Scarred City

This is a strictly B movie that manages to successfully disguise its true identity up until the last 1/3rd of the story.

The story is nothing new - Clint Easywood, amongst others, charted the same territory of vigilante cops pulling the wrong newbie into their group in 1973's MAGNUM FORCE - but it has been spiced up with some bullet ballet that is actually more realistic than most big budget affairs produce. Overall, the photography and lighting are very professional in a gritty way, and so is the editing, which gives the movie a very polished, well-budgeted look. Still, police dramas with mediocre plots need to be carried by their characters, and while Stephen Baldwin does make an interesting hero, his shooting does more for character development than his dialogue. Tia Carrere is nice, but she comes across way too smart, and definitely way too composed, for a call-girl, and she shows virtually zero skin - an especially big disappointment in a genre film of this kind...:) If anything, the supporting characters, the 'baddies' who make up the police team, are the ones that carry you through several scenes: their action is fairly nicely choreographed, and it is a pleasure to see them die.

...but, ultimately, Scar City really fails. The first third is somewhat engaging, because the director wisely spends his time to establish the protagonists' and the antagonists' strengths and weaknesses. The second third rolls well because of all the action suddenly exploding onto the screen. In the third, though, where action and characters could be nicely pulled together into a tight, plot-driven finale, the film crumbles into a dozen silly clichés and inconsistencies instead. Why would you ask someone whether they can shoot, a few hours after they showed you their gun, telling you how they used to shoot squirrels with it? The mess is hardly mopped up by an incomplete and nonsensical ending that makes it look like the director was too tired to tie up a dozen characters and plot lines.

Still, for a slow weekday evening it is good gunplay.

'Scar City' aka 'Scarred City' from dtv companies Millennium Films, Nu-Image doesn't do anything fresh with it's b-pic formula, but its another reminder that you don't mind when the action is carried out well. A big cast in Stephen Baldwin, Tia Carrere, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Rispoli and Gary Dourdan doesn't hurt neither.

Officer John Trace (Baldwin) is already on shaky ground after three cop shootings in a year when he gets his fourth fatality. In steps Lt. Devon (Palminteri) who plants evidence and saves his ass on the condition he joins a SCAR unit made up of killers with badges. When this rogue unit with authority all the way from the top goes after a Bolivian drug dealer, John spares the life of callgirl and singer Candy (Carrere) which quickly puts the both of them on the unit's hitlist.

The morality play on display here is super thin and not something to be thought of deeply. John goes from being a slight gung-ho a-hole himself with a disregard for perps rights to thinking this unit pushes it too far in the blink of an eye. Chazz relishes dialog as the head of the unit while Baldwin with his glazed style of acting is sufficient. Carrere provides her beauty and a partner in crime for the second halve rather than just be a stock damsel in distress.

Between having seen other b-movies go over this same territory to it's 'walk the streets' credit sequence opening that had a suspect intro to our main character, I firmly knew where 'Scarred City' stood. If you're willing to look past a story low on believability this has a solid cast, few bursts of good action and doesn't waste time getting down to business.

Baldwin is trying to be Rambo here,kills about everyone in sight and then some.The guy should stick to stuff he does well and forget trying to be Stallone.Thats about all there is to say about this movie.The plot is about a bunch of crazy vigilante cops who seem to just like to murder people,some of whom happen to be criminals.Baldwin does his best to act tough and delivers every line in as much a husky voice as he can master but he just ain't the dude for this type of role.He is a cop opposed to the lawless violence,meets a prostitute played by Tia Carrere whom i usually like but i didn't like her in this,she has too may wisecracks and too much personality for this role. Neither the bad guys nor the good guys make any sense in this movie,there is a lot of shooting but the motivations and the characters are all paper-thin,Palminteri is simply wasted here.

Director Ken Sanzel who also created the classic flick, Lone Hero 2002 has created another gem in Scar City.

Starring Stephen Baldwin who has also been in other classic flicks, Born on the Fourth of July 1989, Last Exit to Brooklyn 1989 and The Beast of War 1988.

Also starring Tia Carrere who has also been in other classic flicks, True Lies 1994, Showdown in Little Tokyo 1991 and Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man 1991.

Also starring Renee Estevez who has also been in other classic flicks, Single White Female 1992, Intruder 1989, Heathers 1988 and another classic cop flick, Lethal Weapon 1987.

Also starring Chazz Palminteri who has also been in another classic flick, Running Scared 2006.

I enjoyed the violence.

If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic cop flicks, Across 110th Street 1972, Assault on Precinct 13 1976, Back in Action 1993, Bad Boys II 2003, Bad Lieutenant 1992, Bloodfist V: Human Target 1994, Cobra 1986, Renegade Force 1998, Breach of Trust 1995, God Told Me To 1976, Die Hard 4.0 2007, Dirty Harry 1971, Extreme Justice 1993, Face/Off 1997, Fair Game 1995, Game of Death 2010, The Gauntlet 1977, Internal Affairs 1990, L.A. Confidential 1997, Last Man Standing 1995, The Last Marshal 1999, Magnum Force 1973, I Love a Man in Uniform 1993, Maniac Cop 2 1990, Martial Law II: Undercover 1992, Maximum Risk 1996, Out for Justice 1991, Phoenix 1998, Rapid Fire 1992, Ricochet 1991, Shallow Ground 2004, Sinners and Saints 2010, State of Grace 1990, Sudden Impact 1983, Surveillance 2008, The Sweeper 1996, Training Day 2001, Until Death 2007, Street Kings 2: Motor City 2011, The Last Stand 2013, The Raid 2 2014, S.W.A.T.: Firefight 2011, Assault on Precinct 13 2005, Gridlocked 2015, The Hollow Point 2016, Patriots Day 2016, , Blue Steel 1989, S.W.A.T.: Under Siege 2017, Unlawful Entry 1992, The French Connection 1971, A Better Way Die to Die 2000, BuyBust 2018, 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 2015, Last Shift 2014, Lone Wolf McQuade 1983, The Killer Inside Me 2010, The Brave 2019, Bad Boys for Life 2020, Excessive Force 1993 and The Untouchables 1987.

Given the middle of the road IMDb ratings I didn't expect much from this movie, but after viewing the trailer decided to give it a shot. Was I pleasantly surprised! The story about a cop with issues who joins the corrupt, homicidal, vigilante police unit, then sees the light and fights them is certainly not new, but this movie delivered on what it purports to be--an enjoyable, fast-paced action film.

The three main actors were somewhat deadpan in their delivery, but that made their characters seem all the more...well, scarred. The movie contained all the ingredients for an engaging film: It had action, characters you care about, and even some romance. Hey, it's not "Ben-Hur" but it's a terrific little B film that worth checking out.