Smoreni Zmaj Steel has 2 on IMDb, 12% on RT and all reviews I came across are terribly bad. If I believed everything I read on net I would miss hour and a half of good entertainment. Movie sure isn't Oscar material, but to call it the worst movie of 1997 or the worst DC movie ever is very unfair. It has average story, typical for vigilante vs villain comic-book adaptation. References and one- liners are bit cheesy but in place for this kind of movie. Special effects are far from great, but decent enough for 90's. Actors and their performances, as everything else in this movie are totally OK, on level with better TV movies. The only real flaw of this movie is fact that O'Neal is bad actor, or more precisely, not actor at all. But at the other hand, he's not worse than Schwarzenegger, or Hulk Hogan, or Van Damme, and I don't see it's stopped them for making dozens of pretty successful movies. And however bad Shaquille might be, he has the cutest sidekick ever. Sparky stole the movie. I can not praise this movie cause it's really nothing special, bit it's not especially bad either. And it's surely is extremely entertaining.6/10

Marthian80 I thought we had hit rock bottom with Batman & Robin in '97 regarding comic-book movie adaptions, but then I discovered this amazing production that takes it even further, oh boy..The story starts with our main action hero John Henry Irons (played by professional basketball player Shaquille O'Neal) who is in the army creating and testing new super-weapons. One soldier named Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson) for some reason decides to set a weapon to maximum when John's team is testing a new sonic gun, which blows up the building the team is in. The building collapses which cripples John's partner Susan "Sparky" Sparks (Annabeth Gish). John doesn't like that and leaves the army as does Burke who is dismissed from the military for doing stupid things like blowing up buildings he is standing in... While John goes back to LA and takes a shot at a three-pointer (which he misses, isn't that hilarious?!? An actor who is a professional basketball player misses a shot? Well wait till you see the other basketball jokes...!), the evil Burke teams up with a video arcade manager (???) to hatch a plot to sell the not-so-secret high-tech weapons to criminal gangs. John witnesses a bank robbery organized by over the top acting gangsters wielding the high-tech weapons he helped designing. Because he is unarmed, he decides to chase one gang member armed with a high tech gun who makes a run for it, because you don't just shoot down John! After going unarmed to the not-so-secret hide- out of the over the top acting gangsters and not getting any information, John decides that enough is enough. He goes to get Sparky Susan, who is very depressed being wheelchair-bound but is instantly happy by just opening some windows, get's her to work for him and with the help of Uncle Joe (?? who?), in-explainable technology and some lame 80's music he forges a suit of armor and bring Justice to the city, HA! Let me start that there is absolutely nothing in this movie that can be defined as "good". The acting is extremely bad, not only is our main hero a lame actor but the rest of the cast is also not really going for any awards here. The special effects look awful, those super-weapon look like cheap firework and the Steel suit is comparable to what you could wear to a larp event. How the suit operates is never explained, magic I guess? Shaquille also looks really silly in this costume, I almost fell off my couch from laughter when he waves his finger at the gangsters when they try to shoot him. The plot is behind stupid as well and it makes no sense whatsoever. The main villain want to lease weapons because he is the only one where they can charge up the guns? Why don't they just shoot him and take the guns for free? You can ask yourself that question a thousand time during this movie: "why don't just shoot him/her!?". Especially when John goes chasing an armed gangster unarmed and when Sparky Susan fires off her wheelchair guns... Oh my goodness that was another moment when I couldn't stop laughing. I never laugh at people in wheelchairs but this looked so ridiculous that I just couldn't help myself. Ow and don't get me started on the basketball puns, I completely lost it and had tears in my eyes from laughter during the final act when he has to throw a grenade trough a hole. "I never make these!". Ow make it stop! Steel is an awful movie but it's so bad that you should watch it for the laughs. If they hired some comedy actors and marketed this as a parody, it could have worked though.

GeneralMcHonkadonk Well, it is. But it isn't worth a 2.7/10!I shall get to the point. Steel is abominably written, poorly acted (with the exception of Richard Roundtree, who for some reason actually tries) and shabbily directed. Surely then, it is a bad film?WELL.I have just finished watching "Now You See Me", and it really helped me to understand that a film being objectively "good" or otherwise is not the same as it being an enjoyable experience. I can still watch Steel and even while laughing at it, can really get into it. Say what you will about its writing, the writer at least didn't get ahead of himself - didn't go writing some deep, intricate epic without any skill to back it up. Say what you will also (and please, I encourage this one) about Shaq's acting which, especially in the army scenes at the start of the film, is unstoppably dire. But he's never required to do something which puts the weight of the film on the subtleties in his performance (Shaquille O'Neal as Oskar Schindler?).I probably don't make myself very clear here but, simply put, if you take the film for what it is it's still possible to enjoy it. It's functional, if nothing more, which is not something I would say happily about "Now You See Me". I also love the theme tune that's pretty much just the latter half of the 20th century mashed into one big brassfest. At the end of the cliché, I had fun watching it and you can't tell me I didn't."Eat the hot-dog. Don't be one."

Gregory I have no interest in basketball, I stink at it, and the only big names I know are Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and the Harlem Globetrotters. I have no idea why everyone likes to criticize Shaq, nor do I really care - he had to be good at something in order to be ridiculed so much.Quoting others, for 1997 it's pretty good, unless you have anything else to watch. It's not a masterpiece, but rather one of those pictures that requires you to set aside your pre-conceived notions about good film-making and just enjoy the ride. Do that, and Steel is a surprisingly amusing little adventure comedy. On top of all that, it has a memorable theme and subtle special effects.John Henry Irons was a harmless weapons designer until his project crippled his partner Sparks. After quitting his job, his weapons are mass-produced for criminals, and in order to stop it Irons and Sparks create a suit of armor that leads Irons to become the superhero vigilante Steel. He is the blue collar Iron Man of the DC universe. Overall, it's an average superhero film plot.The original story of Steel was based on the comic book Death of Superman. Irons wanted to go after Doomsday, the killer of Superman, himself, thus creating a mechanical super suit. But the film was in development for so long, that it lost all meaning. Instead, we got a cheesier independent film without the long drama. Given the way others cashed on the Death of Superman, the film could have been far worse.The reason why its one of my favorite movies is Steels realistic, cheap and simple armor. The hand-forged work-in-progress suit with chain mail and occasional glitches was made in a junkyard out of regular iron and steel. That's as good as any of us can get without using advanced industrial facilities. Some may argue it looks like someone decided to pour glue all over their body and go rolling around in a junkyard, but it's well thought through, even though parts sometimes just fall off in action.The 34kg armored suit is not only bulletproof, but also well padded, able to absorb most kinetic energy. Steel takes on a clip of ammo, some stun impulses, and a sonic blast that throws him back about 6m. He even falls of a building about 24m into a dumpster. It's virtually impregnable to known weaponry. I really like how they made the waist area. It's simultaneously flexible and incredibly strong. There is no such tech on the market even a decade later. The chain mail is almost indistinguishable from plate armor creating an impression that he is almost completely covered in steel plates.The electric support is a basic video/audio 31km earpiece transceiver, with an extra camera for rear view, an inbuilt GPS for fast navigation around the city, and a basic body monitoring system with body ventilation. The left arm houses a nail gun and a grappling hook (slow, but supports about 181kg for a short time).The shoulders are nice, but don't protect from above dangers, exposing the chain mail, and gloves are just regular surface chain mail, with no palm protection.The weakest part of the suit is the helmet. Not only does look like it's made of rubber, but it also leaves the face exposed. Steel was shot in the head several times throughout the film, but the biggest injury he sustained was a scratched chin from falling on pavement. Well, it is a superhero movie and emotionless faces with chin guards are for villains.The main weapon of Steel is his sledgehammer, pimped with a sonic gun, stun gun, short focus laser, a grenade launcher and high-powered magnet. The long-range capabilities come equipped with a sniper scope. Since the suit is mostly iron, it amplifies the magnetic field of the hammer, enabling to attract anything iron around him, like enemy weapons and trashcan lids.Sadly, jet boots and super strength, along with other over the top features, were left out from the 97-minute film about a guy building power armor in a 97s junkyard. However, there were also improvements. There is no red cape, or a gigantic "S" on his chest. Later DC versions of Steel retained this, setting him apart from Superman.The resulting "armor" satisfied both the look of the character and the filming physical requirements. After completion, with all its pieces and layering, it took 3 costumers an hour to transform John Henry into Steel.Shaq had to do all of his own stunts because the producers were unable to find a 2.16m stunt double for him.Other movie features include a customized humvee, van, motorbike and wheelchair. As far as superhero movies go, this one didn't fall as flat as more popular hero films that altered the original story. Steel costume may look like a cheap Robocop mockup, but at least you can RUN in it without CGI. Let's see you make a better suit without CGI! I dare you! I double dare you!