User reviews

Michael Caine plays a former British agent with a penchant for jazz, crowded bars, and mysterious women. In his retirement, he owns a very successful nightclub, and when he meets Sean Young, he's smitten by her appeal and puts on the moves. They have a pretty hot-and-heavy romance—as hot and heavy as things get in 1992—but then she invites him to a classy party with lots of dignitaries. It turns out she's married to the American ambassador! What else is she hiding?

Blue Ice is an intense thriller with plenty of action scenes to keep the men watching and plenty of romance to keep the women interested. Ian Holm plays a very wicked bad guy, which, since I've only ever seen him in bad guy roles, isn't too much of a stretch. I happen to be a Michael Caine fan, so I was entertained by the film, but from an outsider's perspective who maybe isn't as much of a fan, it's not really the best movie out there. But if you like all his Harry Palmer spy movies, you might want to watch this one to see how he handles retirement!

Clearly intended to be an update to the Harry Palmer successes of the 60's right down to the character's stiff upper lip/questionable ethics superior, love of jazz, reluctant spy scenario, and same first name. Obviously, copyright required a change to last name, otherwise, this is a Harry Palmer movie.

Far from the quality of Ipcress File and Funeral in Berlin, but superior story and plot compared to the subsequent Russian/Quebec produced "official Palmer movies".

Caine turns in another solid performance, but potential of film limited to script gaps. Highlights would be scenes between Caine and Hoskins that are far superior to rest of film. Sean Young hopelessly miscast, so what else is new, and there is no chemistry between her and Caine.

In the opening scenes at a funeral you gotta love Michael Caine's explanation of blue ice. Typical dry British humour, which only Caine could nail down. "Blue Ice" is an often panned British espionage thriller, which I didn't mind despite its bleak and formulaic narrative with a saucy noir touch and an all-familiar hard-edge Caine performance. A former British spy now jazz club owner is asked by his mistress (who happens to be the wife of the American Ambassador) to find an old boyfriend and when he does he becomes embroiled in murder and something much more. Director Russell Mulcahy (who has always been a stylish film-maker) window dresses this thriller with jazzed up sophistication and inflated slickness amongst its suspense, brutality and sleepy London locations caught by his sweeping camera. The contrived plot is slow building, manipulating and toying with the protagonist in a fascinating manner and a sense of witty humour doesn't go astray. There's one sequence that really stood out for me, because of how surreal and nightmarish it becomes and that's the drug-induced interrogation of Caine's character. Sean Young plays it rather distantly cold as the sultry mistress. While the likes Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins have small parts. A sturdily told, if burnished 90s action thriller joint.

"Just put it down to blue ice".

I try to be respectful of others opinions as everyone is entitled to one, but, as an actor and a producer who has been the recipient of ignorant comments, I have to respond to some of the comments regarding BLUE ICE. For the person who chastises Michal Cain for doing this picture and suggesting he did it for the pay check, It was his company that produced it. It was supposed to be the first in a line of quarterly pictures for TV with the same character. His partner died and that ended that.

Regarding Bob Hoskins small role...he and Caine have been lifelong friends and this is just one more of a number of pictures they have done together and to suggest that Hoskins has "ruined" his career is just ludicrous.The man continues to turn in outstanding performances in A-list films and top of the line independents. See MRS. HENDERSON PRESNETS.

The name "Harry" is a staple of Noir through both film, novels and TV-to wit "Harry O" on TV with David Janson in the 70's. "Harry" in Heminghway's TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, and yes, the "Harry Palmer" stories of Len Deighton but that does not mean BLUE ICE is a rip off of those stories. And to suggest that Michal Caine does not do well in action films is ridiculous. See ZULU, BATTLE OF BRITIAN, A BRIDGE TO FAR, and a host of others.

I found BLUE ICE to be intelligent, well done, well acted picture with a good script. I do agree that the ending is not up to snuff but the rest of the film, especially the "Jazz" sections, is not something one sees often and it added a measure of quality to the picture.

Here's another film that one might label a neo-noir. It's film noir in story, attitude and camera-work but it's color and it's a 1992 film, not one from the late 1940s or early '50s.

The story is set in England and is a good mixture of suspense, action and romance. It's nicely filmed with a lot of night shots featuring some cool neon signs of London streets and pubs. Looks-wise, this film reminded me a lot of "Stormy Monday."

There is some good jazz in here, too. The action picks up much more in the second half of the film, capped off by a unique huge transformer-like vehicle chasing Michael Caine. The ending was a bit weak and hokey but overall, the film was entertaining and good stuff if you're a noir buff.

Pretty much an unofficial Harry Palmer sequel/comeback (a few years before two official ones), "Blue Ice" is gloomily atmospheric (the London sky is always completely gray in this movie) but plays more like a 2-hour TV episode than a feature film, though there are a couple of well-staged action scenes. Michael Caine has a few funny lines ("you frightened me so much I spilled my tea"), and Sean Young is sultry, steamy & unbelievably leggy (seriously, how long are those legs?!?). ** out of 4.

Sean Young hits Michael Caine's car. He's irate. She says she'll pay for all the damages. Caine vents. Miss Young suggests if the argument goes on, they should get a drink. They go into Caine's night club where the jazz afficianadoes meet, where Bobby Short and Charlie Watts play. They start an affair. It turns out he's a retired British spy, and she's the wife of the American ambassador. She asks him to get some letters an ex-boyfriend is trying to blackmail her with, and that opens up a world of trouble, with still-active agent Bob Hoskins, and retired station chief Ian Holm.

Tiredness leans over the movie, a sense of rote behavior in the post-John Le Carre world of agents and double-crosses, but director Russell Mulcahy's handling of the movie refers to works like MURDER MY SWEET and Caine's Harry Palmer movies from the 1960s -- and the TV movies he would appear in the following year. At 59, Caine was reaching the end of his movie-star phase. Of course, it was always apparent that he was and is an actor, and so has appeared in good supporting roles since.

I had passed an eye over this video sitting on the shelf at the local video store several times. Although I consider myself to be a Michael Caine fan, I neglected to ever rent BLUE ICE, because of poor reviews and ratings. The other day however I was once again at the video store and this time decided to check out this film. I was extremely surprised (in a good way) at BLUE ICE. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. The plot was a little bit hard to swallow, but all spy movies are like that. I thought the cinematography was wonderful and I especially like the intriguing, yet bizarre torture scene montage.

Michael Caine played an ex-spy and despite his age and not being in great shape, Sir Michael pulled off a wonderful performance. The movie was so interesting (though confusing at parts) I can honestly say that I wasn't bored for a minute. Sean Young's performance wasn't too impressing, but luckily it wasn't so terrible that it deterred my interest in the movie. Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins some good scenes, but I wish that their parts were bigger.

BLUE ICE isn't Michael Caine's best movie, but God knows, it's not his worst either. All-in-all I give BLUE ICE 3 ½ out of 5.

Yes, it's a British action film and Sir Michael is rather too old and although he's a big man etc etc (see "Get Carter") to credibly do "action" in all its established forms including deeply impress hot chick (Sean Young) which by custom he is supposed to do. Reaction to it seems to be generous condemnation from domestic reviewers and moderate enjoyment elsewhere.

The film itself rather resembles its own torture scene - a series of flash-backs but in this case of a dozen and more earlier movies some of which starred Caine or Bob Hoskins (one with the torture scene starred Dick Powell). That is a mixed blessing - on the down side it has all been done and seen before, some as has been noted, in British budget made-for-TV series - themselves lifted and downsized from big screen originals. This though is where all resemblances to the likes of "The Sweeney" and "The Professionals" ends.

Here there's stars a-plenty, and a good British cast. Added to which is the lovely cinematography particularly of Soho night exteriors. Caine and Hoskins are inescapably stars and watchable whatever they do, this time they reprise some of their famous roles - Hoskins his star turn in "Long Good Friday." Caine "The Ipcress File and "Get Carter". Even Alun Armstrong gets it a second time doing a Caine a favour - thought he might have learnt by now. But audiences had left cinemas wanting more and here we have more. And no bad thing at all. Oh, one other thing, Harry Palmer didn't smile, Caine here does too much. Perhaps he was having too much fun and lacked a director willing to tell him. Remember what Roman Polanski is said to have said on the subject.

I saw this because of Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins and Ian Holm star in it, although Bob Hoskins has a very small part. In the beginning the Sean Young character is receiving a message on her car phone from somebody who is probably an American spy. It is not clear why she is receiving the message apart ffrom the fact that the spy is her boyfriend. She is not in the spy business. Surely a spy would have a more suitable contact than his girlfriend. It is true her husband is the American ambassador in London but she does not tell him. She keeps it secret until she eventually meets Michael Caine's character. So she has nobody in the spy business to give it to. Later on we meet a man who introduces himself to Michael Caine as somebody who sees music as a form of code and that messages can be coded in music scores. What this has to do with anything is not made clear, although he is killed by the British head of one of the intelligence agencies, and we are not told what he knows, if anything. This head of intelligence lives in an expensive London house, wears expensive clothes, drives an upmarket car, belongs to an expensive private Gentlemans Club in central London and complains "What have they done for us?" as his excuse for cheating the British Government out of a large sum of money and killing whoever gets in his way. Strange journey of Sean Stacy driven by an American Embassy driver and followed by American intelligence operatives, and not clear why the driver and operatives have different objectives or even why they are concerned with her. Michael Caine does a good job of finding his way through a murky logic-less story. Good scenes of London in the 1980's, and many exciting fights etc (nothing really nasty apart from the occasional death). Watch it for Michael Caine and the other top actors, as well as the Jazz and Boby Short and Charlie Watts, but don't expect to learn anything about the spy business. Generally I liked it and the acting was believable.

A lot of people seem to 'pan' this film, and although it is not the best it is certainly not as bad as the current 5.2 rating on here.

The acting is ok, the best are the supporting actors who only get a cameo role, Jack Shepherd, Ian Holm, Alun Armstrong and Bob Hoskins (the best), Michael Caine does as well as he can with the script and Sean Young plays a slightly sleazy vamp type quite well, an underrated performance I feel.

The film is set in London and that is where it was filmed but the weather seems to be overcast and dreary in every scene, it would have been nice to have some scenes when the sun is out, also it seems to be filmed in a sort of 1970's style rather than the 90's when it was filmed, again making it more grim, although it seems like it is intended as a kind of 'film noir', unfortunately it was making it look grimmer than it needed to have been, and this did not help. It could have been a bit more stylish.

The story is Ok but the script, music score and editing did not help, it seemed a kind of hotch potch, it would have helped with better continuity and longer/more of a story-line, with a better script and direction and with a bit more style and content this could have been a classic similar to the Harry Palmer films Michael Caine made previously.

So although not as good as those it is not as bad as some people make it out to be, with all the remakes/sequels being churned out in the film industry it would be interesting if someone would remake this one, I'm sure with a bit more style and substance it could be a good movie.

I was recently on a Russell Mulcahy kick and decided to view his second hard to find direct to video film BLUE ICE after being pleasantly surprised by SILENT TRIGGER with Dolph Lundgren. BLUE ICE has a very engaging storyline but ultimately falls short in the ending. Michael Caine plays ex-British operative Harry Anders unexpectedly and unofficially brought back into action after a traffic accident with mysterious beauty Stacy (Sean Young). A mutual attraction leads Harry to do Stacy a seemingly small favor involving Stacy's ex boyfriend. What follows is a intricately weaved scheme involving arms dealing and some very high ranking "w******". Caine is excellent as the lead character and reminded me of Roger Moore in his heyday as Bond. Sultry and convincing, Sean Young definitely heats up the screen. Look for a good but shortlived cameo by Bob Hoskins. Russell Mulcahy once again puts some effective visuals onto the screen including a hyper intense torture/interrogation sequence and effective lighting.

However, the time it took to create such an effective story and relationship between the two leads is wasted with a conclusion that emphasizes what Michael Caine is not: an action hero. Although the fight scenes in Harry's bar were forgivable, Michael Caine running around with a gun (albeit a cool gun) in the final showdown just struck me as awkward. The action also was a unnecessary reminder that the film was done on a low budget...a very low budget. Yet another film that came into fruition with a strong story and performances but would ultimately run out of steam with uninspired and unspectacular action. Of course Mr. Mulcahy would come back in fine form later with direct to video films SILENT TRIGGER, TALOS THE MUMMY, and RESURRECTION.

I had never heard of Director Russell Mulcahy but, after watching BLUE ICE (1992), I believe he deserves attention.

The whole film is anchored by yet another superb Michael Caine show as Harry Anders (could this Harry be related to the Harry Palmer that Caine portrayed in several films in the 1960s?) After a rather caricature-like start with an accident that sets the ball rolling for some intricate espionage stuff, we find Caine return - without wishing to do so - to spying and assassination routines.

He is accompanied by the facially angelical and bodily gorgeous Sean Young, then beginning her tiff with Hollywood producers that ultimately saw her out of what appeared to be a promising career. In fact, the feeling at the time was that she had come to do BLUE ICE in the UK because she had become persona non grata in Hollywood.

Ian Holm also delivers a quietly menacing performance as a "humble baronet" who heads some British secret service and thinks nothing of writing off lives.

Good cinematography, sharp dialogue. Definitely worth watching, despite some unevenness in continuity and a chase in the Port of London that Caine does not seem sufficiently fit for, and includes rather large mobile cranes that just look too large and unwieldy.

Straining desperately to recreate the atmosphere of the Harry Palmer films of the 1960s, Blue Ice even includes a surreal but dreadful torture scene. It would have been fine if not for a predictable plot and a script which at times is simply terrible - a police interrogation scene begins with the line: `For the last time, who are you working for?' Plus sides: Sean Young's bottom makes another screen appearance (nudity being about the only memorable aspect she brings to any of her roles) and there's a moderately exciting denouement on the docks.

With a cast as great as this the true crime is that it's a bit dull. Michael Caine tries his best as Harry, the ex spy and now Jazz restaurant owner, who now finds himself involved in dark dealings with a former colleague. The problem is Stacy played by Sean Young, the character is totally awful and the romance with Harry is completely unbelievable. There are decent moment though, especially when Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins are involved, but these aren't enough to pick the film above the average. Look out for a cameo by the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts playing in a jazz band in Harry's bar.

Harry Anders (Michael Caine) is a retired British Secret Service agent. He evidently was forced to retire a decade ago...and why isn't particularly clear. Since then, he's opened a jazz nightclub and is living a pretty normal life. However, when a pretty and very horney woman (Sean Young) throws herself at him, things get complicated. First, she turns out to be the wife of the American ambassador. Second, she asks him to do her a favor and all sorts of unforeseen consequences result...along with a lot of murder.

In many ways, the romance and the rest of the movie are much like two different movies. The romance, to me, wasn't very convincing...mostly due to the age difference between the pair. As for the spying, killing and the like...it's exciting and reminiscent of Caine's Harry Palmer movies. I don't think it was a coincidence they named this character Harry as well. Overall, worth seeing and very exciting.

By the way, there was one scene I hated. You see a police car careen into a trailer. It was NOT a hard slide...just a slide. Then, for absolutely no reason, the vehicle exploded. Cars do not just explode like that, if they did, fender-benders and the like could kill millions each year!

As usual it's all about money. Michael Caine has no interest in it as an old discharged intelligence agent running a jazz club with cool jazz all through the film, but the girl unintentionally crashing into his car, with whom he gets involved, has had some dangerous contacts, which prove contagious, so Michael Caine finds himself in a mess of a soup involving arms sales on a high and forbidden level, and before he gets to understand anything about it, all his friends have already been killed. This is a difficult soup to get out of, but Michael Caine at least has his fists and knows how to handle guns when needed, and they will here come in need indeed. Bob Hoskins has a small part, but he soon gets out of it, while Ian Holm here plays a part very different from the good old Bilbo. Sean Young is the lady in question and she certainly has no competition, apart maybe from old Patricia Hayes, a veteran from the good old days, and this ought to have been one of her last performances. She actually introduces the show bringing on the theme of 'blue ice', which is defined as something big and heavy which falls down on you from the sky to never make your life the same again. We never learn who the dead beloved was who is buried from the start after having been struck by 'blue ice'.