Steel Dawn
Steel Dawn
R | 06 November 1987 (USA)
Steel Dawn Trailers

In a post-apocalyptic world, a warrior wandering through the desert comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by a murderous gang that is after the water they control.

Reviews
ThedevilChoose

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

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Invaderbank

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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Humbersi

The first must-see film of the year.

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Catherina

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

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Scarecrow-88

A desert warrior, a former soldier of a war that left the land barren and practically worthless, assists a young women, her little boy, and laborers(..who operate a camp attempting to develop water for their valley), soon defending them against a tyrant and his sadistic brood who wish to overrule the region.As much as I hate to admit this, Steel Dawn is really a rather average Mad Max clone, offering nothing really new to the post apocalyptic genre except a really good cast attempting to give the rather mediocre material a boost. Brian May's score, quite a majestic orchestral composition, and stunning South African locations are a shot in the arm, and there's plenty of violence(..a lot of people get stabbed)thrown in for good measure, but not much in the way of originality.Swayze's enigmatic warrior, called Nomad, has a 'steely' resolve and is equipped with the physical presence needed to fulfill the required Mel Gibson look. His skills at spinning kicks which down his foes are on full display and Swayze does engage in not one but two spirited battles with Christopher Neame, in a showy role as a hired assassin, Sho, who murdered Nomad's mentor and trainer Cord(John Fujioka, making the most of a nothing role)in cheap fashion(Sho has a blade hidden in a knee pad which springs forth when it appears he could be in trouble). Brion James has a nice supporting turn in a rare hero role as Tark, an intimidating worker whose strength and girth help Kasha(Lisa Niemi)a great deal around the camp, repairing and building plumbing systems needed to operate their water machine. Tark is quite a loyal hand who, at first, rejects Nomad out of jealousy mostly, for he carries a torch for Kasha, and doesn't appreciate this outsider moving in on his "family". Obviously, Nomad will form a fatherly bond with Kasha's son, Jux(Brett Hool).The characters all appear in "post-Holocaust wardrobe", patterns sewn together from materials that weren't destroyed during the ambiguous war. You also have ratty hairdos, odd land rovers(..seemingly formed from various metals and materials found from junk yards) and incongruous swords(..steel fashioned in peculiar styles). Anthony Zerbe is Damnil, the cold-blooded despot whose authoritarian command over the region strikes fear in the communities attempting to survive in such harsh environs. Early role for Arnold Vosloo, as one of Damnil's goons, who would come into his own as a formidable presence both as hero and villain in cartoon action adventures such as Darkman(..in the sequels), John Woo's Hard Target, and the revamped Mummy movies.Steel Dawn will be of interest mainly to Swayze's die hard fans and those of us attracted to the Post Apocalyptic genre as a whole. Others should beware. Might interest those desiring to see Swayze and his wife working together in a movie. But, in all honesty, this tale goes through the motions, never quite rising above other Mad Max imitations that existed around the same time.

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Bill-B

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.

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atf_819

To be a great Cheese movie in my eyes a movie needs 3 things that all great cheesy movies must have.-A Montage set to a bad power ballad -A Misguided, awkward impassioned "get it together" speech by the protagonist -A star who has a big ego and has since seen his career tank Luckily the 3rd one's a check.The plot is basic and simple (as are all cheesy movies). Lone wolf protagonist stands up to powerful bad guy to protect innocent people and do the right thing. With Steel Dawn Swayze's Nomad character roams the dessert, standing on his post apocalyptic head and meditating, and of course fighting post apocalyptic sand people. And then more crap unfolds that doesn't really matter.What you need to pay attention to in this movie to enjoy its cheesiness are the following: 1. Post apocalyptic 80's hair: Our way of life may have fallen back centuries, but rat-tail mullets and teased hair came out OK 2. Post apocalyptic low budget action: Nothing spells chaos and destruction more so than one flaming garbage can getting kicked over!3. Post apocalyptic Swayze fight scenes: Genius is the new name of the person who came up with the idea of hiring Swayze's dance instructor to teach him how to fight. Sassy High Kicks…Hooray! 4. Post apocalyptic bad child acting: The kid in this movie is terrible. After seeing this I found out on IMDb he shares the same last name as the director and producer. So now I know why he's in the movie. But bad child acting just means you now have a reason to root for the bad guys.5. Post apocalyptic snide comments: I found while watching this with friends its really funny to say 'post apocalyptic' when making a bad comment about something in the movie.In summary, I'm proud to own Steel Dawn. Its earned a spot on the Cheese shelve of my DVD section alongside great like Over the Top, Road House, Eye of the Tiger and Viva Knievel! Beside, this movie is so awful it could provide a much needed boost to the Nuclear disarmament movement.

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craZyforswayZ

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.

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