Stone Cold

STONE COLD [1991 / 2016] [The Cult Movie Collection] [Blu-ray] A Cop Who Enforces His Own Brand of Justice!Joe Huff [Brian Bosworth] is a cop who's angry at the system for handling criminals with kid gloves. Joe Huff's on suspension but the FBI gives him an opportunity to go undercover in Mississippi and infiltrate "The Brotherhood," a white supremacist biker gang that runs drugs. In the Brotherhood, each member legally changes his name to his Brotherhood nickname. They are led by a violent psychopath named "Chains" Cooper [Lance Henriksen]. Joe Huff begrudgingly accepts the job.As a member of the gang, Joe Huff is renamed "John Stone" learns that they're plotting a paramilitary assault on the state capitol to rescue a gang member sentenced to execution and it's up to Joe Huff to stop them.Cast: Brian Bosworth, Lance Henriksen, William Forsythe, Arabella Holzbog, Sam McMurray, Richard Gant, Paulo Tocha, David Tress, Evan James, Tony Pierce, Billy Million, Robert Winley, Gregory Scott Cummins, Demetre Phillips, Magic Schwarz, Brenda James, Paul M. Lane,Director: Craig R. BaxleyProducers: Andrew D.T. Pfeffer, Gray Wichard, Mace Neufeld (uncredited), Michael Douglas (uncredited), Moshe Diamant (uncredited), Nick Grillo, Rick Bieber (uncredited), Walter Doniger, Udi Nedivi and Yoram Ben-AmiScreenplay: Walter DonigerComposer: Sylvester LevayCinematography: Alexander GruszynskiVideo Resolution: 1080p [Color by Deluxe]Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1Audio: English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio StereoSubtitles: NoneRunning Time: 92 minutesRegion: Region B/2Number of discs: 1Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / 101 FilmsAndrew’s Blu-ray Review: If you are any kind of fan of the 1990s action films, then ‘STONE COLD’ [1991] this one is an absolute necessity. The film that tried to turn legendary Brian Keith Bosworth, nicknamed "The Boz" who was originally a former professional American football player who played as a line-backer for the National Football League's “Seattle Seahawks” who was thrust into an action star muscle hunk, and I have to express my excitement that this particular film has finally arrived and available on this brilliant 101 Films Blu-ray disc, which is all thanks to this brilliant British Company 101 Films, who now produces these brilliant cult classic films, and especially ‘STONE COLD’ has been spending years out of print especially on an inferior DVD, where copies have been fetching upwards of large sums of money either on Amazon and eBay, now there is no excuse not to have it in your own Blu-ray Collection.As most mainstream action films of this genre, which by the way, has for some time been going out of fashion, having been replaced primarily by superhero films and big budget films, getting further away from the kinds of things that defined 1990s action films at your local cinema, like iconic heroes, practical stunts and first-rate 2nd unit work and especially films like ‘STONE COLD’ continue to age better and better. Sure, it's a product of its time, 1991 to be exact, otherwise known as the best year for action films ever, if for no other reason than the casting of Brian Bosworth in the lead, but director Craig R. Baxley makes films that are both incredibly efficient and accomplished while still making an action packed film that is deliriously over the top, and directs films, especially ‘STONE COLD’ with lunatic competence.‘STONE COLD’ has it all: bikers, bloodshed, babes, Brian Bosworth. There is a giant lizard, who is Brian Bosworth’s pet and men in bikini briefs. There's Lance Henriksen and William Forsythe trying to out crazy each other. There's Sam McMurray playing a cop. It's not an action film that moves in fits and starts, coming to life during the fights or shootouts and then grinding to a halt in the expositional scenes. It's entertaining all the way through, in part because of the colourful subculture in which the film is set and in part because Craig R. Baxley directs the whole film at the same wild, rowdy pitch, where you can practically smell the beer, cigarette smoke, bike exhaust and Brian Bosworth.The film was a massive box office flop when it was released in 1991, grossing just $9 million on a budget of $25 million. It has since discovered a life on certain cable stations and home video, having become a cult classic of the genre and completing Craig R. Baxley's trilogy of awesomeness. I can see this being a film that required time to find its audience; it's too hard-core for the fair weather genre fans and got lost amidst the shuffle of great action films released that year. I'm happy to see this particular wrong being righted, even if it has taken almost 25 years to get there.I love ‘STONE COLD’ Brian Bosworth made a fantastic action star, and it’s a mystery why this star faded so quickly. Brian Bosworth made a handful of good action films like ‘Back in Business’ and ‘One Man’s Justice,’ but Brian Bosworth eventually began starring in films that didn’t give him the potential to onto greater films. Director Craig R. Baxley gives ‘STONE COLD’ a verve no other director could have given it, and it’s filled with great moments, one-liners, and bad attitude characters that have their moments.But best of all there is the awesome stunts! Bikes crashing out windows and exploding on helicopters! Chase sequences where bad guys smash their bikes onto oncoming traffic! When somebody is fighting in this film and they hurl somebody, and they really over the top throwing them! I mean people can really fly! These biker dudes entertain themselves by shooting bear cans off of their shoulders! With machine guns! Which again gives a totally fun action film that is well over the top, and totally crazy. The rest of the cast is composed of real life bikers, which adds a bit more credibility to the proceedings. There is this one scene where all the bikers are shooting their guns, and watching these two guys kicking each other’s butts like some type of Gladiator show or something, which is a great scene, everyone is crazy, all going over the top and out of control, so gotta give kudos to this film for making these scenes genuine by using real bikers. So all in all it is not a bad action film, actually it is pretty cool one from the 1990s! Which is right up there with Sylvester Stallone’s ‘COBRA’ film? Good for a laugh, and definitely lots of good over the top fun.Blu-ray Video Quality – Once again the cult film company 101 Films, has brought us ‘STONE COLD’ once again with a brilliant 1080p high definition transfer that really stands out, and an equally impressive 1.85:1 aspect ratio and for the most part 101 Films has done a very professional job. Colours are reproduced very nicely and black levels look really nice and especially deep skin tones that are totally natural looking and detail is pretty strong throughout the film. On top of all that sharpness and contrast are equally excellent and there are no noticeable issues with any compression artefacts and the image presentation seems completely devoid of digital trickery like noise reduction or edge enhancement. Grain is slightly present throughout the film, but does not detract from a brilliant print overall, and the depth of the image remains impressive for pretty much the entire film. ‘STONE COLD’ looks absolutely brilliant on this 101 Films Blu-ray disc release. Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.Blu-ray Audio Quality – Once again the cult film company 101 Films, has brought us ‘STONE COLD’ once again in a stunning 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo track, and the audio clarity of this Blu-ray disc is very good. The composed music score by Sylvester Levay sounds absolutely stunning and has a really decent range to it and the dialogue is very easy to understand. There are no problems with any hiss or distortion to note and the levels are properly balanced throughout the film. The sound effects have a massive punch behind them and the rumble of those motorcycle engines has good weight behind it and really gives your speakers a brilliant workout.Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:A beautiful designed and printed Reversible Blu-ray Cover Sleeve.A stunning colourful full-size cult Poster.Finally, ‘STONE COLD’ release is so awesome it deserves an amazing special edition Blu-ray release, but of course it means that now all of Craig R. Baxley's films are now available in 1080p HD, proof that we are living in the best of all times. Part of me never thought this day would come, but here we are, and its 1990s Action Day for ‘STONE COLD’ is in my Blu-ray Collection, so make sure it's on yours too. If you enjoy old school action cult film of the 1980s, with all of the exploitation ingredients at play; then do yourself a favour and gun down ‘STONE COLD;’ it's one of the best of its kind! It is also a stunner of an action packed film that will keep you on the edge of your seats in this “guilty pleasure” action packed film and this film is just way too much fun! WARNING: This Film is rated 18 and is only for Adult viewing only. No-one under 18 should not be allowed to view this Blu-ray disc as this film is not suitable for children, because this film contains Very Strong Violence. Frequent Strong Language with discriminatory language and behaviour and also Scenes of Strong Sexual Activity.Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film FanLe Cinema ParadisoWARE, United Kingdom

This must have cost a fortune in its day.Made in 1991 it has remnants of late 80s styling with 70s mullets, average acting and a muddling to poor story.Plenty of bikes, babies, bullets and bangs, but an obvious and linear development to the end.Brian Bosworth looks like Val Kilmer, Lance Henriksen looks unrecognisable and everyone else looks like a stereotypical version of their characters.Again the bikers are the bad guys, the cops are always right and the Army are incapable of doing their jobs.The script is weak, directing is industry standard and production half reasonable.The money was spent on destroying lots of hardware.I'm being generous by giving it 3 stars.

The media could not be loaded.  A great Action film from the 80s & a great watch to

The age of the tough-guy, macho action flick is long, long gone. With Disney monopolizing the multiplexes and castrated, effeminate men playing intersectional superheroes always mindful of other peoples' precious fee-fees the action flick really is a thing of the past. Whatever hidden gems or cult favorites might lurk in studio vaults need to be cherished and given new life. Real men are starved for bloody, adult violence and female nudity.Opening with a straight-up rip-off of Cobra, a supermarket is held up by trigger-happy psychos who are soon put out of their misery by wise-cracking cop Joe Huff (I wonder what mood he is always in). The Feds soon blackmail Huff into going undercover in a Mississippi biker gang called The Brotherhood, who assassinate political targets. His new identity is John Stone (and thus the sense-making title!) and his nemesis is Chains Cooper (a truly brilliant Lance Henriksen) and his right-hand man Ice (William Forsythe, playing the second of his 1991 psycho maniacs after his turn in Out For Justice).Brian Bosworth, as Joe Huff, truly is an amalgamation of all the tough-guy tropes of the era delivered in one meathead package. He's actually quite good in the role, supported by strong action and stunt work by director Craig R. Baxley (originally the second unit director but promoted after Bruce Malmuth was fired) and a gleefully over-the-top style. He may never have become a huge star, but he did manage to cut-out a small corner of 90s action for himself.Bosworth has since revealed that $4 million worth of footage that added a lot of backstory, shot by Malmuth, was scrapped when Baxley was promoted to director. Also, the MPAA demanded that much of the violence be toned down to get an R-rating. Although this was typical of action movies of the era, Stone Cold joins Hard to Kill (also directed by Malmuth, who Steven Seagal called incompetent), Tango and Cash, Out for Justice, Cobra, Showdown in Little Tokyo, Deadly Friend, and Hard Target as action movies drastically altered in post-production with a finished product radically different from what was originally planned.Stone Cold may have come and gone in 1991 without leaving a lasting impression but its a fun movie to rediscover in this disgustingly PC age. But I have to wonder what the reasoning was with the end credits. Instead of smash cutting to black, like it should have, the credits role as Joe Huff just wanders around a parking all bloodied. It's such a weird choice.The Blu-ray from MGM via 101 Films looks good in 1.78:1 1080p with a decent DTS HD-MA 2.0 soundtrack and zero extras. It also comes with a poster included and a reversible cover art featuring a ridiculous Terminator rip-off design that totally mis-sells the movie.