Expected more

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

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!

As a bespectacled spy Michael Caine established a firm reputation as a low-key but determined government agent in FUNERAL IN BERLIN and MILLION DOLLAR BRAIN. Now he is Harry Sanders, a former MI6 agent trying to lead a quiet, unruffled existence as the owner of a seedy jazz club in Soho. Then Stacy, the glamorous wife of an Amnerican diplomat, bumps into his vehicle before moving into his bed.Before you can say "Hellzapoppin", Harry is up to his neck in a murder mystery following Stacy's plea to help in tracing a bothersome lover. The 'lover' turns out to be involved in a shady arms deal. Harry's old mate Detective Osgood is killed after a stakeout. As if things were not bad enough, the Old Bill thinks the whole affair is Harry's fault, and somebody intends to torture him for that ha has learned...There have been dafter plots, but seldom can they have felt so contrived as this. Sean Young seems too remarkably composed to have willingly thrown herself into the arms of a man so down-at-heel as Harry. Caine's talent is in keeping the audience's eyes on him while all the nonsense is going on around him, and he manages to steal all the best quips. The whole picture as such however, is far from being rewarding.

What's Blue Ice ? According to this movie it's excrement that comes out from passing airliners . You wouldn't want to be below an overhead jet when someone flushes the loo . Come to think of it you really wouldn't want to watch this movie either unless there was absolutely nothing else onMichael Caine tries to play a Harry Palmer clone but unfortunately since it's a movie from the early 1990s it's obvious he just took the part for the pay cheque and it'd be a few more years until he started to choose his parts more carefully Bob Hoskins is another actor who basically ruined his career by not being too fussy about the quality of the scripts . BLUE ICE is probably summed up by Hoskin's being introduced by thus : There's a car chase , Hoskin's is getting pursued by men in balaclavas . This can mean only one thing - They're terrorists and this is confirmed by their Irish accents and the fact they're firing hundreds of rounds at Bob's car as they hunt their prey . Boy this could end up like THE LONG GOOD Friday , but Bob gets the better of his pursuers ( After 5 minutes of not very exciting action ) and the terrorists car ends up a right off with one of the bad guys lying on the road in very poor shape . Bob and his frightened driver approach the terrorist . Bob turns to his driver and shouts :" DO IT " Not a natural killer the driver reluctantly raises his machine gun and empties the magazine into the terrorist who now lies dead , the victim of a ruthless execution " Okay " says Bob " Get up " and the terrorist defies the laws of nature by standing to his feet . In fact all the dead terrorists come to life as Bob points to them . Has he got supernatural powers ? " Don't drive so close to the target car , you don't hesitate to fire . You ... "Ah so it wasn't a terrorist attack at all , it's a sneaky little cheat at the expense of the audience . This worked very well - In nineteen forty something . Unfortunately by the time this plays out on screen the audience were probably expecting it and it's not a spoiler so don't complain . If you see BLUE ICE and end up being disappointed with it don't complain because I told you so

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.