To Live and Die in L.A. isn’t so much a movie so much as it is a collection of a three great set pieces wrapped in a pretty standard crime flick (William Peterson’s partner is killed just three days before retirement, which had to be a cliche even in 1985). Still, there’s something truly great about those set pieces—a car chase against traffic on the L.A. freeway; a long sequence that shows in nice detail how to counterfeit twenties; and this, the opening scene, which features the best song Wang Chung ever did.