Steele Justice

Well i'm surprised there aren't more comments for this film, seems that most people on here are bothered by the fact that's not particularly original, so what? Being unoriginal does not automatically make a film bad, and for the person who was bothered by the racist undertones, no offense pal but you're taking the film WAAAYYYY too seriously, this is the type of film were you don't think about logic and you just lay back and enjoy the mindless action. Kove is pretty bad ass in his role and i'm disappointed he didn't get the chance to star in more of these types of films then he did, though he did eventually end up in one of the Project:Shadowchaser films which i'll try and check out in the future, as it stands this film is pretty mindless and forgettable, but for people like me who couldn't care less about intelligence in films, that's hardly a bad thing.

"You Don't Recruit John Steele. You Unleash Him." Lt. John Steele (Kove) is a man who plays by his own rules. He survived the horrors of the Vietnam war, including being trapped in a cave with "ratbombs", or bombs strapped to rats. Now, in the "present day", both he and his 'Nam buddy Lee (Robert Kim) are L.A. cops. Helping them in their quest to take down the evil drug-dealing gang the Black Tigers is Reese (Casey). When the Black Tigers do something really, really bad (I'm a master at avoiding spoilers), Steele straps two bandoliers of bullets to his bare chest and gets the only kind of justice he can...STEELE JUSTICE! Released in the prime of the video-store action glut of the 80's, despite its killer cast of favorites, it's fairly easy to see why Steele Justice got overlooked at the time. If a video store patron wanted this type of fare, are they going to spend their hard-earned money on a Rambo film or a Schwarzenegger vehicle, or Steele Justice? Thus it became a "die-hard action fan only" film. While it does have plenty of "shirtless shooting" and classic barfights, there are some things about the movie that are worth noting... First off, John Steele (gotta love the name) has a gun that shoots knives. That's pretty memorable right there. But also he has a pet: Threestep the snake. He is named this because his poison is so deadly, you won't make it three steps before you die. Also, and this isn't said in the film, we can gather that Steele is a big fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd, especially the song "Gimme Three Steps". The bar he frequents also features the Desert Rose Band, featuring Chris Hillman of Byrds fame, so we know Steele likes country-rock. And speaking of his musical tastes, during a movie highlight, a car chase interrupts a video shoot for Astrid Plane (of Animotion fame), so we can also gather he hates 80's pop. Even though the video was choreographed (and perhaps stars) Jeff Kutash. And in true 80's fashion, there is a montage set to the song "fight fire with fire" by Hot Pursuit. Sela Ward, as the love interest, appears heavily medicated. However, she does get to say the line to Steele, "The war isn't over for you. It just changed locations." Asher Brauner makes a brief appearance as "Mob Thug #1", and most of the names in the cast, including Shannon Tweed, Irene Tsu and Eric Lee make very short, almost walk-on roles. Everybody knows/says the name "Steele" throughout the movie, and in true action movie fashion, it all ends in the typical abandoned warehouse. For generic 80's action that's so formulaic it can't miss, check out Steele Justice. For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

After watching this movie, you're not likely to wonder why Martin Kove didn't get the chance to make any more starring vehicles. It's unforgivably bad technically by 1987 standards. What's up with that green glow that accompanies every single shooting or explosion? What's up with the scenes that appear to move in fast motion? And why does Shannon Tweed have only two brief scenes? (*1/2)

Martin Kove stars as Steele, Vietnam vet, ex-cop turned Rambo meets Death Wish-esque avenger who declares a one man war on the Vietnamese mafia to avenge one his Vietnam War Buddy's family and protect said buddy's daughter. Along the way police detective (Ronny Cox), Military personnel (Joseph Campanella) and head cheese of the Vietnamese Mafia (Soon Tek-Oh) all acquire the wrath of steele vengeance. Bad Movie charm goes a long way with Steele Justice because if you're not a fan of the genre, this flick is going to be rough going. For me, I grew up with these movies and there's nostalgia involved. I don't think beyond that there's much else to the film. The action sequences are entertaining (as opposed to well-staged), Kove makes for a surprisingly likable if bumbling hero. There is a lot of Bad Movie charm to enjoy about Steele Justice, there is the infamous poison dart and frying pan scene, the fact that Kove has a poisonous snake as a pet that he deploys and the fact that the film is often funnier than most comedies, as the humor is so broad as to somehow be so stupid it's funny. Once again, it's a tough call as, quality wise it's sort of indifferently made, the bad guys don't really make sense and the way everyone seems to know everyone in what appears to be a big city draws attention to how bad the script is. That said, Rambo rip offs work in the same way Bruce Li films as simple absurd escapism. You know what type of person you are and whether you would watch such or not. I was not disappointed or bored watch Steele Justice. * * out of 4-(Fair)

Rough'n'tumble Vietnam veteran and ex-cop John Steele (a sturdy and likable performance by Martin Kove) declares war on the Vietnamese mafia in Southern California after they kill his best friend he knew since 'Nam. Writer/director Robert Boris keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a zippy pace, provides lots of amusing moments of lovably goofy tongue-in-cheek humor, stages the rousing action set pieces with rip-roaring gusto, and even tosses in a couple of gloriously ridiculous and gratuitous music montage sequences for extra cheesy good measure. Moreover, the bad guys are quite nasty and hateful, with Soon-Tek Oh as ruthless drug kingpin Bon Soong Kwan in particular rating as a splendidly slimy villain. The able cast of familiar faces helps a lot: Ronny Cox as no-nonsense police chief Bennett, Joseph Campenella as the hard-nosed Harry, Peter Kwong as Kwan's vicious son Pham, Shannon Tweed as the sultry Angela Spinelli (an admittedly nothing role, but at least the filmmakers still had the fine sense to have one scene with Shannon in a bikini), and that ubiquitous Fu Mancho mustache and greasy mullet sporting 80's action staple Al Leong in his umpteenth flunky part as a goon who's so deadly and determined that he has to be killed twice (!). Plus the sequence with Steele doing instant surgery and cauterization on a potentially fatal poisonous dart wound needs to be witnessed in order to be disbelieved. Sela Ward simply phones it in as Steele's fed-up ex-wife Tracy while Jan Gan Boyd brings a winningly perky charm to her portrayal of the sweet Cami. The glossy cinematography by John M. Stephens provides a pleasing polished look. Misha Segal's hard-rocking score does the funky-bumping trick. Sure, it's extremely silly and tacky to the ninth degree, but that's precisely what makes this flick so much vintage 80's schlockoid fun.

This straight to drive in action pic, is just your typic action fare, with some well staged action set pieces, no more. What's fascinatingly strange here, it's it's lead, Kove, who I've never seen, take the lead before, while also playing a good guy. I'll be honest, I've never considered this guy to be much of an actor, my friend, even stating, during the 80's, he's a no talent, but I've seen him in a lot of stuff. I am glad to see him in this, and really, he doesn't do half a bad job (but don't push it) as a Vietnam vet turned cop, out to bust an Asian bad arse, (one of his team you'll recognize straight out of the first Die Hard) who has slain the closest thing to family, though his late vet/cop buddy was crooked. The surviving daughter, a little Asian girl, who overacts, especially one bit of dialogue, robot sounding, when she and Uncle John are on a stolen boat, about to flee from authorities, is taken under his wing. What Steele Justice suffers from, is tired formula, and you'll feel tired and exhausted by this at the end, when he's claimed victory, killing off the bad dudes, two who went on to star in certain B grade, Wings Hauser fare. There are some dumb moments in this slightly stupid actioner. Ronny Cox, as the police commissioner is so actor stereotyped, when you look at his surrounding roles of this mid 80's era. Shannon Tweed provides nice scenery and a sexual stimulant to the film as Soon Teck Oh's business partner, and she looks so fine in a bikini. Soon Teck Oh, in a kimono, not. A weird partnership. Sela Ward as John's ex, looks undernourished. The eye nabbing performance is that of Joseph Campanella as Steele's old vet buddy, now an untrusting one. He makes his scenes, worthwhile, while another highlight of the average 80's action, is it's rockin' finale soundtrack. Out of interest this was on at the drive in, with another film of even appeal, Slate, Wyn And Me.

There's plenty of laugh out loud fun to be had in this over the top action flick. The completely talentless Martin Kove stars as the Rambo-style John Steele--not to be confused with John Steed--who likes to paint his face with camouflage and goes into action with his pet snake wrapped around his neck. When his Vietnam War-era nemesis relocates to Southern California and murders Steele's old sidekick Lee(Robert Kim) in order to protect his narcotics business, our hero leaps into action, daubs himself with war paint, and finds himself the biggest gun possible. There's an absolutely awful performance by Jan Gan Boyd as the deceased Lee's daughter, who brings new meaning to the words 'perky' and 'cloyingly annoying'. Also on hand are familiar faces such as Joseph Campanella as a fellow vet harboring a terrible secret, Bernie Casey as a weary cop who somehow survives getting shot in the stomach, and reliable Al Leong as (big surprise here) a villain. This awful film is compulsively watchable and comes highly recommended to fans of the sublimely dreadful.

Like a train wreck you won't be able to look away from this movie, no matter how awful it gets. At times you'll ask yourself if they were trying to make a bad movie on purpose just so we could laugh at it in the future. If you like Kung Fury and want to see the exact kind of over the top martial arts cop movie it was spoofing this is it. The acting, horrible. The action, completely ridiculous. The plot, written by a ten year old boy. I've literally never seen cheesier acting, fighting choreography, editing, or music, all with every 80's cliché you can think of wrapped into one movie. Entertaining? HELL YES!

Martin Kove stars as John Steele an ex-vietnam vet who becomes a one man army when his partner (and fellow vietnam vet friend) is killed by an enemy of his in Vietnam. Silly actioner which has a huge bodycount, will no doubt satisfy those craving action, but will fail to keep anyone else from squirming, or laughing for that matter (Martin Kove's wound repair scene must be seen to be believed). Soon Tech Oh does make a good villian though.

Look, I have no idea what was going on in this movie, but that's partly due to the fact that at one point, a midget cowboy, wearing sunglasses in a bar, sitting by himself, and rocking to some random country band had me so excited, that I basically had to sign up on IMDb so I could tell everyone that this movie has a midget cowboy in it. I thank the Netflix Gods for his sublime performance. Oh, and apparently, all Asians know martial arts, and then they use the arts whenever they're least needed (I've heard this is true). It certainly isn't Citizen Kane (that movie was in black in white), but it is the greatest movie ever made in color (named Steele Justice).