Opération Green Ice

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.)

In the early eighties films were made without perfectly drycleaned wardrobe, without perfect glamour hair and without enough makeup to paint a world scene. This film is one of those that puts you in the film and away from the soundstage. Granted it's not a masterpiece but the story is solid and the acting and production is pretty good. The synth/spanish soundtrack by Bill Wyman also adds greatly to the Columbian landscapes and characterization (especially Wiley's campy yet likeable theme). Be wary however that there is a long scene involving one of the worst film songs of all time (floating) which will have you grinding your teeth in anguish as you reach for the remote to fast forward through it. Wiley (Ryan O Neal) travels to Mexico and meets Holbrook (Archer), a rich babe who is fiance' to Meno (Sharif). While Meno sucks dry Mexico's supply of Emeralds what he really wants is to return to the diamond concession in South America, using Holbrook to do so. In the process of his work he becomes responsible for killing Holbrook's sister which turns her against Meno thereby teaming her with Wiley to rob Meno's emerald vault. It's a good thief thriller, some laughable moments but not a bore at all.

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

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.

When I was 8 years old my family went on vacation to Las Hadas in Manzanillo Mexico. I remember seeing Omar Sharif sitting in the lobby when we checked into the hotel. He was just sitting in a chair in the lobby reading the paper. He said "hello" to us and seemed like a really nice guy.

We also ran into Ryan O'Neal and Farah several times on the beach. One time my 11 year old sister and I approached them for an autograph. Farah said "go away" but Ryan said "sure, no problem" and signed a napkin for us. WTF Farah? Why would anyone be that rude to kids? I don't understand. I guess because it was the early 80's and she was still a big deal. That was when she was every little boys dream instead of the sea monster that she looks like today. I don't hold a grudge though...

My sister and sat by the pool for hours and hours waiting for them to shoot the pool scene at the hotel, so that we could be in the shot. Finally at around 1:00 in the morning (yes, my parents let us stay up that late) they filmed the scene. And after all of that waiting we can't be seen anywhere in the final cut of the movie.

I said all of that to say this... Although this movie was panned by the critics when it came out and was not really (at all) a hit. I still like it because it was my one little bush with fame. I haven't seen the movie in a while but I plan on looking for it on eBay.