Steel Dawn
Tags: violence

Plot synopsis:
An enigmatic swordsman named Nomad (Patrick Swayze), wanders through the desert in a post-World War III world. He searches for his mentor's killer, the assassin Sho (Christopher Neame). The war itself is never described, but there are hints that a new government rose soon afterwards, though it has lost power since.
In the past, Nomad had a position of privilege as a soldier of the elite guard. Since firearms are no longer available, edged weapons have been revived as the standard fighting tools. The elite guard mastered the use of swords and carried them in an unusual, upright fashion. Nomad's family were, in some way, killed and this continues to torture him.
Nomad runs into a group of settlers in the town of Meridian. Damnil (Anthony Zerbe), a local landowner, and his gang are attacking the town to gain a monopoly on the local water supply. Nomad stays at a local farm owned by the widow Kasha (Lisa Niemi). She has a son named Jux, who quickly endears himself to Nomad. Kasha reveals to Nomad that she has an endless source of pure water under her land and plans to eventually irrigate the whole valley.
Nomad teams up with Kasha's foreman, Tark (Brion James), to oppose Damnil and his bullying tactics. Meanwhile, Nomad and Kasha's relationship becomes romantic. Sho and some of Damnil's men show up in town, leading to Sho and Nomad having a brutal staff fight. Tark gets in the way and is stabbed in the abdomen by Sho and dies. Jux is kidnapped by Damnil's men.
Nomad plans to rescue Jux, but is locked in a safe with his sword by Kasha. She goes to Damnil's farm alone, offering to reveal her source of water if they free Jux. A stand-off ensues, allowing Jux to escape. As Damnil's men chase him down, Nomad comes just in time to save Jux's life.
Nomad and Jux return to Damnil's farm to rescue Kasha. Nomad has a final battle with Sho. Nomad is victorious and kills Damnil as well. The valley begins Kasha's irrigation project. Nomad bids farewell to Kasha and Jux. They watch as he and his dog walks off into the desert.

Review: Patrick Swayze's best post-apocalyptic sci-fi action underrated cult-classic gem!.
Steel Dawn (1987) is Patrick Swayze's underrated post-apocalyptic sci-fi action cult-classic gem!
In my honest opinion this movie is a classic of the 80's and it is MILES way better than Point Break (1991), Ghost (1990) and Next of Kin (1989) the characters that Patrick Swayze played.
This is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic action samurai flick, it is not Mad Max: The Road Warrior a copycat film like was in Resident Evil: Extinction that movie was mainly a copycat of that movie this wasn't.
This was his second movie he directed and starring Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi.
I love Nomad it is Patrick Swayze favorite character of mine.Plot: Water becomes a precious commodity in the desert community of Meridian.
When a mob, led by the evil Damnil (Anthony Zerbe), takes over the town's supply, the good people fight back by hiring Nomad (Patrick Swayze).
Nomad is the only person who can put an end to the greet in this modern interpretation of the Western classic "Shane."Let it be known, that "Steel Dawn" is a favorite of mine, one of those rare, nostalgic, obscure and imaginative beauties, a film that from my viewpoint, never really got the attention it deserved.
It has a great cast: Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Brion James, Anthony Zerbe and John Fujioka.
This is my favorite Patrick Swayze film and it is awesome, the sword fights were excellent and I love it so much!
He was legit bad-ass, this final fight between those two is epic!Theme Song for this movie: Australian composer Brian May (not the one from Queen) did the music for the post-apocalyptic Steel Dawn.
Brain May must be an expert at post-apocalyptic atmospheric movies.Patrick Swayze has to jump in to help, and instantly kicks everyone's ass.
- Patrick Swayze (1952 - 2009) I really miss you so much and I wish you could do more bad ass action movies, I am your biggest fan and so was my mom we all miss you and we all love you, I love you to death!
Steel Dawn is a 1987 American post-apocalyptic feature film that mixes the genres of science fiction, western and samurai cinema.
It stars Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi.Steel Dawn (underrated) (why doesn't THAT film get the cult/appreciation/notice of this POS) Road House and Black Dog are my top 3 personal favorite best Patrick Swayze movies he ever did!
This movie get's 10 out 10 the best underrated unappreciated cult-classic post-apocalyptic sci-fi action western samurai movie!.
I saw this when it first came on video and remember enjoying it and feeling it was a solid action flick for Patrick Swayze.
I am very surprised all these years later after seeing it today on TV, that it still is, though I would only recommend it to people who like old movies and/or post-apocalyptic stories.
The film has a spaghetti western feel to it but with out the mystery.But despite that it has its good side too, as always Swazye is enjoyable to watch and the supporting casts do an admirable job with their characters.
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.
Of all the post-apocalypse movies spawned in the 1980s after the success of the likes of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and the MAD MAX trilogy, STEEL DAWN has to be one of the cheesiest - and that's a surprise when you consider all the silly nonsense that the Italians were churning out during the same decade.Despite the sci-fi trappings of the scenery and scenario, STEEL DAWN is a western through and through.
What follows will surprise nobody, but it is mildly entertaining thanks to its nostalgic appeal - in the form of dated costumes and hairstyles - and a pretty good pacing.The narrative is heavily indebted to the likes of MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR, with a few things changed around (for instance, water is the scarce and valuable commodity here, rather than petrol).
Fans of Swayze will get to see him do his martial arts stuff on some rather defunct bad guys (including the sand people from STAR WARS, it seems) as well as some zen-inspired meditation techniques.Fans of B-movies may spot the likes of Arnold Vosloo (HARD TARGET) in an exceptionally early role, while British star Christopher Neame (DRACULA AD 1972) dons a fright wig as a tough.
Looking like a romance novel cover model, Mr. Swayze must find sneering vigilante Christopher Neame (as Sho), the man killed his martial arts mentor...Cooling his heels, Swayze stays at a farm with beautiful blonde widow Lisa Niemi-Swayze (as Kasha) and her cute son Brett Hool (as Jux), who just may be related to director Lance Hool.
The soundtrack by Mad Max" (1979) composer Brian May is adept.****** Steel Dawn (11/6/87) Lance Hool ~ Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Christopher Neame, Brion James.
The hero, played by Patrick Swayze, is a nomad traveling post-apocalyptic wastelands in search a swayz-tacular adventure.
Underneath the thin post-apocalyptic setting, "Steel Dawn" is a standard "drifter fights the bandits" western.
All in all, a pretty good movie.The story takes place in some future where the land seems more desert than anything else; and therefore, water is an important commodity.In a small valley, a group of farmers try to make a living but is harassed by an individual whose aim is to take over the whole valley.
In short, this post apocalyptic desert epic set in the not too distant future combines elements of Mad Max2, Shane, Samurai epics, other westerns and sci-fi.Swayze is the loner-drifte who discovers a settlement in the desert and before long, he deciedes to stick around and help out with the water supply.
He forms a friendship with the young son of one of the colonists-his wife Lisa Neimi,earns the trust of Brion James the defender and before long he helps to defend the settlement from the bad guys led by Damnil {love that name!} played by the fine Anthony Zerbe, the holder of water rights in that sector.
And, unlike others that I bought and only watched once, this is up for repeat viewings.A fun film for fans of the genre, it shows that a good film can be made on a small budget and still deliver a decent 100 minutes of entertainment, especially when compared to such mega-budget, mega-duds like "Waterworld" and "The Postman" with bad movie king Kevin Costner.Sure, its not "Lawrence of Arabia", but that is missing the point, but then again, I'm just a freak for any adventure film that is set in a desert..
In a post-apocalyptic world, big-haired Patrick Swayze wanders the desert vastness fighting off Sand People with his aluminum sword and martial arts abilities.
First off, I've got to state that I first saw this movie before Mad Max 2 - Road Warrior, what is, indeed, very important for the final rating of it.If you've already seen both, you know what I'm talking about.
Steel Down feels very much like a remake of Road Warrior, except for the cars and guns the detractors would say SD couldn't afford due to budget restrictions.Each and every main character in SD has a correlated one in RW, and the storyline is so alike you can't help feeling it's "seen before" stuff.So, if you rate this movie in comparing with such a standard, it's obvious it'll fail in almost every aspect.
But if you don't have that standard in mind, or haven't seen it at all (kind of hard, I admit), and take Steel Down in its own terms, you'll sure find it a very much enjoyable piece of the "80's style" action movie.In this fashion, some particular aspects of it, such as the feel of rivalry between Swayze's character and Sho, the well choreographed fight sequences and the well crafted swords, get this film a step ahead from other of its kind (though unable to avoid the unanimous status of cheesy stuff), and keep myself from calling it a B-movie.The straight in the face, no frills, no plot, storyline, in my opinion, is a good point in the movie.
Movie-making history has plenty of examples of good-looking/no-content movies.But, relying almost exclusively in Patrick Swayze's screen presence, the weaknesses quickly reveal.But the one thing I wanted to state is that this is, in my opinion, much more interesting and funny than Dirty Dancing.They both have the same good and bad points - the difference is in the style, action opposed to romance, and in the music, that is great in Dirty Dancing, and absent in Steel Dawn.Both movies are built upon Swayze's character, they both have a worn out plot that anybody can figure out from the beginning, they both reach a climax that's based on choreography, they both are technically nothing special and the acting in both is poor.So, there's no way a couple of good songs can make me rate Steel Down below Dirty Dancing, and I can't agree with anybody that does so.After such a long comment, I think my final opinion is quite obvious, but, in a few words, I'd say that this movie has a lot of technical flaws, surely feels like something we've seen before and it's something you surely could spend your life without, but it's also harmless, straight and really fun to watch.It's nothing special, but you won't regret giving it a try..
The producers trying to make something alikes Mad Max 2, including a dog, yet a wish is an impalpable thing, will be necessary a tons of millions dollars to reachs on the ground of Mad Max 2, instead a few dollars spent to make this clone movie, still a careful production required stayed miles away, a lot of scrap yard were used to appear as plant manufacturing and all those poor pipeline installation were useless to create any impact, the casting is really fine, the vilain Anthony Zerby, the tough guy Brion James, the hired warrior Christopher Neame, the japanese warroir John Fujioka, and finally the gorgeous Lisa Niemi, already Swayze don't fit very well of kind of fearless warrior, the props were outdated, worst still the DVD available in Brazil was transfer from VHS to DVD, it's needs a fully restoration soon as possible to be more well rated.Resume:First watch: 1993 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 5.75.
Solid post apocalyptic B-Movie starring Patrick Swayze.
Swayze looks really funny in the role of tough guy, he is more for dancing movies definetely, but that is what makes this movie magical, other cast is really cool, Brion James, how i miss this guy, he was must have for this kind of movies, just that face and look, and the movie becomes interesting in second, also there is Anthony Zerbe as main villain, such a great actor, i still remember his role as main villain in The Omega Man (1971).
Soundtrack was written by Brian May, the same man who created music for Mad Max 1, and Mad Max 2, it is beautiful soundtrack and goes well with the film, just love those synths, the story is simple but the movie has really good atmosphere, maybe because it is filmed in stunning Namibian Desert, magical location.
Before "Road House" came along, Patrick Swayze was kicking ass and practicing his spiritual mediation couple years earlier in the low- budget, post-apocalyptic "Mad Max 2" clone; "Steel Dawn".
While a viper-like Anthony Zerbe scorns a lot as the tyrant Damnil, Christopher Neame makes a great lethal foe and a burly Brion James hands out some eccentric punishment alongside Swayze.
It's actually kind of funny to think this movie was released in the same year as the world-hit Dirty Dancing.This Mad Max-esque film does have a view things going for it.
The atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic world isn't torn apart as bad as you would expect Swayze to do, and he's not a walking catastrophe in the film either, as you would expect, though his acting is weak.Come to think of it, all the acting is weak, and the movie has one of the weakest story-lines ever.
Another post-apocalyptic leather clad warrior(Patrick Swayze)wanders through the desert and comes upon a settlement that is being threatened by a murderous and motley crew wanting their water supply.
Simple premise, simple story line, simple acting but some great actors involved - the English actor who plays the main bad guy is particularly good and the whole thing works well.
As bad as you've ever seen.It's at least good to know from these post-apocalyptic movies (even the good ones) that hair crimpers will survive the devastation for womens' hair styling needs..
Its a Patrick Swayze action movie.
STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits In a futeristic, post-apocalyptic world, a lone warrior (Patrick Swayze) roams the desert wilderness, literally living by the sword and fending off attacks from mysterious assailants.
With them, he re-discovers friendship, love and his humanity, before a final showdown with the forces of evil and a final battle for revenge.In 1987, Swayze made arguably one of his most memorable movies ever, Dirty Dancing, but he also made this corny slice of post Mad Max sci-fi action.
Badly directed Sci-Fi action movie that has no originaity what so ever although does showcase Patrick Swayze's prime action moves and his pretty true to life wife as well (if you care about this).You got to admit Swayze looked great here for the part he played.It's just that he was stuck in a badly made movie.The fight choreography was edgy but still not done well enough.Too bad because the action stars cast here were nice and fit.They just were not handled properly by the film makers.So what ends up is a movie that will barely satisfy only the most die hard post apocalyptic sci-fi action fan or the bigest fans of Swayze.Get your fast forward remote botton ready for some scenes as well.......
Husband and wife Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi stars in this movie, and does it well considering the story they have to work with.
A little extra trivia with Brion James and a young Arnold Vosloo also appearing in the cast.But finally this is movie is only for two different groups of people, those who are either fan of the genre, the post-apocalyptic science-fiction movie, or fan of Patrick Swayze.
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.
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.
Especially from an 80's creation.Steel Dawn is a nice and easy to follow film-perfect for those weekday nights or when you don't want to watch something too complex that takes a lot of concentration.It follows the story of Nomad (Swayze) who lost his squad of soldiers during a war.
From then onwards the film flows nicely following swayzes attempt of being accepted and trusted by the people who have gave him shelter-to trying to keep the peace the only way he knows how-fighting.
With sword wielding and fighting to keep action seekers occupied-to the growing love story between Nomad and Kasha.(the person who's farm hes staying on) The story is meant to be simple-and don't forget the fact it was made in an era of cheese (the 80's!) overall though worth watching-maybe not as a Friday night 'film premier',but when you just want an easy going film to fill the gap.
Patrick Swayze is decent as always and plays his role well, not great but who hits it all the time.
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.
4. Post apocalyptic bad child acting: The kid in this movie is terrible.
Okay hold up a second when you watch a sword-fighting movie what happens to the main bad guy?
Okay it had action in it, and it had sword fights as well, but it was simply a remake of the Mad Max movies, in particular Mad Max II, and Mad Max II was so much better.Patrick Swayze plays this guy, who used to be a high ranking soldier for this good guy, and fought in a war that no doubt put the world into the situation that it now is in.
Swayze sleeps with the woman, kills the bad guys, and then wonders back off into the desert because his job here is done (despite the fact that he slept with the woman and no doubt is upsetting her because he is now wondering off).Now that I think of it, this is probably the same plot that a lot of the old Westerns followed as well, so in a way this film is nothing more than a Western set in a post-apocalyptic world.