ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Frank Markland
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)
Woodyanders
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.
dukeakasmudge
I didn't realize Martin Kove, the leader of the Cobra Kai dojo in the Karate Kid movies played John Steele in this movie until I read somebody else's review.Steele Justice was an awesome movie that is way overlooked & should be more well known then what it is.The whole time I watched it, I couldn't believe nobody turned it into a TV show back then or at least spun off a couple sequels.That would've been genius I think.I'm not going to spoil the movie for anybody else but there are a lot of things that will make you either laugh (even though it's probably not meant to) go WOW or WTF.You'll just have to watch for yourself.Watch for the music video though.It seemed like right in the middle of an action flick, they stopped to make a music video.After reading a few other Steele Justice reviews I seemed to have missed out on a few things the 1st time I watched it so now I feel the need to go back & watch it all over again.If you're an action movie fan, go watch Steele Justice.If you're not an action movie fan, go watch Steele Justice
gridoon
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)
