Stone Cold
(1991/MGM DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Film: C
Stone Cold (1991) is the first time starring
vehicle for football star Brian "Boz" Bosworth in stunt
man-turned-director Craig Baxley’s action shoot-'em-up, blow-'em-up story of
suspended cop Joe Huff (Bosworth) who is pretty much blackmailed by the F.B.I.
to infiltrate The Brotherhood, a gang of renegade bikers wanted by the
government for drug trafficking and killing politicians and clergy men.
Huff has
a reputation for breaking up biker gangs so this is no problem for him. He successfully gains membership and the favor
of the Brotherhood's sadistic leader, Chains Cooper, played by Lance Henriksen,
in the film's only notable role. Chains
is smart enough to have members infiltrated in the local government and the
army, who supply him with his arsenal. His followers are very loyal except for Ice
(played by William Forsythe) who doesn't trust or like Huff. He is threatened that Huff will take his spot
as Chains right-hand-man.
What
follows is your standard blow them down and blow it up genre flick that was
made famous in the late 80s and early 90s by Steven Segal, Jean-Claude Van
Damme and Chuck Norris. Bosworth does a
standard job of playing the cop that plays by his own rules. He leads the Feds to the gangs biggest drug
buy, gets found out and then saves the day as the bikers break in to the state
capital to kill the politicians who have incarcerated members of the gang. In the one action-explosion scene of note, a
motorcycle is used to take out and blow up a helicopter (you have to see it to
believe it). No political correctness
here.
If you
are a fan of this genre, you will enjoy this movie. It's good for viewing on a rainy afternoon or
as late-night escapist entertainment.
The DVD
is double-sided/single layered and offers two versions of the film: a 1.33 X 1
full screen version that has more picture area and actually looks better than
the anamorphically enhanced widescreen 1.85:1 version on the other. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo sound quality is good, but not great, showing its age. There are no extras.
- Marc Greisinger
