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Following a James Bond style opening, with sexy emeralds in place of women, GREEN ICE is a breezy seventies Neo-Noir (although not released till the early eighties) starring Ryan O'Neal as a drifter in Mexico who meets his damsel in distress, rich girl Anne Archer...

Her hippie sister (Tara Fellner) had been slain by the same crooked third world officials she and her gang were hiding emeralds from, and so big sister uses O'Neal to find out what happened: Which turns out it has to do with... guess what? GREEN ICE, which millionaire Omar Sharif collects like loose change while exploiting the locals.

Here's where things wane, considerably, going from an involving suspense chase thriller into a pointless class envy melodrama with the reintroduction of the dead little sister's mentor, Miguel, a whining communist revolutionary with a chip on his shoulder this size of a dwarf planet and the politics of a dreamy sixth-grader...

The break-in at Sharif's glass-building high-rise to get back the emeralds, by very bizarre means of hot air balloons (manned by John Larroquette, and with a song playing that sounds worse than Yoko Ono), is where the film never really recovers...

Hell, even the heist is boring, despite Sharif... as kinda/sorta Archer's beau (get it?)... giving O'Neal an initial tour in an intriguing manner. And what a shame: with such an adventurous premise, this might've been really something. (Bill Wyman, bassist of The Rolling Stones, provides the cooler parts of the soundtrack, including an groovy opening instrumental that, alas, on the Album/LP, has singing on it.)

This is one of those movies with a cult following. The plot might sound like something you heard before. But its the charm of this movie that sets it apart from the rest. I have seen this movie over 30 times since 1981 and I never tire of it. Some movies are just a pleasure to watch and listen to. It's like listening to your favorite song over and over. It's laid back and just plain enjoyable without all the stress we often get from modern movies.

Certainly a lot of the credit goes to Bill Wyman for making the score. Ultimately it is what puts the shine on Green Ice.

10/10

A poorly developed action adventure film shot largely in Mexico, this affair begins in promising fashion, but after its first of several changes in direction occurs within the plot line, little remains that will interest a viewer. A group of international students (in reality organized supporters of anti-government rebels) is massacred in Colombia by Federales as action opens, while during alternating scenes Joe Wiley (Ryan O'Neal), an American electronics engineer, visiting Mexico to recover from a divorce, meets an affluent socialite, Lillian Holbrook (Anne Archer). When the two become romantically involved, a complicated situation forms since Lillian is being wooed by Meno Argenti (Omar Sharif), a powerful plutocrat who controls the emerald trade for the rotten Mexican government, thus leading to shared distaste between the two men. When Lillian travels to Colombia in quest of her missing younger sister, Joe goes with her, an act not endorsed by Meno who wishes to wed her for personal reasons other than love, and a climactic conflict between the rivals can result only in violence. The screenplay is a hotchpotch with a thread of intended light-hearted romance woven among such disparate themes as murder, torture and sadism, along with grotesquely silly stunts that Joe and his cohorts perform in attempts to foil the evil Argenti. The piece is heavily cut for distribution, and editing is very choppy, increasing the episodic nature of a script that consistently meanders, scenes honouring logic being very rare indeed. The players are somewhat hindered by their cliché laden lines, O'Neal being even more encumbered by a large assortment of electronic and other specialized equipment that is magically available for use in situations requiring derring-do. Camera-work under supervision from cinematographer Gilbert Taylor is strikingly effective and creative but general mistreatment of basic rules of continuity sinks this effort despite its pretty scenic effects.

I kid you not, the last time I saw this movie, I could not have been older than eight years old. It still sticks with me, probably because it was one of the first heist/thriller movies I ever saw.

Omar Sharif was all over the place in the movies of that era, most notably (in mind) in "Oh Heavenly Dog!" with Chevy Chase and Jane Seymour. He was a bad guy in that one, too, and I often think of the two movies with a similar nostalgia. This was certainly my first exposure to the beautiful Anne Archer and the underrated Ryan O'Neal. "Green Ice" also gave us a glimpse of John Larroquette before his face and name became widely known.

This is truly a movie which does not deserve to be forgotten. The music is memorably flaky, but not any cheesier than the "Tootsie" soundtrack or any others from that era. A precursor to "Romancing the Stone", "Green Ice" shows off lots of gems, has lots of suspense and thrills, and a truly despicable, yet dimensional villain. And then there's the action. It is not easy to land a hot air balloon on a high rise, let alone break into said high rise without setting off all kinds of alarms. Using a holographic imager to crack the vault was just the coolest of all techno-geek ideas.

To conclude, I have never seen any film made before or after this one (although "Rough Cut" was close) that brings the romance, action, tension, and characters to the audience like "Green Ice" did.

In the Early Eighties ,There was 'Green Ice' which is a surprisingly enjoyable caper that's packed with action - Adventure,and romance, (Ryan O'Neal, plays Joe Wiley a recently divorced Electronics expert, who leaves New York, for the exotic plains of south America, where he meets the beautiful society heiress, Lillain Holbrook,(Ann Archer,

Whilst in the exotic resort of Las Hadas, O'Neal inadvertently becomes involved with Emerald Smuggling, Archer is searching for her peace activist sister, who who is brutally slain in the chilling opening sequence. Omar Sharif,plays Archer's potential but somewhat he sinister Suitor, Meno Argenti, a kingpin banished from the diamond concession but is a big player in the emerald, business,

There is a fantastic sequence, which see's O'Neal and his associate played by the ever brilliant, John Larroquette,travel in a convoy of Custom hot air balloon's to rob Sharif's emeralds,Which are housed in his Voice activated vault, Atop a glistening skyscraper,

Their is excellent Cinematography, throughout this picture particularly the aerial, shots, James Bond credits designer Maurice Binder designs the opening titles which are excellent, Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, infuses the film with his brilliant Synth electronic score, Like The Green Emerald's in the film Green Ice Sparkles with excellence