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Band of the Hand

Band of the Hand

Crime · Thriller · Drama · 1986

An Indian Vietnam veteran trains five street punks in the Everglades to fight vice in Miami.

Movie details

Band of the Hand

“They're back on the mean streets. But this time, they're the good guys.”

1986 Crime · Thriller · Drama 1h 49m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

An Indian Vietnam veteran trains five street punks in the Everglades to fight vice in Miami.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Band of the Hand?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Scarface

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The Substitute

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When an inner-city Miami schoolteacher gets her knee broken after standing up to the school's gang leader, her mercenary combat specialist boyfriend goes undercover as a substitute teacher to take down the punk. Soon he discovers a conspiracy of criminals at work, and must reassemble his team from his last jungle raid to stop them.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Paul Michael Glaser

Written by

Jack Baran · Leo Garen

Stephen Lang

Stephen Lang

Joe

Michael Carmine

Michael Carmine

Ruben

Lauren Holly

Lauren Holly

Nikki

John Cameron Mitchell

John Cameron Mitchell

J.L.

Danny Quinn

Danny Quinn

Carlos

Leon

Leon

Moss

James Remar

James Remar

Nestor

Court is in session

Put Band of the Hand on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.