Ghiaccio blu

I was recently on a Russell Mulcahy kick and decided to view his second hard to find direct to video film BLUE ICE after being pleasantly surprised by SILENT TRIGGER with Dolph Lundgren. BLUE ICE has a very engaging storyline but ultimately falls short in the ending. Michael Caine plays ex-British operative Harry Anders unexpectedly and unofficially brought back into action after a traffic accident with mysterious beauty Stacy (Sean Young). A mutual attraction leads Harry to do Stacy a seemingly small favor involving Stacy's ex boyfriend. What follows is a intricately weaved scheme involving arms dealing and some very high ranking "w******". Caine is excellent as the lead character and reminded me of Roger Moore in his heyday as Bond. Sultry and convincing, Sean Young definitely heats up the screen. Look for a good but shortlived cameo by Bob Hoskins. Russell Mulcahy once again puts some effective visuals onto the screen including a hyper intense torture/interrogation sequence and effective lighting.

However, the time it took to create such an effective story and relationship between the two leads is wasted with a conclusion that emphasizes what Michael Caine is not: an action hero. Although the fight scenes in Harry's bar were forgivable, Michael Caine running around with a gun (albeit a cool gun) in the final showdown just struck me as awkward. The action also was a unnecessary reminder that the film was done on a low budget...a very low budget. Yet another film that came into fruition with a strong story and performances but would ultimately run out of steam with uninspired and unspectacular action. Of course Mr. Mulcahy would come back in fine form later with direct to video films SILENT TRIGGER, TALOS THE MUMMY, and RESURRECTION.

Michael Caine plays a former British agent with a penchant for jazz, crowded bars, and mysterious women. In his retirement, he owns a very successful nightclub, and when he meets Sean Young, he's smitten by her appeal and puts on the moves. They have a pretty hot-and-heavy romance—as hot and heavy as things get in 1992—but then she invites him to a classy party with lots of dignitaries. It turns out she's married to the American ambassador! What else is she hiding?

Blue Ice is an intense thriller with plenty of action scenes to keep the men watching and plenty of romance to keep the women interested. Ian Holm plays a very wicked bad guy, which, since I've only ever seen him in bad guy roles, isn't too much of a stretch. I happen to be a Michael Caine fan, so I was entertained by the film, but from an outsider's perspective who maybe isn't as much of a fan, it's not really the best movie out there. But if you like all his Harry Palmer spy movies, you might want to watch this one to see how he handles retirement!

I saw this because of Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins and Ian Holm star in it, although Bob Hoskins has a very small part. In the beginning the Sean Young character is receiving a message on her car phone from somebody who is probably an American spy. It is not clear why she is receiving the message apart ffrom the fact that the spy is her boyfriend. She is not in the spy business. Surely a spy would have a more suitable contact than his girlfriend. It is true her husband is the American ambassador in London but she does not tell him. She keeps it secret until she eventually meets Michael Caine's character. So she has nobody in the spy business to give it to. Later on we meet a man who introduces himself to Michael Caine as somebody who sees music as a form of code and that messages can be coded in music scores. What this has to do with anything is not made clear, although he is killed by the British head of one of the intelligence agencies, and we are not told what he knows, if anything. This head of intelligence lives in an expensive London house, wears expensive clothes, drives an upmarket car, belongs to an expensive private Gentlemans Club in central London and complains "What have they done for us?" as his excuse for cheating the British Government out of a large sum of money and killing whoever gets in his way. Strange journey of Sean Stacy driven by an American Embassy driver and followed by American intelligence operatives, and not clear why the driver and operatives have different objectives or even why they are concerned with her. Michael Caine does a good job of finding his way through a murky logic-less story. Good scenes of London in the 1980's, and many exciting fights etc (nothing really nasty apart from the occasional death). Watch it for Michael Caine and the other top actors, as well as the Jazz and Boby Short and Charlie Watts, but don't expect to learn anything about the spy business. Generally I liked it and the acting was believable.

A lot of people seem to 'pan' this film, and although it is not the best it is certainly not as bad as the current 5.2 rating on here.

The acting is ok, the best are the supporting actors who only get a cameo role, Jack Shepherd, Ian Holm, Alun Armstrong and Bob Hoskins (the best), Michael Caine does as well as he can with the script and Sean Young plays a slightly sleazy vamp type quite well, an underrated performance I feel.

The film is set in London and that is where it was filmed but the weather seems to be overcast and dreary in every scene, it would have been nice to have some scenes when the sun is out, also it seems to be filmed in a sort of 1970's style rather than the 90's when it was filmed, again making it more grim, although it seems like it is intended as a kind of 'film noir', unfortunately it was making it look grimmer than it needed to have been, and this did not help. It could have been a bit more stylish.

The story is Ok but the script, music score and editing did not help, it seemed a kind of hotch potch, it would have helped with better continuity and longer/more of a story-line, with a better script and direction and with a bit more style and content this could have been a classic similar to the Harry Palmer films Michael Caine made previously.

So although not as good as those it is not as bad as some people make it out to be, with all the remakes/sequels being churned out in the film industry it would be interesting if someone would remake this one, I'm sure with a bit more style and substance it could be a good movie.

In the opening scenes at a funeral you gotta love Michael Caine's explanation of blue ice. Typical dry British humour, which only Caine could nail down. "Blue Ice" is an often panned British espionage thriller, which I didn't mind despite its bleak and formulaic narrative with a saucy noir touch and an all-familiar hard-edge Caine performance. A former British spy now jazz club owner is asked by his mistress (who happens to be the wife of the American Ambassador) to find an old boyfriend and when he does he becomes embroiled in murder and something much more. Director Russell Mulcahy (who has always been a stylish film-maker) window dresses this thriller with jazzed up sophistication and inflated slickness amongst its suspense, brutality and sleepy London locations caught by his sweeping camera. The contrived plot is slow building, manipulating and toying with the protagonist in a fascinating manner and a sense of witty humour doesn't go astray. There's one sequence that really stood out for me, because of how surreal and nightmarish it becomes and that's the drug-induced interrogation of Caine's character. Sean Young plays it rather distantly cold as the sultry mistress. While the likes Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins have small parts. A sturdily told, if burnished 90s action thriller joint.

"Just put it down to blue ice".