No budget, independent movies shot on Hi-8 camcorders are suppose to feature five or six people sitting around one location lamenting how difficult their lives have been since high school. Nobody bothered to tell Stephen J. Pershing that's how it's done. Pershing, instead, has crafted the farthest thing from a double mocha angst fest; he's managed to make an honest to goodness action picture.
Using only friends and contacts from his home town in New Jersey, Pershing has filled 90 minutes of screen time with as many bullets, car chases, fights, Ninjas, even Stinger missiles as your average big budget Hollywood action movie would have. But Pershing has added something that even a lot of those Hollywood mega-budgets miss: a story.
Pershing plays Dallas McQuade, former U.S. Marine, former CIA operative and once the top bounty hunter in the country. Reduced to working as a car salesman in order to avoid his former life, everything turns upside down when his identity is discovered and his archenemy, Bruce Costas, offers a $5 million bounty on his head. Now, to stay alive and put an end to Costas, McQuade must turn to old friends, former colleagues, and an ex-wife to help him. As he discovers that not all of them are willing to turn down a piece of $5 million, McQuade ends up battling friend and foe alike. And it's all done with tongue planted firmly in action packed cheek.
Steel Spirit suffers from its lack of budget. Production values aren't what you would expect from a summer blockbuster. The sound quality and lighting aren't always the best. But Pershing's direction and editing show not only an understanding of what makes high entertainment but belie the fact that this is his freshman effort.
Any fan of indie movies should check this one out. Any fan of action pictures will be blown away by what Pershing was able to accomplish. Watch it once for the pure entertainment value. Then watch the DVD a second time with the director's commentary turned on. You'll be amazed and entertained. And isn't that what an action movie is suppose to do?
