Leofwine_draca BLUE STEEL is a solid entry in the short-lived psycho-thriller genre that sees Jamie Lee Curtis playing a rookie NYPD police officer who finds herself the subject of attention for a deranged stalker after a shoot-out in a supermarket. The film's direction is by none other than Kathryn Bigelow (NEAR DARK) who creates a moody and atmospheric entry into the genre with lots of blue lighting and shadows.The script, written by Bigelow and Eric Red as a virtual reprise of THE HITCHER, is unfortunately what lets this film down as it's absolutely littered with plot holes, flaws, and unbelievable situations. Every effort is made to isolate Lee Curtis's character but the situations in which she finds herself are ludicrous in the extreme, so much so that at times the story becomes a farce.A good job, then, that BLUE STEEL does have other stuff going for it. Brad Fiedel's music is typically evocative and the acting is above average for the genre. Lee Curtis is solid which is no surprise given the subject matter and her experience with the genre, but the stand-out is inevitably Ron Silver (TIMECOP) as the villain of the piece. Silver has always been one of the most menacing actors in the business and he makes an exemplary psychopath. It's also great to see the hulking Clancy Brown playing a good guy for a change, with plenty of screen time. BLUE STEEL is no classic but for fans of the genre or indeed the director it's well worth a look.

Neil Welch Rookie cop Megan, while foiling a robbery, attracts the attention of nutjob Eugene Hunt who proceeds to seriously mess up her life.Somehow I managed not to see this 1989 movie until 2013, and boy did I miss a corker! Superficially this would appear to be a decent action/psychological thriller, and it is certainly blessed with good performances, but it also saddled with a script where every scene appears to be written by someone who only has the vaguest idea of what has happened up to the start of that scene. To say it is full of plot holes is an understatement.When you take into account that it was directed and co-written by Oscar-winning Kathryn Bigelow, you have a real puzzle because the script is what is at fault here.Having said that, there is something enjoyable in a slickly made thriller with a script which is as dumb as a brick.

TheExpatriate700 I had been wanting to see Blue Steel for a long time, since I was a teenager. I had seen a commercial for a showing on the weekend late night movie, but had chosen to watch SNL instead because some actress was hosting.I rented it over ten years later, and was in for a profound disappointment. Although it had a stolen gun premise that has made for such great films as Stray Dog, it suffers from horrible execution.Although it has some decently directed action scenes, Blue Steel suffers from an abysmal, genuinely stupid script. The stupidity sets in from the very beginning, with a major plot hole being the basis of the entire film. The lapses in logic continue throughout the film, cumulating to sink any verisimilitude the film might have had.Compounding the failures of logic in the script is the mediocre acting. Jaime Lee Curtis is unconvincing as a rookie police officer, while Clancy Brown lacks charisma as the homicide detective paired with her. Although the late Ron Silver has some chilling moments as the psychotic murderer, he at times succumbs to overacting. His scenes on the Stock Exchange floor are laugh inducing.The film does benefit from good direction and photography. The viewer definitely gets a preview of the skills that would win Kathryn Bigelow a Best Picture Oscar. What a pity those skills had to be saddled on a piece of junk like this.

G K What I like most about Blue Steel is that the heroine is strengthened and ennobled by her ordeal, and her soul is never sacrificed to the spectacle. Director Kathryn Bigelow and Jamie Lee Curtis have thus imaginatively collaborated on a work of art of both style and substance. The story is about a rookie female cop who is compromised when her weapon falls into the hands of a serial killer (Ron Silver).The film is a typically savvy genre piece from a much underrated director, slow in places, but edged along by two committed lead performances. Blue Steel was Bigelow's major studio follow-up to her well-received indie vampire flick, Near Dark (1987).