10 More Amazing Roles Ruined By Terrible Acting

There's an awful lot to love about Walter Hill's Rock & Roll fable that is Streets of Fire.

It comes with some glorious anthems and a superb ensemble of players, including Willem Dafoe as a slimy biker gang leader, Diane Lane as a rocking lead singer, and Rick Moranis as her jealous boyfriend/manager. Even the late great Bill Paxton is along for the ride, too. But it's that absolutely stacked cast of compelling and impressive talent that makes poor Michael Paré stand out for all the wrong reasons throughout.

Despite being handed the chance to play an all-round badass with a heart of gold, one who can single-handedly whoop any human he comes into contact with, Paré's performance as ex-soldier Tom Cody, the bloke tasked with saving Ellen Aim from the aforementioned biker gang, just feels incredibly lifeless whenever he opens his mouth.

Apparently, Tom Cruise was in the running to play this cool-as-hell one-time love interest of Lane's Ellen Aim, and you could definitely see the effortlessly charismatic Top Gun icon nailing this sort of character if he hadn't already agreed to use his talents elsewhere.

So, instead the call was made to throw Paré into the awesome part. And the actor unfortunately just struggled to pump any sort of life into the guy, delivering some of the most monotonous, unmemorable line readings you'll ever hear and often being outclassed by the rest of that aforementioned star-studded ensemble.

It isn't all bad - Paré does admittedly have decent screen presence and occasionally shines when throwing down with various baddies - but it still feels like the weakest performance on show in this underrated gem of an '80s experience.