Steele Justice (1987)

Director:

Robert Boris

Writer:

Robert Boris (written by)

Release Date:

9 July 1987 (West Germany)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

You don't recruit John Steele. You unleash him.

Plot:

Steele is ex-cop and Vietnam vet who is determined to bring down Kwan, former South Vietnamese general and now rich and powerful drug lord. |

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Police

Cast

Martin Kove	...	John Steele
Sela Ward	...	Tracy
Ronny Cox	...	Bennett
Bernie Casey	...	Reese
Joseph Campanella	...	Harry
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Gen. Bon Soong Kwan (as Soon-Teck Oh)
Jan Gan Boyd	...	Cami
David Froman	...	Kelso
Sarah Douglas	...	Kay
Kimiko Hiroshige	...	Grandmother
Sheila Gale Kandlbinder	...	Anchorwoman
Robert Kim	...	Lee Van Minh
Peter Kwong	...	Pham
Eric Lee	...	New Thug
Al Leong	...	Long Hair

Runtime:

95 min | West Germany:89 min (video: 84')

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (United)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Atlantic Entertainment Group

Your typical 80s actioner, nothing more

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

In the late 80s and early 90s, action movies like these were churned out ten a penny. You had stars who went places like Van Damme and Seagal, then you had those who just came and went like Brian Bosworth and Martin Kove, star of this disposable, instantly forgettable piece of standard action fluff.

In what is essentially a First Blood rip-off, he plays the titular John Steele, ex-Vietnam vet. He saw combat, saw the horrors and made it home in one piece. Only to see a vicious Triad gang terrorize his neighbourhood and eventually kill his best friend. This, of course, sets him on a course of revenge and take the war he thought in the jungles to the war he'll be fighting in the streets.

If you didn't get enough action films in the late 80s and want to give this little known (understandably) 'little gem' a go, you'd better prepare yourself for some typically corny ballads, including Fight Fire With Fire and, played against the back-drop of a hilarious and furiously corny 80s music video, You're Not a Lover, as well as a plodding and standard screenplay and some rather dubious acting (the one who plays Soon Tech-Oh's son.) Speaking of Oh, he does pop up as the main bad guy here, but his usually reliable tense, quietly-unnerving presence strangely doesn't go any way in making this one any more enjoyable (he also adds to the hilarity towards the end by appearing in what appears to be a dark blue women's female maternity outfit!)

There are times when Kove does have a presence as an action hero and the story does show signs of raising up from the gutter a little. But generally this one doesn't appear to be very liked and it's not going to change with me. **