Innocent bystander gets obsessed with the cop that saved him is a premise I can take-- but the script is so nonsensical and the film is directed with such feverish gusto that everything has the feel of an extended dream sequence. Only it's not. It's just some dumb eighties movie. It does have some interesting ideas: I guess Jamie Lee Curtis' obsessive desire to kill the madman herself is equated with Ron Silver's bloodthirstiness; and it certainly has things to say about guns and how they both empower and corrupt; plus great action sequences and lighting. But I can't get over the fact that little of the plot makes any goddamn sense.
With Blue Steel, Kathryn Bigelow is evidently on the cusp of making Point Break, which yes, is the more iconic film, but Blue Steel is visually, just as dope, if not more so. The story is weaker, perhaps, but still has something to say within the formulaic cop vs. serial killer who infiltrates himself into cop's life subgenre. Jamie Lee Curtis is a rookie New York cop who inadvertently gives a stock trader a boner for guns. She plays her heroine as green as possible without sacrificing too much grit, and Ron Silver makes for an intense and creepy murderer. This is very much about gun fetishization, and even Curtis' officer feels the thrill of what Bigelow, through sound and image, describes as veritable hand cannons. And the film fetishizes weapons as well, starting with great close-up photography of a revolver being loaded. Really, the only thing I didn't like was the wet kissing - I know I sound like 12-year-old - and I certainly don't need the heroine of a film like this to say "I'm scared" before she sleeps with the first guy she can find. Ick. Blue Steel compensates with beautiful, edgy cinematography, and a percussive use of inserts that creates effective action rhythms.
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ucuruju
Innocent bystander gets obsessed with the cop that saved him is a premise I can take-- but the script is so nonsensical and the film is directed with such feverish gusto that everything has the feel of an extended dream sequence. Only it's not. It's just some dumb eighties movie. It does have some interesting ideas: I guess Jamie Lee Curtis' obsessive desire to kill the madman herself is equated with Ron Silver's bloodthirstiness; and it certainly has things to say about guns and how they both empower and corrupt; plus great action sequences and lighting. But I can't get over the fact that little of the plot makes any goddamn sense.Siskoid
With Blue Steel, Kathryn Bigelow is evidently on the cusp of making Point Break, which yes, is the more iconic film, but Blue Steel is visually, just as dope, if not more so. The story is weaker, perhaps, but still has something to say within the formulaic cop vs. serial killer who infiltrates himself into cop's life subgenre. Jamie Lee Curtis is a rookie New York cop who inadvertently gives a stock trader a boner for guns. She plays her heroine as green as possible without sacrificing too much grit, and Ron Silver makes for an intense and creepy murderer. This is very much about gun fetishization, and even Curtis' officer feels the thrill of what Bigelow, through sound and image, describes as veritable hand cannons. And the film fetishizes weapons as well, starting with great close-up photography of a revolver being loaded. Really, the only thing I didn't like was the wet kissing - I know I sound like 12-year-old - and I certainly don't need the heroine of a film like this to say "I'm scared" before she sleeps with the first guy she can find. Ick. Blue Steel compensates with beautiful, edgy cinematography, and a percussive use of inserts that creates effective action rhythms.Kenneth McMahon
Semi interesting 80s thriller cinematography can't make up for the dumb as shit plot.