User reviews

Wars and drought have ravished the future, a distant reality, and the world is now a husk of its former self. Civilisation now exists in small pockets spread across the desolate landscapes. It is the time of heroes, fighters, and bronzed men who know how to kick butt in a big way.

Steel Dawn, is has an interesting premise, but as a story struggles to develop much higher than a collection of action set pieces. Swazye plays a nomad (the man with no name), who after a tangle with some strange human like creatures of the waste lands, runs into his old mentor on the way to the pub. His mentor is killed and Swazye's character is now after revenge. The film has a spaghetti western feel to it but with out the mystery.

But despite that it has its good side too, as always Swazye is enjoyable to watch and the supporting casts do an admirable job with their characters. Christopher Neame brings a likeable side to his fallen warrior turned assassin, Sho. Who after all just wanted to challenge a worthy opponent to fight. Brion James is good as Tark, Kasha's foreman, whose initial jealousy of the Nomad make him suspicious of all he does, so of course Tark's trust must be earned.

This is not an example of cinematic magic. It is in many ways though a fun film, silly and enjoyable , with out a doubt oh so cheesy.

Enjoy I did.

After most of civilization destroyed by a futuristic World War III, well-built warrior Patrick Swayze (as Nomad) wanders through the desert. He meditates while doing handstands (guess this helps make him a better warrior, and you will be proved correct), then shows excellent swordsmanship by annihilating some "half-people" who appear to live in the sand. As "Tremors" (1990) later confirmed, sand creatures are nasty; besides, they threaten the life of our handsome hero. Looking like a romance novel cover model, Mr. Swayze must find sneering vigilante Christopher Neame (as Sho), the man killed his martial arts mentor...

Cooling his heels, Swayze stays at a farm with beautiful blonde widow Lisa Niemi-Swayze (as Kasha) and her cute son Brett Hool (as Jux), who just may be related to director Lance Hool. They live with brave Brion James (as Tark). Proving hairstylists will survive a nuclear holocaust, the Swayzes must protect her irrigation development from wicked Anthony Zerbe (as Damnil). His wells are running dry and she has all the water. This is highly derivative, but with good enough action. Swayze body watchers will be in more than pleased with his appearance. The soundtrack by Mad Max" (1979) composer Brian May is adept.

****** Steel Dawn (11/6/87) Lance Hool ~ Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Christopher Neame, Brion James

The outline (plot may be too strong a word) of this movie is set in the future when water is scarce, and civilization is a dusty one-bar town. Our hero (Swayze) must prevent the evil cattle (oops!) Water baron from owning everything and defiling everyone. To be truly evil, our villain has to get an evil warrior to be Swayzes' warrior nemesis.

Think of this movie as "Road House" after the apocalypse. Swayze plays the troubled warrior; uneasy with the violence he must commit for a higher purpose, yet wise in literature and sensitive to a woman's needs (Sounds kinda like "Next Of Kin" too, doesn't it?).

While unworthy of an Academy Award, it is a fun movie that provides the kind of entertainment you expect from a modern swashbuckler. The good people are really good (or flawed in an OK way like the ranch foreman), and the bad people are really bad -- except for Swayzes' nemesis who is bad, but has a code of honor that is almost as complex as Swayzes' character.

I like it; it has a place on my shelf and I've probably watched it 3 or 4 times since it came out.

Of all the post-apocalypse movies spawned in the 1980s after the success of the likes of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and the MAD MAX trilogy, STEEL DAWN has to be one of the cheesiest - and that's a surprise when you consider all the silly nonsense that the Italians were churning out during the same decade.

Despite the sci-fi trappings of the scenery and scenario, STEEL DAWN is a western through and through. Patrick Swayze plays a nameless drifter who wanders into an idyllic small town and soon finds himself required to defend the townsfolk from an evil overlord, played by Anthony Zerbe. What follows will surprise nobody, but it is mildly entertaining thanks to its nostalgic appeal - in the form of dated costumes and hairstyles - and a pretty good pacing.

The narrative is heavily indebted to the likes of MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR, with a few things changed around (for instance, water is the scarce and valuable commodity here, rather than petrol). Fans of Swayze will get to see him do his martial arts stuff on some rather defunct bad guys (including the sand people from STAR WARS, it seems) as well as some zen-inspired meditation techniques.

Fans of B-movies may spot the likes of Arnold Vosloo (HARD TARGET) in an exceptionally early role, while British star Christopher Neame (DRACULA AD 1972) dons a fright wig as a tough. Veteran Anthony Zerbe embarrasses himself as the chief villain, but best of the lot is Brion James in an oddly touching performance as a bodyguard with a heart. I'm so used to seeing James typecast as a bad guy that it's a refreshing change to see him as a goodie for once, and he's the best thing about this movie by far.

Underneath the thin post-apocalyptic setting, "Steel Dawn" is a standard "drifter fights the bandits" western. It has plenty of western cliches (e.g. a widowed pioneer woman whose farm is at risk) and plenty of action. I don't recommend renting this movie, but if it comes on TV you might consider watching it. It's better than any apocalyptic film that Kevin Costner was involved in (or will be). But the only characters with a glimmer of originality (such as Swayze's old mentor) get very little screen time. This places "Steel Dawn" a few notches below the gold standard of apocalyptic films, "The Road Warrior."

Steel dawn, had no dawn and very little steel to speak of. However, it did contain large quantities of Swayze. The hero, played by Patrick Swayze, is a nomad traveling post-apocalyptic wastelands in search a swayz-tacular adventure. He meets up with Tark, a hulk-hogan-like individual who eventually befriends swayze. Their advisary, played by a rejected member of Bon Jovi, spends the majority of the film trying to kill swayze because he is jealous of his hair style. There are many whimsical happenings along the way, such as a swayze finding a dog, and swayze climbing a sand dune. Overall i give this movie a 4/10 due to its poor method of conveying the modern struggles of the inner self in an existential environment.

Just caught up with it after 25 years and while this is not a classic, this is not a bad movie. I saw this when it first came on video and remember enjoying it and feeling it was a solid action flick for Patrick Swayze. I am very surprised all these years later after seeing it today on TV, that it still is, though I would only recommend it to people who like old movies and/or post-apocalyptic stories.

First of all, it was nice to see Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi paired together on screen. They had a tremendous relationship in real life; one of the only Hollywood couples to whom "till death do us part" really meant something. They clearly have an easy demeanor around one another that makes their scenes memorable. Most of all what's good about this movie and similar old flicks made on clearly-low-budgets is the lack of pretense. It's not trying to be flashy, it's not trying to be epic, nor is it trying to be something it's not. This is just a simple tale of a wanderer (Swayze) who comes upon a tiny village and learns to help the people in exchange for food, water and a bed and comes to defend them from marauders. Nothing more. His character, called "The Stranger" in the film, becomes a man of example, whose actions speak louder than words and who shows us how we can trust someone based on how they act and not what they say. Swayze has charisma and that's what makes it better than average for this type of old film. He was such a good dancer we forget he had some action chops as well. NEXT OF KIN, and ROAD HOUSE were made after this, along with POINT BREAK, and are better known. This is a quiet flick, a good one to watch on a lazy weekend afternoon.

The direction and music score are a little dated, as is Niemi's hairstyle (very popular in the '86-'87 years). The acting is okay overall, though Anthony Zerbe always makes a good villain. Mostly the excellent fight scenes keep the film moving forward. The choreography of the action is very good and Swayze truly has the grace of a dancer in his hand-to-hand combat. STEEL DAWN holds up as a nice reminder of simple, unpretentious 1980s storytelling.

Mad Max knock-off of the "so bad it's good" variety. In a post-apocalyptic world, big-haired Patrick Swayze wanders the desert vastness fighting off Sand People with his aluminum sword and martial arts abilities. He sets out to help some farmers who are under siege by bandits out to steal their water. Oh and he picks up a dog along the way. Swayze's wife Lisa Niemi plays the widow he boinks. She's terrible in this with the same vapid expression on her face throughout. Also, where did she get a hairstylist in the post-apocalypse? Anthony Zerbe plays the villain. Brion James grunts his way through the role of Tark, the big dumb guy. Like I said, it's a knock-off of Mad Max with a little bit of Shane thrown in. A bad movie but good for some unintended laughs.

The producers trying to make something alikes Mad Max 2, including a dog, yet a wish is an impalpable thing, will be necessary a tons of millions dollars to reachs on the ground of Mad Max 2, instead a few dollars spent to make this clone movie, still a careful production required stayed miles away, a lot of scrap yard were used to appear as plant manufacturing and all those poor pipeline installation were useless to create any impact.

The casting is really fine, the vilain Anthony Zerby, the tough guy Brion James, the hired warrior Christopher Neame, the japanese warroir John Fujioka, and finally the gorgeous Lisa Niemi, already Swayze doesn't fits very well of kind of fearless warrior, the props were outdated, worst still the DVD available in Brazil was transfer from VHS to DVD, it's needs a fully restoration soon as possible to be more well rated.

Resume:

First watch: 1993 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 5.75.

Steel Dawn (1987) is Patrick Swayze's underrated post-apocalyptic sci-fi action cult-classic gem! It is my second personal favorite Patrick Swayze's action film he ever did! It is a cult classic film Patrick Swayze ever did. I miss the guy I really do. The first movie will always be Road House (1989) this is my second favorite film! In my honest opinion this movie is a classic of the 80's and it is MILES way better than Point Break (1991), Ghost (1990) and Next of Kin (1989) the characters that Patrick Swayze played. I have this movie on Blu-ray I hardly got it and I love this movie to death! I have so fun watching it and I enjoy it. This is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic action samurai flick, it is not Mad Max: The Road Warrior a copycat film like was in Resident Evil: Extinction that movie was mainly a copycat of that movie this wasn't. Directed and produced by Lance Hool who earlier directed Missing in Action 2: The Beginning my favorite Chuck Norris film! This was his second movie he directed and starring Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi. I love Nomad it is Patrick Swayze favorite character of mine.

Plot: Water becomes a precious commodity in the desert community of Meridian. When a mob, led by the evil Damnil (Anthony Zerbe), takes over the town's supply, the good people fight back by hiring Nomad (Patrick Swayze). Nomad is the only person who can put an end to the greet in this modern interpretation of the Western classic "Shane."

Let it be known, that "Steel Dawn" is a favorite of mine, one of those rare, nostalgic, obscure and imaginative beauties, a film that from my viewpoint, never really got the attention it deserved. Why it didn't, I don't really have any idea, as it's lined with a star-studded cast. Very well directed and acted (even enjoyably "over-acted" at times). With a super-cool futuristic take on the classic western genre, and not to mention, one of the most quotable movies I' ever seen! Though it never quite grabbed the multitudes (perhaps because audiences were becoming worn out on doomsday & post-apocalyptic films of the era), it did most certainly grab my attention and I' been hooked on it ever since catching it on television.

This is a childhood film, yes it is a film from a childhood that I have grown up with it. It has a great cast: Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Brion James, Anthony Zerbe and John Fujioka. Actor John Fujioka was also in American Ninja (1985)my favorite martial arts Ninja film, before was cast in Steel Dawn. This is my favorite Patrick Swayze film and it is awesome, the sword fights were excellent and I love it so much! The acting in this movie was decent from Patrick Swayze and the rest of the cast. I have enjoyed this film, but it is really underrated the same as it is Missing in Action 2: The Beginning but for an 80's flick for an 1 hr. and 40.minutes hey I enjoy it, watching Patrick Swayze kicking ass is my guilty pleasure.

I love samurai sword fights, Patrick uses a sword to kill mysterious sand creatures. Throughout the battle with Sho (Christopher Neame) and Nomad (Patrick Swayze), I at least felt like they were actually trying to kill each other as opposed to posturing and/or baton twirling... I actually think this was a fight choreographer who was doing the best they could with what/who they had to work with. Patrick Swayze helped with the choreography. He definitely knew what he was doing and how to work the hardware. He was legit bad-ass, this final fight between those two is epic!

Theme Song for this movie: Australian composer Brian May (not the one from Queen) did the music for the post-apocalyptic Steel Dawn. He also did the music for Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, which the makers of Steel Dawn brushed off as pure coincidence. Brain May must be an expert at post-apocalyptic atmospheric movies.

Patrick Swayze has to jump in to help, and instantly kicks everyone's ass. Steel Dawn is a damn solid action cult classic gem!

R.I.P. - Patrick Swayze (1952 - 2009) I really miss you so much and I wish you could do more bad ass action movies, I am your biggest fan and so was my mom we all miss you and we all love you, I love you to death!

Steel Dawn is a 1987 American post-apocalyptic feature film that mixes the genres of science fiction, western and samurai cinema. It stars Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi.

Steel Dawn (underrated) (why doesn't THAT film get the cult/appreciation/notice of this POS) Road House and Black Dog are my top 3 personal favorite best Patrick Swayze movies he ever did! This movie get's 10 out 10 the best underrated unappreciated cult-classic post-apocalyptic sci-fi action western samurai movie!

I know that movies like Steel Dawn of the 80s cannot compete with modern movie productions special effects wise, but, and that's in my opinion a great plus, those movies got mostly a simple and straight action plot like all those good old western movies without too much personal drama, which is a trademark these days.

In the 80s many actors of some rank (doing action movies) did participate in some post-apocalyptic movie project (e.g. Van Damme in Cyborg, Rutger Hauer in Blood of Heroes, Arnold in Terminator, and Kurt Russell in Escape From New York to name a few) - I guess, the immense success of the first Mad Max movie was responsible for taht wave or at least strongly supported it. In the 90s followed such movies like Waterworld and Postman with Kevin Costner and Beowulf with Christopher Lambert and 12 Monkeys, Matrix and many more.

Most of those movies, like Steel Dawn, provide solid story-telling and some good old action. What you get are some well choreographed combat scenes, and like in Road House and Red Dawn, Mr. Swayze proved that he can do action well. Anyway, if you like the genre, you should give this one a try.

Another post-apocalyptic leather clad warrior(Patrick Swayze)wanders through the desert and comes upon a settlement that is being threatened by a murderous and motley crew wanting their water supply. Swayze shares the screen with his real life wife Lisa Niemi and Anthony Zerbe. This movie comes up dry as the desolate world it depicts. After the dust settles...listen for the clink. Bad. ROAD WARRIOR this is not.

It's actually kind of funny to think this movie was released in the same year as the world-hit Dirty Dancing.

This Mad Max-esque film does have a view things going for it. The atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic world isn't torn apart as bad as you would expect Swayze to do, and he's not a walking catastrophe in the film either, as you would expect, though his acting is weak.

Come to think of it, all the acting is weak, and the movie has one of the weakest story-lines ever. Still, it's not a complete loss, it's worth watching if you're really bored or just can't get any sleep (which is when I saw it, 12 o'clock (midnight))...

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits

In a futeristic, post-apocalyptic world, a lone warrior (Patrick Swayze) roams the desert wilderness, literally living by the sword and fending off attacks from mysterious assailants. He finds himself briefly reunited with an old mentor from his past, before he is killed by a mysterious thug named Sho (Christopher Neame.) Without any more guidance in his life, the warrior resumes his quest through the sand, until he stumbles across a group of people who have formed a peaceful community for themselves. With them, he re-discovers friendship, love and his humanity, before a final showdown with the forces of evil and a final battle for revenge.

In 1987, Swayze made arguably one of his most memorable movies ever, Dirty Dancing, but he also made this corny slice of post Mad Max sci-fi action. It's hard to believe that Lance Hool, the man behind one of Chuck Norris's most under-rated films, Missing in Action 2, could be at the helm of something as bland and unsatisfying as this.

Why do I feel this?, you may wonder. Well, really you should lose the will to live with the plot summary. It's just such an obvious and corny rip-off of Mad Max, with all the most grinding, grating clichés present (the strong, silent lead star, the revenge motif, the community he's at first at odds with, then bonds with, the attacks from outsiders etc. etc.) There's not much in the way of action going on either, to be honest, with only one or two juicy action scenes (mainly towards the end) and some syrupy late 80s special effects. That, Swayze's hammy lead presence (not hard to see why his star fizzled so rapidly in the 90s!), a ridiculous central villain, and worthless supporting turns from genre favourites Brian James and Arnold Vosloo combine to make this a regrettable experience. Worth it for nostalgia value perhaps, but hardly anything else. **

I have no idea why this is such a comfort film, it just works somehow, all of the elements feel low budget and strange, yet still it's fun to watch. Nothing deep, pure entertainment, for that, it's great. It also proves that Patrick Swayze is capable of being great in anything.

I give it 6 out of 10 because it has one of better sword fights I have seen made by Hollywood. As I was watching the movie, it sort of reminded me of the great western movie "Shane" starring Alan Ladd. It had many of the same elements like a lone stranger comes to town and battles the evil doers who would harm the innocent farmers. Patrick Swayze plays his part well as the protagonist in this movie. Interesting enough though, there is no weapon used save non projectile weapons. What I mean by this is that there are no pistols, rifles, or bombs. In some ways, not having those type of weapons in this movie makes it more refreshing. It kind of makes it like a samurai movie of sorts. All in all, a pretty good movie.

The story takes place in some future where the land seems more desert than anything else; and therefore, water is an important commodity.

In a small valley, a group of farmers try to make a living but is harassed by an individual whose aim is to take over the whole valley. In comes Patrick Swayze who plays a former soldier who comes to the valley to exact revenge on those who killed his former comrade.

During this pursuit, however, he meets a woman and her child who make him see what is really important in life.

An insipient version of SHANE. Absolutely putrid. Deviates from all logic - there are many scenes in which characters have two or even three ways out of a situation, but refuse to use them so that the action keeps going. Also, Swayze's lines are all terribly delivered, but most painful are his herotype-one-liners. As bad as you've ever seen.

It's at least good to know from these post-apocalyptic movies (even the good ones) that hair crimpers will survive the devastation for womens' hair styling needs.

Decade of 80's was full of movies similliar in nature to Mad Max. Nuclear war happened, and people who survived catastrophe are now fighthing for water resources. Steel Dawn is one of that many movies. Many of this movies are forgetable but somehow Steel Dawn stays in your mind for some time. The main charachter is played by Patrick Swayze, don't forget that this is the same year he starred in planetary hit Dirty Dancing. Swayze looks really funny in the role of tough guy, he is more for dancing movies definetely, but that is what makes this movie magical, other cast is really cool, Brion James, how i miss this guy, he was must have for this kind of movies, just that face and look, and the movie becomes interesting in second, also there is Anthony Zerbe as main villain, such a great actor, i still remember his role as main villain in The Omega Man (1971). Other cast is also solid. Soundtrack was written by Brian May, the same man who created music for Mad Max 1, and Mad Max 2, it is beautiful soundtrack and goes well with the film, just love those synths, the story is simple but the movie has really good atmosphere, maybe because it is filmed in stunning Namibian Desert, magical location. If you love adventure/action movies similliar in nature to Mad Max this movie is definetely for you, or just are 80s obsessed guy or girl give this movie a chance.

This is, quite simply, the most boring and pointless movie that I have ever seen. The acting is languid, the direction absent, and there isn't even anything pretending to be a coherent story until almost halfway through the picture. I had once thought that no movie could possibly be worse than "TC 2000"... well, there goes that theory. Unless you are a complete masochist or want to make a drinking game out of trying to pick out all of the cliche spaghetti western references, don't waste your time.

So absurdly MAD MAX inspired, this tale of nunchuka-wielding Swayze and his attempts to rescue everyone in distress from a gang of post-apocalyptic bovver-boys, just falls flat on its script.

Merely a 94 minute excuse to bring Swayze and his evil nemesis together for a concluding brutal fight to the death, which is the only half-hearted reason for watching this lame work-out in the first place.

Swayze scowls and delivers heroic one-liners with predictable regularity. The only question remaining is WHO has been doing Lisa Niemi's hair during these extraordinarily dusty times?

Next please?