El guerrero del amanecer

Wars and drought have ravished the future, a distant reality, and the world is now a husk of its former self. Civilisation now exists in small pockets spread across the desolate landscapes. It is the time of heroes, fighters, and bronzed men who know how to kick butt in a big way.

Steel Dawn, is has an interesting premise, but as a story struggles to develop much higher than a collection of action set pieces. Swazye plays a nomad (the man with no name), who after a tangle with some strange human like creatures of the waste lands, runs into his old mentor on the way to the pub. His mentor is killed and Swazye's character is now after revenge. The film has a spaghetti western feel to it but with out the mystery.

But despite that it has its good side too, as always Swazye is enjoyable to watch and the supporting casts do an admirable job with their characters. Christopher Neame brings a likeable side to his fallen warrior turned assassin, Sho. Who after all just wanted to challenge a worthy opponent to fight. Brion James is good as Tark, Kasha's foreman, whose initial jealousy of the Nomad make him suspicious of all he does, so of course Tark's trust must be earned.

This is not an example of cinematic magic. It is in many ways though a fun film, silly and enjoyable , with out a doubt oh so cheesy.

Enjoy I did.

The outline (plot may be too strong a word) of this movie is set in the future when water is scarce, and civilization is a dusty one-bar town. Our hero (Swayze) must prevent the evil cattle (oops!) Water baron from owning everything and defiling everyone. To be truly evil, our villain has to get an evil warrior to be Swayzes' warrior nemesis.

Think of this movie as "Road House" after the apocalypse. Swayze plays the troubled warrior; uneasy with the violence he must commit for a higher purpose, yet wise in literature and sensitive to a woman's needs (Sounds kinda like "Next Of Kin" too, doesn't it?).

While unworthy of an Academy Award, it is a fun movie that provides the kind of entertainment you expect from a modern swashbuckler. The good people are really good (or flawed in an OK way like the ranch foreman), and the bad people are really bad -- except for Swayzes' nemesis who is bad, but has a code of honor that is almost as complex as Swayzes' character.

I like it; it has a place on my shelf and I've probably watched it 3 or 4 times since it came out.

I have no idea why this is such a comfort film, it just works somehow, all of the elements feel low budget and strange, yet still it's fun to watch. Nothing deep, pure entertainment, for that, it's great. It also proves that Patrick Swayze is capable of being great in anything.

After most of civilization destroyed by a futuristic World War III, well-built warrior Patrick Swayze (as Nomad) wanders through the desert. He meditates while doing handstands (guess this helps make him a better warrior, and you will be proved correct), then shows excellent swordsmanship by annihilating some "half-people" who appear to live in the sand. As "Tremors" (1990) later confirmed, sand creatures are nasty; besides, they threaten the life of our handsome hero. Looking like a romance novel cover model, Mr. Swayze must find sneering vigilante Christopher Neame (as Sho), the man killed his martial arts mentor...

Cooling his heels, Swayze stays at a farm with beautiful blonde widow Lisa Niemi-Swayze (as Kasha) and her cute son Brett Hool (as Jux), who just may be related to director Lance Hool. They live with brave Brion James (as Tark). Proving hairstylists will survive a nuclear holocaust, the Swayzes must protect her irrigation development from wicked Anthony Zerbe (as Damnil). His wells are running dry and she has all the water. This is highly derivative, but with good enough action. Swayze body watchers will be in more than pleased with his appearance. The soundtrack by Mad Max" (1979) composer Brian May is adept.

****** Steel Dawn (11/6/87) Lance Hool ~ Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Christopher Neame, Brion James

Steel dawn, had no dawn and very little steel to speak of. However, it did contain large quantities of Swayze. The hero, played by Patrick Swayze, is a nomad traveling post-apocalyptic wastelands in search a swayz-tacular adventure. He meets up with Tark, a hulk-hogan-like individual who eventually befriends swayze. Their advisary, played by a rejected member of Bon Jovi, spends the majority of the film trying to kill swayze because he is jealous of his hair style. There are many whimsical happenings along the way, such as a swayze finding a dog, and swayze climbing a sand dune. Overall i give this movie a 4/10 due to its poor method of conveying the modern struggles of the inner self in an existential environment.