Blue Steel (1990)

76% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
33% of users liked it
(8,320 ratings)

Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a rookie cop who witnesses a robbery in progress on her first night on the job. With her more experienced partner using the men's room, Megan decides to take action on her own. She creeps into the supermarket where a man (Tom Sizemore in a small role) is holding… More Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a rookie cop who witnesses a robbery in progress on her first night on the job. With her more experienced partner using the men's room, Megan decides to take action on her own. She creeps into the supermarket where a man (Tom Sizemore in a small role) is holding the clerk at gunpoint. Megan gets close enough to shoot the gunman, and calls out for him to drop his weapon. He spins the gun toward her, and she unloads her service revolver into his chest. His gun goes flying, and a bystander, Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver), surreptitiously picks it up and takes it home. Megan's superiors, unable to confirm that the man she shot was armed, suspend her. Eugene, a wealthy commodities broker, becomes obsessed with Megan. He sets up an "accidental" meeting between them and begins dating her, romancing her with fancy restaurants and helicopter rides over Manhattan. He also carves her name into the bullets he uses to gun down strangers in the street. A tough homicide detective, Nick Mann (Clancy Brown of The Shawshank Redemption), gets Megan's gun and badge back so she can help him track down the psycho killer. Eventually, Megan realizes that Eugene is the killer, but he uses his money and influence to elude the law, and he starts coming after Megan's friends and family. Megan's determination to bring Eugene to justice quickly becomes a very personal obsession. This intense cop drama, Blue Steel, was director Kathryn Bigelow's major studio follow-up to her well-received indie vampire flick, Near Dark. Bigelow co-wrote both films with Eric Red (The Hitcher). ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 42 min.
Directed By: Kathryn Bigelow
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Mar 16, 1990 Wide
On DVD: Dec 3, 2002
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Underrated Kathryn Bigelow gem.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The thriller inadvertently becomes an exercise in erotic violence: Director Bigelow turns the heroine's uniform and gun into fetishism, making her film a field day for Freudian psychologists.
Clint Morris, Moviehole
A captivating and thrilling whodunnit....Silver's tops
Frank Ochieng, TheWorldJournal.com
A routine crime thriller that surprisingly adds some off-kilter punch to its run-of-the-mill psychological edginess.
Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
The film gets very silly at times, particularly during the unnaturally attenuated final showdown between Megan and Eugene, but it's still enjoyable.
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
Good premise, weak execution. Silver is rather hammy as the gun nut.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
Bigelow brings some steely style to an otherwise pedestrian cop thriller. Clever switcheroo on the casting, though.

Read all 7 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Lafe F

Jamie Lee Curtis does not look very good in a police uniform. There are some good suspense scenes in this film however.
xGary X

Jamie Lee Curtis (Carpenter films aside): poor. Ron Silver: poor. Kathryn "Point Break" Bigelow: oh, so very poor. Not a recipe for success.
Dean M

Unbelievable thriller and Jamie Lee Curtis does pretty well with her part.
Byron B

The movie reminds us again and again that Curtis is a female cop and that there is something wrong with that. Socially it's not normal for a woman to possess that power. She must have issues and her character in this movie does have issues with an abusive father, and she… More
The movie reminds us again and again that Curtis is a female cop and that there is something wrong with that. Socially it's not normal for a woman to possess that power. She must have issues and her character in this movie does have issues with an abusive father, and she hasn't been able to date a man long term, and she is perhaps too quick to draw her gun. There is lots of gun play throughout, most of which miraculously misses or only inflicts flesh wounds. Only at point blank range are bullets lethal according to this movie. Without much real development Curtis falls into the arms of Clancy Brown for a brief hot synthesizer sex scene. I kept thinking the villain was Tim Roth, but the actor was Ron Silver. Silver does play a scary psychopath who somehow roams around the city offing people without witnesses and jumping across town in no time to stay steps ahead of the cops.
Deb S

BLUE STEEL is about a rookie female cop (Jamie Lee Curtis) who kills an armed robber (Tom Sizemore) the first day on the job. During the altercation, one of the witnesses, Eugene Hunt, a Wall St. gold trader played by Ron Silver surreptitiously pockets the weapon and leaves. He later… More
BLUE STEEL is about a rookie female cop (Jamie Lee Curtis) who kills an armed robber (Tom Sizemore) the first day on the job. During the altercation, one of the witnesses, Eugene Hunt, a Wall St. gold trader played by Ron Silver surreptitiously pockets the weapon and leaves. He later starts killing people all over New York City for whatever odd unexplained reasons and Curtis finds herself in hot water because her name is written on the bullets used to kill the victims. Meanwhile Silver has begun courting the unsuspecting Curtis but after a few dates she realizes who he is and they both enter into a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Jim W

Jamie Lee Curtis stars as a female rookie cop who shoots a convenient store robber (Tom Sizemore) and the robbers gun is missing. Her superiors believe she shot an unarmed man, when in reality a thrill seeking psycho (the late Ron Silver) took the gun. He starts killing people with… More
Jamie Lee Curtis stars as a female rookie cop who shoots a convenient store robber (Tom Sizemore) and the robbers gun is missing. Her superiors believe she shot an unarmed man, when in reality a thrill seeking psycho (the late Ron Silver) took the gun. He starts killing people with it, as well as playing mind games with Curtis by actually dating her. Kathryn Bigelow I think was an under-rated director and that she had promise long before I ever seen the Hurt Locker. I liked Blue Steel and I loved Point Break. Her cop thrillers at least had some originality to them. With Point Break, what other film had bank robberies, surfing and sky diving all in one movie ?
Lee K

Good thriller that the director casted Ron Silver of all people as the disturbed individual, why I dont know however he pulls it off quite smoothly. gripping storyline that is one of those movies that makes you want to reach thru the screen and grab the villain yourself. Another movie… More
Good thriller that the director casted Ron Silver of all people as the disturbed individual, why I dont know however he pulls it off quite smoothly. gripping storyline that is one of those movies that makes you want to reach thru the screen and grab the villain yourself. Another movie that is hard to find for us collectors.
Ina S

It just has to be said: Kathryn Bigelow is a guarantee for intelligent, psychological and exciting action cinema. Great film.

Read all 8 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Jamie Lee Curtis as Megan Turner

            Ron Silver as Eugene Hunt

            Clancy Brown as Nick Mann

            Elizabeth Peña as Tracy Perez

            Louise Fletcher as Shirley Turner

            Philip Bosco as Frank Turner

            Doug Barron as Reporter #1

            L. Peter Callender as Reporter

            John Capodice as Trial Commissioner

            Al Cerullo as Helicopter Pilot

            Sam Coppola as PBA Representative

            Matt Craven as Howard

            Toni Darling as Prostitute

            Michael Philip Del Rio as John Perez

            Thomas Dorff as Businessman Victim

            James Drescher as Punk

            Kevin Dunn as Assistant Chief Stanley Hoyt

            Markus Flanagan as Husband

            Harley Flanagan
            
            Faith Geer as Lady Bum

            Becky Gelke as Nurse #1

            Frank Girardeau as Uniform Cop

            Mike Hodge as Police Commissioner

            Andrew Hubatsek as Cashier

            David Ilku as Counterman

            Joe Jamrog as Doorman

            Richard Jenkins as Attorney Mel Dawson

            Heidi Kempf as TV Announcer

            Bellina Logan as Rookie No. 1

            Skipp Lynch as Instructor

            Mary Mara as Wife

            William Jay Marshall as Hood

            Ralph Nieves as Homicide Detective

            Carol Schneider as Reporter #2

            James Shannon as Maitre D'Hotel

            Larry Silvestri as Precinct Cop

            Tom Sizemore as Wool Cap

            Mike Starr as Superintendent

            Lauren Tom as Reporter

            Chris Walker as Officer Jeff Travers

            Reginald Wells as TV Announcer #1

            William Wise as Internal Affairs Man
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