Blue Steel: A Gun, Some Grit, and Jamie Lee Curtis With a Whole Lotta Hair
Alright, so Blue Steel. You remember that one? Kathryn Bigelow directed it, back in ’89 or ’90, somewhere around there. Bigelow rarely misses, and this was before Point Break or The Hurt Locker or all that razzmatazz. But you feel already, she’s got that punchy style – ya know, the kind of stuff where you barely sit still. Jamie Lee Curtis, by the way, isn’t doing her scream queen Halloween thing. She’s tough, sweaty, a rookie cop with a perm only a real nittiskalle in Stockholm would attempt. I mean, what a look!
I can’t help but think of when I tried “self-defence” night class on Södermalm back in ’92, all full of Bruce Springsteen energy – half the group dropped out after two weeks because the instructor was more Bamse than Bruce Willis. Anyway, watching JLC take on the macho, sweaty fellas, gun-toting and ready for chaos, it made me think maybe I could’ve stuck it out! But only maybe.
Ron Silver as the total psycho – he gives me the creeps, even now. He walks that line between Wall Street slimeball and full jotun. It’s uncomfortable, for real, specially when he’s wandering round New York looking like he’s hunting for hjortron. The tension’s like sitting on a Swedish commuter train when your phone starts blaring Eurovision out loud. Awkward, nerve-wracking.
I’ve got mixed feelings about the soundtrack though, kind of synthy, kind of just… stuck in its own decade. Sometimes it underlines the action, sometimes it’s like an Arne Weise Christmas intro got lost in Manhattan.
But listen, if you’re in for rough edges, weird sexual politics, some classically 80s violence – plus Jamie Lee with a badge – give it a shot. Maybe don’t watch alone, unless you’re a brave little gris or just feeling like life’s a little too safe.
watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube
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