Dead Bang (1989)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Wow... what can I say? I wasn't much a fan of Don Johnson and didn't really care for the TV series "Miami Vice" (give me "Magnum P.I" any day). However John Frankenheimer seemed to be on somewhat of a run through the 80s with "The Challenge", "52- Pick-up", "Holcroft Covenant"... ah scrap that one. I guess he wasn't on much a run, but "Dead-Bang" surprised me just how much fun this durable, if offbeat pulp was. Predictable, but bold and ultra-fun law enforcement thriller. This was mainly due to Johnson's hard-nosed performance. Looking bemused and rather scruffy with a very witty script to work with as there were some hilarious lines of banter. The highlight would have to be Johnson's vomit sequence on a suspect after an exhausting chase and the unorthodox methods in getting the job done. Jerry Beck is one burnt out L.A detective whose personal life is on the skids, so he lives for his job. Looking on a case involving the murder of a convenient store owner and cop, leads to something much bigger when he finds himself tailing a gang of murderous white supremacists to Colorado. In all; it's dumb, crude, snappy and loud while containing white supremacists using automatic weapons but like a good Frankenheimer feature the violently hard-hitting action was well-staged, well-framed with its camera angles and it moved at a fast clip. The story is taken from Beck's true-life exploits of his novel, where we are taken for one hell of a ride as Frankenheimer really pushes it to the brink. When it came to showing off the film's firepower, it's an outrageous assault and ballsy in its execution. William Forsythe can be just as amusing playing uptight, than say crazy (watch "Out for Justice" for that) as the FBI agent who gets on the wrong side of Beck. Penelope Ann Miller also seems to walk onto set; sweet talks Johnson and beds him to suddenly disappear. Was I missing something there? Quite an unnecessary sub-plot involving her character. Also making appearances are Bob Balaban, Tate Donovan, Mickey Jones, Brad Sullivan (the exchanges between him and Johnson were a treat "You don't need a gun chief. Just tell them who you are."), Tim Reid, William Taylor and Michael Jeter finding himself at the end of a Woody Allen joke. "F**k you Sheriff! And your french fries"

Don Johnson is pretty decent in this (and I'm a fan), though you could see the whole idea was to take the Crockett character from Miami Vice and make him a down-and-outer, to take away all the expensive trappings he had on Miami Vice.The biggest plot hole is that the bad guy kills a cop at the beginning of the movie, pretty much on Christmas Eve. Yet there is no big mobilization of the LA police force to catch the killer, just Beck going after him alone. In every other movie I've ever seen, and pretty much in real life, if a cop is killed in cold blood like this character was, every cop is going to be after the killer.Then, when the rural OK sheriff's cars are shot up with automatic weapons, and the downtown is blown up in a huge shootout with the bad guys, again, no-one really seems to interested. Not the LA police force, not the FBI that much. Usually these kind of egregious acts of violence get pretty big play in the media and with law enforcement types. So that whole premise was rather hard to swallow, although it says it's based on a true story.Interesting cameo by the porno star Ron Jeremy as one of the bikers. Several of the cast were on Miami Vice at one time or another.

I saw this in the theater and the only thing I remembered about it was Don Johnson puking on a guy. So with all the talk of Frankenheimer on the other board, I decided to revisit it and was more than happy I did. Don Johnson stars as Jerry Beck (apparently based on a real LAPD cop) who begins to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. The investigation ends up taking him all over the US on the trail of white supremacists. The film is pretty gritty and realistic but suffers from a terrible Hollywood "We blinded you with convenience" ending. That aside, there is much to like here from Johnson's anti-Crockett cop to great supporting turns by William Forsythe and Bob Balaban to the witty script. And, of course, the aforementioned puke scene. Not as good (or as sleazy) as my 52 PICK UP, my favorite 80s Frankenheimer vehicle, but still worth checking out.

Don Johnson plays real life police detective Jerry Beck who's hot a the trail of a white supremacist group that's leaving behind them a bloody trail.This a fast paced, gritty and exciting police thriller that's criminally underrated. It may be a bit clichéd at times, but Frankenheimer keeps things moving along nicely.Don Johnson is excellent as Beck, also a very underrated actor in my opinion. His tough guy attitude is never taken to extreme and his confrontations with straight arrow FBI agent Forsyth are well played out. Supporting cast does well also. It's well written, with some genuine laughs along the way (the Woody Allen bit is hilarious and the vomit scene also) and has enough action sequences to keep it from ever slowing down too much.Fans of action-suspense thrillers should definitely check this one out.