Dead Bang

Another one of those TV stars who moved into movies this sadly has been put alongside with Caruso's JADE but on closer inspection all movies are not that bad..... Dead Bang is a fairly run of the mill cop against bad guys type thing but what takes it out of the run of the mill is the direction from Frankenheimer & the star turn from Johnson. Johnson gives a great performance as the stressed cop,we can see the frustration in Beck's life either doing his job or trying to see his kids,his acting is done very well & not over the top..in particular the xmas morning bust Beck makes..the start of the scene we see the alcoholic sweats to later on being sick all over the suspect. The supporting cast however do not raise their game to give the support Johnson needs with William Forsythe in particular giving a completely wooden performance which is surprizing as he has been so much better.

The action scenes are handled very well indeed...The gunfights(are they're are a few) are not to Hollywood for my liking.

On the whole a very enjoyable movie & it shows that Don Johnson should have been a movie star.

14. DEAD BANG (action, 1989) Det. Beck (Don Johnson) is an LA cop whose life is falling to pieces. His wife has just left and his hitting the bottle again. Assigned to a cop killing that seems routine, Beck sees his chance at redemption by immersing himself in the case. The murder has ties to a ruthless and tightly controlled Neo-Nazi sect. He starts a cross-country chase that inevitably leads him to rural America. With the help of an FBI agent, Beck is intent on exposing a network of ruthless criminals.

Critique: "An exercise in futility", that's how one critic summed up Don Johnson's acting. With a squeaky voice, boyish looks, and sparse acting (plus an endless array of 'cool' wardrobes), he became something of a cult favorite playing Det. Stubbs in the hit TV-show Miami Vice (1984-89). Since the end of that show, his movie career has been a total loss. . .well, almost.

At least he can look back proudly on his work in John Frankenheimer's 'Dead Bang': A slick, old style, slam-bang action film. Taking his Stubbs character to new heights (or lows for that matter) he plays the consummate 'burn-out cop'. He has been given a solid script to work from, professional direction by old-hand Frankenheimer, and a good supporting cast including John Forsythe as his FBI partner.

Supposedly based on the real life experiences of LA Det. Jerry Beck, this is Johnson's only film where he proved to be more than "an exercise in futility".

QUOTE: "I got a splitting' headache, I'm seeing double and. . .s#!t! I think I'm gonna throw up again."

This crime drama was barely released by the studio, so not many got to see it. It IS, however, a cut or two above your usual routine action film, with an absorbing (and topical) story, good acting and solid direction by veteran director John Frankenheimer. Not a classic, but there are many WORSE films out there. If you're only used to seeing him on "Miami Vice" as the ultra-cool Sonny Crockett, Johnson may surprise you here with a his performance....he's gritty, funny, flawed and very real (both the character and story here are fact-based). The scene where he vomits on a suspect after a blocks-long foot chase (he's hung over from a previous night's alcohol binge) is a classic....gross, but hilarious.

I shied away from this film initially, due to its low IMDB rating at the time, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It's based on actual events, yet the story has all the right elements of a great action film. Don Johnson's LA cop is up against tremendous odds, a renegade, a drunk, lonely, and yet an entirely likeable character. Whether you like Johnson (the actor), or Frankenheimer (the director), or action films (the genre) in general, give this film a chance. It's almost perfect. Completely underrated by the scoring on this site.

7.5 out of 10

This movie plays like a typical good detective novel. Except for the hero every character is totally one dimensional and the well written story doesn't really deliver any big surprises. This being said, this film delivers decent acting, a compelling plot, and polished Hollywood production value. Frankenheimer definitely knows his way around the genre and he gets the most of Don Johnson's much-maligned acting chops by casting him in a role which perfectly suits Johnson's trademark 'maverick' cop character.