In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Ellen and Charley Reed (Lords and Troy, respectively) are a happily married couple, and also a couple of diamond thieves. Their latest heist job has them breaking into the estate of mobster Vito Malta (Rivero) and nabbing his stash of jewels, reported to be worth over sixty million dollars. Complications arise when Vito sends his goons after them, two detectives, Prine and Little (Levine and Alba, respectively) also go after them, and even more mobsters…go after them. Ellen must reluctantly turn to her brother Rick (Galligan), a fast-talking slickster with a gambling problem, for help. She also has to contend with the advances of Det. Little, who naturally has a romantic interest in her. Who will get away with all the ice without getting iced? Ice is okay. It's nothing great, though it does have its moments. Thankfully, the outing as a whole isn't overly "heist-y", and delivers some action moments. This is a PM, after all. So Pepin and Merhi probably felt that they would be remiss if, even though this is ostensibly a heist movie, it didn't have multiple car blow-ups, car flips, an exploding helicopter, shootouts, neck snaps, a weapons-supplying "Machine Gun Joe" character, and of course a guy screaming his brains out while shooting a machine gun. And let's not forget the utterance of the line "We got company!" and the time-honored sax on the soundtrack.Jorge Rivero even gets a scene to do what he does best, fist fight. He was Fist Fighter (1989), after all. This is to be distinguished from Punchfighting, because the goons surrounding the fight are not wagering/clutching cash in their hands. Sure, the scene is a gratuitous time-filler meant to add some brainless grappling to the proceedings, but the guy Rivero fights is a Van Damme clone, Lionheart (1990)-era to be precise. Even Lords gets to do some Traci- Fu, and it's really not bad, thanks to the help of Art Camacho. Thank goodness for independent companies in the video store era like AIP and PM. They truly gave Traci a home when she needed it most. No one ever gives them any credit for that, and Traci does indeed rise to the occasion, utilizing her strict post-adult-career "no (real) nudity" policy to show she can do other things. If nothing else, this movie is a showcase for her sourpussed, sulky beauty, and, let's be honest here, that's the reason we're watching ICE in the first place, right? In the not-Traci Lords acting department, the guys that play the two cops actually have a very good chemistry, which again very few people are bound to appreciate. Zach Galligan seems to have a smarmy good time playing the brother that's constantly bickering with his sister/partner, another classic cliché herein. But it wasn't all stuff we'd seen before: we greatly enjoyed the ice skating rink shootout, that was new to us. Though to be honest, even that didn't live up to its full potential. There should have been more baddies slipping and sliding around as they tried to shoot their targets. But still, it was a good effort.Ice is decent, if a tad sluggish, and the main song, "Stand Tall or Fall" is by a band called Lost Art, and NOT sung by Traci herself, as we were hoping. Her character is even supposed to be a nightclub singer in the movie, and she did have a real-life recording career, so it wasn't far-fetched to believe she might do some singing on the soundtrack, but sadly no. PM and Traci fans will get something out of it, and it's a masterpiece compared to Laser Moon (1993), but for the average viewer, Ice is adequate.

I think the film world could have greatly benefited if Traci Lords had retired when the agents hung up the phone with the most deplored and poisonous rejection line in the business: "We don't represent porn actors" and ditto for hiring in mainstream films. Her career has been an orgy of action explosion or cheap bathroom humor comedies viewers could survive without, but then no one would be left to pay her bills. Ice just keeps piling up the gun play and fights so much that it either leaves you numb or laughing at all her ridiculous stunt work and a shower scene that her director/husband Brook Yeaton didn't want her to take off her bra for. His jealousy led to their divorce mainly because of the other men she was seeing on location for other films. Thank god he didn't direct them, too.

A mostly generic B-action movie with a generic script and generic characters, but worth seeing if you're interested in the opportunity of seeing famous ex-"adult" star Traci Lords in an action role. She fits pretty well into the genre, largely because of her constantly frowning expression: when she threatens someone, she looks like she means business. And let's face it, she is gorgeous. Action choreographer Art Camacho doesn't try to pass her off as a great martial artist: her fighting is not overly fancy or impressive, just straightforward brawling intended to take down the opponent as quickly as possible. Nobody in the supporting cast is particularly charismatic, and the bad guys are fairly inept. Still, "Ice" is a passable, painless programmer. ** out of 4.

This movie was directed by Traci Lords' husband and nephew on John Waters, Brook Yeaton. The movie is pretty bad but it's light entertainment for those who like a bit of Traci and things blowing up. Pretty non-descript performance from Traci. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it again but it's fun if only to laugh at the mistakes the director made. Where did those guns go.....