The World Machine

Nighthawks is a 1981 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth in his solo directorial debut, from a screenplay by David Shaber, based on a story by Shaber and Paul Sylbert. It stars Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams, with Lindsay Wagner, Persis Khambatta, Nigel Davenport and Rutger Hauer in his American film debut. Its score was composed by Keith Emerson. The film follows Wulfgar Reinhardt and Shakka, a pair of international terrorists who come to New York City and the police detectives who, as part of a newly formed antiterrorism squad, are asked to identify and neutralize them. Nighthawks was noted for production problems, including the firing of original director Gary Nelson, and extensive re-editing by star Stallone. The film was released by Universal Pictures on April 10, 1981; it received generally positive reviews and was a financial success, grossing $19.9 million on a $5 million production budget.