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This film begins well enough, building to what looks like being a promising study of a psychopath pitted against a feisty, but vulnerable, policewoman. Drawing on fear as a driver of eroticism, the unlikely relationship between Curtis and Silver develops to the edge of what might have been a great film. But sadly, at the halfway point, the story becomes unbelievable as both characters undertake actions that render the plot risible.

Silver turns in an impressive performance as the deranged commodity trader and Curtis plays it adequately enough. But neither can do anything to save the plot line and the whole thing ends in a mess, with the hardware of weaponry taking over from the software of psychology that would have provided a far more intelligent film.

I remember first seeing "Blue Steel" on HBO when I was a little kid. My dad made me turn it off because it was too violent (I think it after the scene where Ron Silver kills a prostitute and rubs her bloody sweater all over his naked body). Needless to say, that is one of the few memorable moments in this otherwise dull psycho thriller. The plot is standard creep-stalks-vulnerable-woman-through-the-streets-of-New York fare. In this case, the stalkee is a rookie cop played by Jamie Lee Curtis, and the psycho is Wall Street commodities trader Ron Silver.

The flick has a few things going for it: slick direction by Kathryn Bigelow, who would go on to direct better movies than this one; some decent action scenes; moody lighting and cinematography, and an eerie synth score by Brad Fiedel. Put simply, I really do like the aesthetic of "Blue Steel." Pretty much everything else is abysmal, though. The script is terrible, the pacing is extremely awkward, and it struggles to hold any kind of tension. It starts off fairly well but then devolves into a series of endless scenes in which the psycho killer appears at random, disappears, is arrested and/or injured, disappears, reappears, etc. The first half is actually pretty good, as we see the Wall Street psycho lose his grip on reality and start a murder spree, all the while hearing voices telling him he is god. Unfortunately, the film becomes less interesting and more predictable as the minutes tick by.

"Blue Steel" features a solid pe4rformance from Jamie Lee Curtis and the stylish direction you've come to expect from Kathryn Bigelow, but its story about a crazy serial killer preying on a rookie officer is predicated on some sketchy writing. So, Curtis is the tough lady cop who foils a grocery robbery, and Ron Silver the bystander who witnesses the shooting and (by the way) pockets the robber's gun. None of the witnesses come to Curtis' support that she fired in self-defense? From the outset, she's on the defensive from everybody, including her own brothers in blue. And from then on, it's one contrivance after another that lets Silver slip through the cracks. After awhile, you just start pulling your hair.

This is forgettable stalker material, but Bigelow at least keeps things moving.

5/10

This cast contributed everything they had to this work, the story line is awesome, and the execution is purely entertaining. So what went wrong? As slick as this stylish detective/thriller is, it lacks an ending which denotes the wit and keen intellect throughout. In other words, the ending was weak enough to throw off this whole work.

Jamie Lee Curtis, nor any of her cast mates represents the problem. The problem was in the writing, however, this is still quite compelling, and dramatizes an interesting story, which has the ability to pull you in and build some awesome suspense.

All in all, although it fails to deliver satisfactorily in the end, the process getting you there is quite entertaining.

It rates a 6.8/10 from...

the Fiend :.

I agree with the reviewer prior to me. I am actually taking a film class at my college and we brought up the same points the last reviewer did.

It wasn't the best coherent film I seen.

The fact that the killer "mysteriously" knew where the protagonist was all the time and also knew all about her parents and friends was pretty absurd.

Not to sound redundant, but I agree that a little more info on the history of the murderer would have helped the audience when it came to perceiving and understanding the movie.

In the other side, when it comes to suspense I guess the movie is okay. If you're the type of person that doesn't care about how coherent a plot is and just like to see action, then you will like this film.

Fantastic movie w 80s Jamie Lee! A seemingly successful man becomes obsessed w a female cop after he witnesses her killing store robber.

Not much is mentioned about this man's background and why he becomes obsessed w a stranger. But he may have had a domestic violence background.

He's a rich stockbroker but steals a gun and goes on a shooting spree.

Jamie Lee is the rookie cop that's trying to save her mom from her dad. Jamie looks v pretty.

There's a low tense music in the background the whole time. Don't live in NYC. Everyone is crazy. And don't date a stranger.

The stalker becomes a serial killer. Why?

Really like Jamie L Curtis, but the writers and acting in this are horrible. Guy robs a store with a gun, with 4 witnesses and no one but the cop sees the gun? No one sees the guy steal it? No one even looks for it. Really, how freaking inept is this police department. That is just the first minutes of the movie. Doesn't get much better after that.

Jamie Lee Curtis is one of Hollywood's more diverse actresses-- from being heralded the "Scream Queen" for such films as HALLOWEEN and THE FOG, to comedic genius in A FISH CALLED WANDA and TRUE LIES. Her portrayal of a rookie cop who becomes the target of an obsessed stalker (Ron Silver) after her first assignment on the force solidifies her acting abilities and film repertoire. Ron Silver plays the Wall-Street-broker-turned-psychopath flawlessly.

BLUE STEEL is a cop flick with a twist which, unlike many films in the genre, showcases a lead female's descent through the police force. Amir M. Mokri's encompassing and somber cinematography, Brad Fiedel's ambient and chilling musical score, and Kathryn Bigelow's cool, detached direction, combined with the excellent cast which also includes Louise Fletcher, Clancy Brown, and Elizabeth Peña, makes for a unique, entertaining, and esthetically pleasing film!

What do you do when a madman tries to make you look like the villain ? You find that person and make them end. Jamie lee curtis plays are hero cop in this film. She was a good choice for the role and i felt she did well. I also really enjoyed most of the other cast of the film. This film is intense at points and the directing worked well to showcase this. Overall a pretty good thirller.

I had been wanting to see Blue Steel for a long time, since I was a teenager. I had seen a commercial for a showing on the weekend late night movie, but had chosen to watch SNL instead because some actress was hosting.

I rented it over ten years later, and was in for a profound disappointment. Although it had a stolen gun premise that has made for such great films as Stray Dog, it suffers from horrible execution.

Although it has some decently directed action scenes, Blue Steel suffers from an abysmal, genuinely stupid script. The stupidity sets in from the very beginning, with a major plot hole being the basis of the entire film. The lapses in logic continue throughout the film, cumulating to sink any verisimilitude the film might have had.

Compounding the failures of logic in the script is the mediocre acting. Jaime Lee Curtis is unconvincing as a rookie police officer, while Clancy Brown lacks charisma as the homicide detective paired with her. Although the late Ron Silver has some chilling moments as the psychotic murderer, he at times succumbs to overacting. His scenes on the Stock Exchange floor are laugh inducing.

The film does benefit from good direction and photography. The viewer definitely gets a preview of the skills that would win Kathryn Bigelow a Best Picture Oscar. What a pity those skills had to be saddled on a piece of junk like this.

This is a bit of an oddity. Usually movies are either really good or really bad all the way through. Rarely do I see a film where there are a ton of good moments, but just as many dumb ones. I mean, this film really tries to take cop movies in a different direction in many ways. Example one: our hero cop is female. Example two: our obligatory psycho is a commodities trader(???). Example three: something I've never seen from a movie wacko: he actually hears voices! So many times the killer is without explanation doing what he's doing. But here, Silver actually has extended scenes where he's hearing someone(?) and possibly trying to fight them. It's never explained. Which is where we get into the negative elements, as Silver's motivation isn't fleshed out. Was he a psycho before the early scene shootout? Why is he a nut? We never know, except that he feels a certain power in killing. Plus, even though I appreciated the attempt, his freaky moments of hearing whomever come off a bit silly. But back on the good side he has some very effective moments with Curtis, which mix psychosis and sexualitly nicely. The NYC locations are also well used thanks to some nice cinematographic touches. Ah, alas, we must go back to the junk side, particularly Curtis' cliched superiors. All the typical "My ass in a sling! Mayor's ass in a sling! Chief's ass in a sling!" Or TWO superiors, who in reference to a scene from the beginning, falsely say that Curtis blew the guy's HEAD off. Her shots were grouped in his chest and never at his head. For them to TWICE proclaim otherwise put a big hole in their credibility. Then you have a totally underdeveloped subplot about Curtis father, who is apparently beating her mother. He is rightfully arrested only to be forgiven moments later and back at the house (what is veteran Bosco doing in such a poorly defined roll??). Or how bout when Jamie Lee beds down with a superior...right after the killer has just run off into the night in front of them!!! Tack on an overlong and predictable ending and you have something that started off in the right direction but quickly veered into an NYC pothole.

I really enjoyed Bigelow's other early 90s action movie "Point Break". I thought it was Keanu Reeves' most suitable role as a playboy surfer cop. And I took the movie fairly seriously. I wasn't expecting "Blue Steel" to be as good but I also didn't expect it turn into a comedy, which made it all the more funny. Ron Silver must of had a ball, playing a foaming at the mouth psycho. An earlier reviewer put his character best, "nuttier than a fruitcake"; I couldn't agree more. By the final scene, my mouth and throat hurt I was laughing so hard with my friends and family. Definitely watch this one with a large group with similar tastes.

This comment definitely contains spoilers.

Has Hollywood ever known what to do with Jamie Lee Curtis, whose calling card seems to be making unwatchable movies watchable? Blue Steel might reveal the answer: no.

Everything happens between the opening sequence and the titles that follow. You can turn off the movie after that, unless you want to skip to the furtive sex scene between Megan and Nick (zzzz, snore).

Too bad Ron Silver's absurd Nebauchadnezzar imitation is completely non-credible, even as a late 80s yuppie skank. Too bad they have to go out of their way to reassure us that the rather androgynous Megan sleeps with guys by having her fall in love with the same stalker-sociopath who will eventually rape her, and inadvisedly (if predictably) bedding her gap-toothed boss. Too bad males are still instructed to be intimidated by the very ideal of female equality that excites them. But then, that would be the appeal of Jamie Lee Curtis in the first place, right?

Reams have been written on the feminist, misogynist or post-feminist implications of Blue Steel: the vulnerable naive (i.e. innocent) female with "father" and "poor judgment" issues; the self-realized, Laurie Strode post-victim, no longer hampered by incompetent adult and authority figures, etc.

But those analyses almost purposely seem to avoid the blindingly obvious, even as betrayed by the film: Megan in her snappy uniform is, well..."dapper", and Megan knows it, and smiles at it. Why else to keep the strut sequence with the punk chicks giving her the once over and vice-versa, or the black socks and patent leather oxfords montaged in with that showstopping bust line being buttoned up into a shirt and tie. Megan can barely relate to her "best friend's" brainless, conventional lifestyle, and is unable to tell the supposed "best friend" matters of life and death. Not so distant film history seems lost on these analyses; other female cop movies, most notably 70s films starring Pam Grier (Sheba, Baby) Teresa Graves (Christie Love), Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones), and Angie Dickinson (Police Woman) opened the door for something like Blue Steel.

Updating the genre, Blue Steel addresses the troublesome idea of a female with a hard-on ("blue steel" being a colloquialism for "erection"), without caricature or camp those 70s movies counted on to get produced and watched, and also with masculine clothes on some of Hollywood's most notable curves. It is through the "Jamie Lee Curtis" star persona that Blue Steel is able to even broach the topic of "is Megan, or isn't she" and resolve it with a decidedly Hollywood ending. Megan even consciously cross dresses on the way to the climax.

In 1989-90, this, I suppose, was "progress". (shrug) So be it...all I can say is, thank heaven it's 2005.

Though this is not an enjoyable film, it might get you to thinking, even when you'd prefer to write it off as over stylized Hollywood crapola. I can't tell if that's a good thing or not; perhaps that in itself is one merit of Blue Steel. 6/10.

Sketchy continuity and slovenly attention to detail. Bad guy has a magic gun that never runs out of ammo, which is hardly an original technical flaw but one expects it in an action movie, not in a drama. The entire film itself is completely full of holes, more so even than the passing cars riddled with bullet holes from the bad guy's magic gun.

And indeed "the gun" was magic because seemingly it was the pre-ordained kismet of psycho finding the gun at a crime scene which was what magically turned him from successful Wall street day trader to full blown wacko seemingly in an instant.

Background into the psycho's character might have been somewhat helpful. After all, that's what made Taxi Driver such a masterpiece just as the lack of character development made this film such a dud. I was quite surprised to find that this was actually a feature film and not a low budget made-for-TV movie having viewed it on television years after it's release. If not for late night insomnia, I might have missed this gem entirely.

The one big shoot-out begins on a crowded street in early morning New York city which is somehow completely evacuated for the dramatic moment almost as if it were filmed on a film studio lot rather than on location.

In the final scenes, how the protagonist knew right where to find bad guy in middle of New York City was stunningly inexplicable, but oh, well, the plot, such as it was, must stumble forward.

Without giving away the details of the ending I can only comment as to how the film seemed to me to have ended somewhat abruptly to allow the audience to ponder these many incongruities rather than offering an epilogue of some sort to give the audience a sense of badly needed closure. Jamie Lee Curtis did the best she could in her role but her character was unfortunately as one-dimensional as everything else about this turkey.

I think all in all, even though I was frustrated at times with the film's lack of coherency, I very much enjoyed watching this film in a perverse sort of way and then being able to articulate just exactly how bad it really was.

This is a much-heralded, proto-feminist cop thriller with a lot of cold blood killings. Janet Lee Curtis vehicle playing a rookie cop who decides to deal out justice in her own hands against a maniacal killer. On her first day on the job, NYPD officer Megan Turner (Janet Lee Curtis), the lone officer on the scene, shoots and kills the perpetrator of a supermarket hold-up. Since no gun was found on the perpetrator's person or at the scene and none of the witnesses could corroborate Megan's story definitively that the perpetrator was indeed wielding a gun, she is suspended from active duty by her superiors (Clancy Brown, Kevin Dunn). But in the crime scene a mysterious witness (Ron Silver) was really. Then Megan is determined to bring in psychotic serial killer , even if he has to break some rules. A psychological thriller as cold as... Blue Steel!. For a rookie cop, there's one thing more dangerous than uncovering a killer's fantasy. Becoming it.

This new outing in Police genre packs suspense, thrills, chills, noisy action-packed, gun-play, plot twists and lots of violence, including bloody and slow-moving scenes in Sam Peckinpah style. A Point Blank Thriller about a tough cop falls into the hands of a Wall Street psycho who begins a killing spree and she eventually takes the law into her own hands. As the two-fisted rookie in the police force must engage in a cat-and-mouse game with a pistol-wielding psychopath who becomes obsessed with her. Action film made silly with over-anxious sub-text, as well as patriarch-directed rage and finally, happens an exciting, edge-of-your-seat climax. This character of a cop fighting to find a serial killer in the city would seem tailor-made for Janet Lee's tough-tender personality. Unfortunately, the role is helplessly adrift in the embarrassing pschothriller that needs al least four equally repetitive climaxes before it can stagger to a conclusion. Regularly scripted, packed with giggle-prone dialogue and events that go on too long and just hold up the story, the film's stuck from the beginning with the audience knowing who the series murderer is. Along with main star Janet Lee Curtis appears Ron Silver giving overacting as the suspicious Wall Street broker and as secondary casting showing up: Clancy Brown and Kevin Dunn as superior officers who are constantly arguing with Megan, adding other familiar faces, such as: Elizabeth Peña, Louise Fletcher, Philip Bosco, Richard Jenkins, Matt Craven, Markus Flanagan, Mike Hodge, Mike Starr. It contains colorful and atmospheric cinematography by Amir Mokri. Strange and suspenseful musical score is composed by means of synthesizer by Brad Fiedel (Terminator).

The film was mediocrely directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point break, K19 the widowmaker, Strange Days, The hurt locker, Blue Steel, Zero Dark Thirty) providing an uneven but assured direction which at times keeps you on the edge of your seat. Bigelow frequently casts Tom Sizemore who at the start turns up as a robbering victim. Often uses first person perspectives particularly in Blue Steel (1990), Wire trip scenes in Strange Days (1995) and the chase scenes in Point Break (1991) and The hurt locker (2008). In 2010, she became the first woman in Oscar history to win the Best Director award at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, her Best Director Oscar statuette for The Hurt Locker (2008). Bigelow frequently uses slow motion, particularly in action scenes. Her favorite films are Wild Bunch (1969) (as she proved in the slow-moving scenes from Blue Steel) , Terminator (1984), as well as the collective works of Alfred Hitchcock. Rating Blue Steel(1990) : 5.5/10. The pic will appeal to Janet Lee Curtis fans.

Eager rookie cop Jamie Lee Curtis has just graduated from the police academy and now walks down the street in her uniform with a satisfied smile on her face. These early moments in "Blue Steel" are incredibly bracing, giving Curtis some of the best moments she's ever had as an actress. The background information on her character (who lived in an abusive household) is unconvincing and sketchy, but one wants to like this movie so much that it can pass. What doesn't pass is Ron Silver's embarrassingly written and acted role as a stocks trader-turned-psychopath who becomes obsessed with Curtis after he watches her blow away a supermarket gunman. Silver, who later "chances" to meet Jamie Lee and romances her, is cruelly exposed by this lame-duck script and by director Kathryn Bigelow's anything-for-a-jolt handling. The picture is exceptionally well-made and had a great deal going for it initially, but slowly its potential leaks out, until there's nothing left on the screen but idiocy. *1/2 from ****

With time, I've learned to avoid any film directed by Kathryn Bigelow. These days they often come as half-baked, pretentious or just bad affairs. But there was a time when she used to be an interesting filmmaker, and "Blue Steel" is perhaps her best film. Starting with close-ups of a revolver and partial shots of Jamie Lee Curtis playing to the electronic gasps of Brad Fiedel, it shouldn't come up as a surprise that this is a film about guns, violence and the almost sexual thrills they both can produce.

During the film both Jamie Lee Curtis and Ron Silver's characters try to channel those compulsions in different ways. Megan (Jamie Lee Curtis) comes from a dysfunctional family and a violent background. She chooses the way of repression, becoming a policewoman, a job were violence is legal, but only under the right circumstances. Eugene (Ron Silver) also lives in an ambiance of implied violence: his scenes at work always show him shouting and holding papers in the air, surrounded by other brokers in similar attitudes. He instead chooses the way of exteriorizing violence, going in a killing spree with a gun that accidentally falls in his hands.

Kathryn Bigelow shots both actors accordingly. Jamie Lee Curtis often appears tight-lipped, her hair restrained in a ponytail and her sexuality contained, if not entirely hidden under a police uniform or male clothes. in the occasional moments when she loosens up a little she still can't help to act somehow aggressively would-be suitors or co-workers. Ron Silver, on the other hand, often appears acting maniacally, letting whatever emotions run through his mind take reign of him.

"Blue Steel" is, for the most part, a great film. Co-writer Erid Red has a knack for tying together opposite characters and exploring madness, the same way he did in "The Hitcher".

***SPOILERS FOLLOW*** Regrettably, there's only one way the film can end, with a showdown where one of the character has to end up consumed by his compulsions, so it's no surprise that the film ends just like that.

***END SPOILERS*** On its way to said denouement, the film also often gets too close to offering generic psycho-thriller moments, and Kathryn Bigelow's stylish, detached camera-work can only hide that for a while.

But know what? I still like it more than I should.

With a name like "Blue Steel" you'd think the director or someone would at least get the gun parts right, instead we get revolvers that rarely run dry, except as a plot device. An extreme close up of the killer loading rounds with expended primers. A hand-towel that effectively muffles the blast of a .44 magnum in the next room. A .44 that sometimes does or does not have a muzzle flash. The sound editor had way too much fun adding cylinder clicks and trigger noises where none were appropriate. In the first serial killing, the bad guy cocks the gun for a single action shot, then the director shows him pulling the trigger and the cylinder turning for a double action shot.

Then there is the usual garbage of people being knocked around the room when they are shot.

Admittedly, some of this would only be apparent to a gun nut, but why not do it right?

Blue Steel is not only a terrific movie but one of those cinematic rarities - cinema from a female viewpoint. By that I don't mean it's about babies and relationships, a common misconception of 'female viewpoint', but rather it's the experience of a male world from outside. In this film the men are the sex objects, and the aggression is female aggression. In fact one of the things this film studies is the different reactions the heroine experiences with regard to her actions just because she is female, cop or no, and is expected to act in specific ways. I think one of the reasons it is consistently overlooked is that male reviewers just don't get it and those who do don't like it. They don't like the way everything is turned upside down. Curtis isn't nurturing, she's not a victim, she doesn't fear her abusive father, she's attracted to a violent man but is equally callous about him when she realises what he is, she doesn't break down and try to change him, reform him, or marry him. Nor does she go in fear of him. Be brave gents and let the film talk to you without your cherished ideals of womanhood.

Yeah, I know. This is an old movie, why write a review about it now? Well, because I just saw it and I was shocked. Kathryn Bigelow did some great stuff, which is a big reason I decided to watch it. Ditto for Ron Silver. Jamie Lee? Eh... Now, I won't lay this on our girl, here, but she plays the absolute DUMBEST cop you could ever imagine. You shoot a man and neglect to secure his weapon on the floor? You shoot him SIX times? What if he'd had an unseen partner nearby? You don't make sure that witness statements are taken before leaving the scene? A man grabs you from behind and you can't think to step on his instep hard enough to distract him? Getting into uniform - with white sneakers? Going after a dangerous killer so you handcuff your partner to the cruiser? So many more - too many to count. She, and Ms. Bigelow, made police look like idiots, and I resent that. Even rookie cops aren't this dumb.