All Rise...

Judge Patrick Naugle dishes out Facebook Justice.

The Charge

You don't recruit John Steele. You unleash him.

The Case

The 1980s were rife with movies about war, soldiers, and war veterans straining to rejoin society after their time on the battlefield. Some of them were good (Platoon, First Blood). Some of them were mediocre (Missing in Action). Then there were the real turkeys: Rambo III, Delta Force, and 1987's Steele Justice, mostly known for being one of actor Martin Kove's only starring roles in a major feature. Audiences knew Kove as the villainous Cobra Kai sensei in the Karate Kid film series, and somewhere some producer thought, "let's give him his own movie!" While Kove makes for a substantial heavy, the actor has a hard time carrying a full fledged action movie on his shoulders.

I wish I could report that Steele Justice is a diamond in the rough, but the truth is it's just another part of the rough. Steele Justice offers little in the way of originality—it's a standard revenge story about a John Steele (Kove) who used to be a former military war hero that must avenge his best friend's death. There's an ex-wife (Seal Ward, The Day After Tomorrow) who Steele still has feelings for, some potentially crooked cops (Robocop's Ronny Cox and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka's Bernie Casey), and an Asian general (Soon Tek-Oh, Missing in Action 2: The Beginning) who tried to kill Steele (and vice versa) during the war, and whose son is the head of a mafia war on Steele's home turf. Guess who still wants to extract revenge against Steele? No bonus points if you guessed "the general."

We've seen this kind story a dozen times before, done better, with far more interesting actors. Cars blow up, about a million AK-47 bullets are shot, and there's even a fight in an abandoned industrial complex because the filmmakers wanted to leave no action stone upturned. Kove spends the majority of the time with a band-aid on his nose and getting the snot beat out of him by just about everyone he comes into contact with—cops, assassins, prison inmates, vindictive females. After a while Steele looks less like the film's hero and more like it's veritable punching bag. Steele Justice moves from set piece to set piece, each of which involves a) Steele shooting at bad guys, b) bad guys shooting at Steele, c) late '80s anthem rock ("Fight fire with fire and go in for the kiiiiill!"), d) pensive discussions with his ex-wife ("John, the war never ended for you…it just changed locations"), or e) montages of Steele getting ready to open up a can of whoop-ass on his enemies. The only surprise in Steele Justice is just how closely it adheres to genre conventions.

Steele Justice has been notoriously hard to find on any home media. The film was never released on DVD and is available on very few digital services. There are reasons for everything in the universe, and the fact that Steele Justice hasn't been widely unavailable may be due to the fact that it does nothing to stand out from the crowd. I suppose that the film works on its own merits, though potential viewers may want to make sure they have a six-pack of Coors sitting by their side before it starts. No, wait…better make it a twelve pack plus some nachos; like any good solider, always go into battle prepared.

Steele Justice (Blu-ray) is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen in 1080p high definition. Kino Lorber offers up a generally good image for a movie that has hardly seen the light of day in the last thirty years. Colors are generally strong, as are black levels. The image is surprisingly clear of any major defects or imperfections. There are a few soft shots from time to time, but it's never intrusive to the viewing. The soundtrack is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo in English. This is a fairly middle-of-the-road audio mix that features little in the way of dynamic range. Dialogue, music, and effects are all clearly heard. No alternate soundtracks or subtitles are included on this disc. The only bonus features are a theatrical trailer for the film, and a few trailers for other Kino Lorber releases.

It's hard to totally dismiss Steele Justice. As generic '80s blow-em-ups go, it gets the job done but little else. Nostalgic viewers will probably be excited to revisit this film, though reality may override any fond memories they have of it. Kino Lorber is to be commended for giving the film a high definition release even as so many other better action films languish on standard definition DVD. With a solid video and audio presentation, Steele Justice looks and sounds far better than it should.

The Verdict

This film has the right to remain silent…but if John Steele has anything to say about that, it won't.

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