Sur le fil du rasoir

One Christmas Eve, a tough Los Angeles cop learns that his father has been brutally murdered. You're probably guessing that he swears revenge. In actual fact, it's kind of hard to conclude whether he does so or not, because for the next thirty or so minutes of the movie, he does NOTHING in the way of investigation. When he does decide more or less to take care of business, he really doesn't have to do that much thinking - the clues as to who was behind his father's murder and why are pretty much handed to him on a silver platter. It's hard to believe that this movie actually got a theatrical release. It's pretty cheap, badly shot, but worst of all, except for a few okay motor vehicle stunts, it's extremely boring. Even Sharon Stone's nude scene is a big yawn. The production company (Cinetel Films) went on to make even cheaper and cruder movies.

Adam Ant rocked. He always does. Sharon Stone played Sharon Stone (I forgive her for her poor acting, the part was *horridly* written. She deserved better.) Jonathan Banks was fairly good as the evil Iceman (who comes up with these names??), but with better writing he would have been far more impressive. Bad writing sums this film up. And Brad Davis' flat acting and monotonous character didn't help the matter much. There were some really amusing scenes (including the battle with the drinks machine, and the bad fish episode;), and some really fun artillery. And of course, the red-blooded male in me enjoyed seeing the lovely Sharon Stone baring all in her pre-gravity days. But it wasn't enough to save this second-rate CHiPs wannabe. 4/10.

****SPOILERS**** Brad Davis, Johnny Modine, in a 1987 cop thriller set in LA with him looking for the killer of his dad Sam Modine, William Lanteau, and finds a whole lot more then he bargained for in the process.

The movie "Cold Steel" has the distinction of being the first and last film directed by Mario Puzo's, who wrote "The Godfather", daughter Dorothy Ann Puzo. Being a first-time directed film it isn't exactly a modern Film-Noir classic or top-flight police action drama but it is quite watchable. The pacing by Ann does move the movie along with a number of shoot outs and an incredible car chase scene that ends up, in of all places, at a racetrack. The final scene in the film with Johnny having it out with the bad-guy in the movie Jonathan Banks, Issac the Iceman, and his mob at the new LA Police Headquarters construction site is a real thriller. The climatic and exciting scene is as good as anything that you'll see in films similar to "Cold Steel" like "Die Hard".

Brad Davis though very likable in his role as policeman Johnny Modine is a bit off when it comes to being a tough and expert law enforcement officer.You can forgive Johnny early in the movie when he's a bit too aggressive with a robber he arrested at a grocery store in the police station. It was days after his father was murdered and Johnny wasn't exactly interested in following the law by the letter where a person is innocent until being proved guilty, as well as him only being the cop not the judge and jury. But Johnny falling for Kathy Connors, Sharon Stone, who walked into his life, or bar, and practically threw herself at him should have been something that Johnny should have been very suspicious of. Johnny should have known that the drop dead gorgeous looking Kathy wasn't exactly interested in his striking good looks as well as his very refined social graces. Johnny was almost on the floor slouching on a chair at the bar drunk when Kathy first met him.

It later turned out that Kathy had a very personal reason to get to know Johnny and become very friendly with him, and it wasn't love at first sight, in order to set him up for the kill by Issac who murdered his father. Sharon Stone has a much broader range of acting then you would have expected her to have in a B-movie like "Cold Steel" and showed the talent she had back then, in 1987, that later made her one of the top ranking actresses in motion pictures that she later became.

Everybody in the movie seemed to be really enjoying themselves in their roles and it showed on the screen with the film never bogging down and becoming boring. The big secret in the movie about Issac killing Johnnies father as well as Issac's connection with Kathy who's brother Eddie, Michael Warren, was a major factor in her allying herself with him. Kathy trying to kill Johnny was a bit strange and unusual but still interesting and did make sense, to Kathy at least.

Jonathan Banks' Issac was a better then average psycho drug addicted killer but the idea of giving him a gang, when he would have been better as a lone killer, who's job seemed to be committing robberies to get money to buy Issac drugs was a bit far fetched to say the least. The reason for that was because he didn't want anyone to see his face! That's what Issac kept saying over and over in the movie. If anyone did like Johnnies father and the Fishman, Ron Karabatsos, Issac murdered them as if he were some very well known and wanted criminal who would be recognized by anyone as soon as they saw him! Yet both Johnnies father and the Fishman, who were killed by him, had no idea who the heck Issac was when they saw him!

It was sad to see Brad Davis in one of his last movies before he died of AIDS in 1991 and realize what a great talent he was and how many good films and theater performances he would have giving the public had he lived. The movie "Cold Steel" is a fair and modest action film but it didn't give Brad, who did the best he could with his role in the movie, the opportunity to show the public the fine actor that he really was.

Maverick Cop Johnny Modine's (Brad Davis) beloved father is brutally killed by a vicious gang of thugs headed by glacial sicko Iceman (Jonathan Banks), and Johnny vows to even the score, badge or no badge!!! A superb little 80s crime flick, Cold Steel remains a spunky, sharply honed revenge thriller, that is ably served by an exceptionally fine cast of gifted actors. Brad Davis, Sharon Stone, Jonathan Banks, Eddie Egan and Adam Ant are all on credible form in director Dorothy Ann Puzo's rumbustious action thriller. Granted, the hackneyed plot isn't going to win any plaudits for originality, but with a rocking score, skuzzoid L. A. locations, a sympathetic hero, a dastardly villain, plus a slam bang climax, I 'ain't got no complaints!

Brad Davis plays a cop here tracking down his fathers killer, and on occasion has various encounters with defiant vending machines. Jonathan Banks shows his versatility by giving the same dry performance were all accustomed to, despite an unusual vocal disposition. Oh, and then there's Sharon Stone,…no surprises here. Director Puzo tries to show some visual flair with gravity defying slow-motion car jump's, a la' Blues Brothers, and it comes off just as silly. The films sports cliché' locations and situations, routine acting, and the occasional twist here and there, but really, nothing ever leaves the realm of the status quo. Even the off-casting of Adam Ant couldn't help rise this mediocre entry above it's ilk.