Blue Steel (1990 film)
| Blue Steel | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kathryn Bigelow |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Brad Fiedel |
| Cinematography | Amir Mokri |
| Edited by | Lee Percy |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Artisan Entertainment |
Release dates |
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Running time | 101 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $8.2 million[3] |
Blue Steel is a 1990 American action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver and Clancy Brown.[4]
The film was initially set to be released by Vestron Pictures and its offshoot label Lightning Pictures, but it was ultimately acquired by MGM due to Vestron's financial problems and eventual bankruptcy at the time.
Plot
Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a rookie New York City policewoman who shoots and kills a suspect (Tom Sizemore) with her service revolver while he's holding up a neighborhood market. The suspect's handgun lands on the floor of the market in the shopping area as the suspect is blown backward through the front window.
As she continues to the checkout area, Turner nearly steps on the suspect's handgun directly in front of Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver), a commodities trader, who is also a latent psychopath. Hunt takes the gun and slips away, using it to commit several bloody and brutal murders over the next few days. Because the robber's weapon was not found at the scene, Turner is accused of killing an unarmed man.
While the officer attempts to clear her name with Chief Hoyt and her superiors, Hunt begins to romance the suspended Turner in a twisted love fetish. Turner arrests him but he is freed by his attorney, Mel Dawson. He begins to stalk Turner at her family home, an uncomfortable place where Turner remembers her mother being physically abused by her dad.
Turner fights to keep her badge and solve the murders with the help of Detective Nick Mann (Clancy Brown), while trying to figure out her relationship with a killer. Hunt turns up at her apartment, injures Turner and kills her best friend, Tracy. This causes Turner to have an emotional breakdown.
She spends the night with Mann, her fellow officer. Mann is ambushed by Hunt when he goes to the bathroom. Turner doesn't hear the shot because it was muffled. Hunt attacks and rapes her, and she shoots him, but he runs off. Mann is unconscious and taken to the hospital.
Determined to find Hunt and finish him off, Turner finally shoots and kills him after a long and violent confrontation and a bullet wound to her shoulder. She is then taken away by fellow police officers.
Cast
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Megan Turner
- Ron Silver as Eugene Hunt
- Clancy Brown as Nick Mann
- Elizabeth Peña as Tracy
- Louise Fletcher as Shirley Turner
- Philip Bosco as Frank Turner
- Richard Jenkins as Dawson
- Kevin Dunn as Asst. Chief Stanley Hoyt
- Tom Sizemore as Robber
Release
Critical reception
The film gained positive reviews,[5][6][7][8] garnering a "fresh" 70% rating on rotten tomatoes based on 20 reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert compared it to John Carpenter's Halloween (1978 film), noting: "Blue Steel is a sophisticated update of Halloween, the movie that first made Jamie Lee Curtis a star. (...) What makes it more interesting than yet another sequel to Halloween is the way the filmmakers have fleshed out the formula with intriguing characters and a few angry ideas."
Box office
The film was not a box office success.[9]
References
- ↑ "Black-Leather Director in a Business World : Cult Favorite Kathryn Bigelow Brings Her 'Dark' Style to an Action Film". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ↑ "BLUE STEEL (18)". British Board of Film Classification. June 5, 1990. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Blue Steel (1990)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Thrill Me! : 'Blue Steel' and 'Impulse' put a new twist on conventional crime films--the lead cops are women, and so are the directors". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ↑ "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Blue Steel': A Low-Caliber, Bloody Thriller". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ↑ "Review/Film;A Deranged Yuppie With a Thing for His Lover's Gun". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ↑ "Blue Steel". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ↑ "Blue Steel". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
- ↑ "WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : 'Red October' Doing Fine in March". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
External links
- Blue Steel at the Internet Movie Database
- Blue Steel at Box Office Mojo
- Blue Steel at Rotten Tomatoes