Blue Steel

Ron silver acted so bad. the script is so bad. in the store scene, she does not call for back up when she sees what was happeneing. and later ron silver takes away the gun, okay thats a bit surprising because there had been no introduction to his character until then, and funny jamie does not bother to stay behind and do the policework, thats okay because she is apparently too shocked and takes leave. later the chief accuses her of shooting ron silver too many times and also going to the extent of accusing her of shooting an unarmed man. now how about the people in the store, surely someone did see him, how about the security camera, how about the people in the streets, well nobody seems to have seen this guy hold the gun. Very poor film by any standards. Later silver shoots jamie's friend while holding jamie's neck with his arms, and she later says she did not see his face... what a stupid story.

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.

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!

I am A huge fan of Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red. I loved "THE HITCHER" (the OG one), "NEAR DARK", and "BODY PARTS". Who cares if there are parts that make you go, "Oh, yeah right, that doesn't really happen to a cop". It is a horror flick, it is designed as a horror flick, not a psychological Morgan Freeman cop thriller. If you can humor a story about Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, and Killer Toy Dolls, then you can bite into a well made story about a wall street slasher running crazy in the city that uses a GUN instead of a Hook, Claw, Chainsaw, Axe, or whatever tickles you fancy. It is a Scary Movie, nothing more. Like "The Hitcher", the antagonist gets worse and worse and in the end it is a classic Goodguy-vs-Monster battle. Jamie is fantastic, Ron is superb, as always and so is Clancy Brown. A special appearance by Tom Sizmore also makes this movie a cool collector's item.

Many people confuse this movie as a cop suspense thriller and have passed judgment too harshly throughout the years. Most of Kathryn's and Eric's early movies are designed to scare you with the story itself than by using Scary Camera Tricks. It's an old flick, so don't expect any CGI. Many people simply judged it by looking at it as a psychological cop thriller. Don't go out like that. It is an authentic, original, stand-on-its-own, scary movie like "THE HITCHER" and "BODY PARTS". Watch it again as a Horror and you will know what I'm talking about. Be nice. Don't give in to hate. It leads to the Darkside.

Get off the Band Wagon and Enjoy it for what it is. Just watch it and pretend you're living in the 90's for Pete's Sake

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.