Hand"
Shriekback's "Faded Flowers"
"Waiting for You" by The Reds
"Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister

I used to rent Band of the Hand on VHS all of the time back in the late 1980s so this Blu-ray, which is available for only five dollars from Amazon, was a great trip down memory lane.

Standard Mill Creek complaints may apply to the technically focused crowd, but I personally think that this movie looks awesome on Blu-ray, and I think that the music comes across superbly well (*cough* *cough* I don't have surround sound, though.). Subtitles are a welcome feature.