''Dead Bang'' is a 1989 American

action thriller film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

John Frankenheimer John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits are ''Birdman of Alcatraz (film), Birdman of Alcatraz'', ''The Manc ...

and starring

Don Johnson Don Wayne Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He played the role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s television series '' Miami Vice'', for which he won a Golden Globe, and received a Primetime Emm ...

Penelope Ann Miller Penelope Ann Miller (born Penelope Andrea Miller; January 13, 1964), sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress. She began her career on Broadway in the original run of '' Biloxi Blues'' (1985–1986), later appearing in the ...

, William Forsythe,

Bob Balaban Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. Aside from his acting career, Balaban has directed three feature films, in addition to numerous television episodes and films, and was one of the pro ...

, and Tim Reid. Johnson's character, based on real-life

LASD The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff, sheriff's department in the United ...

Detective Jerry Beck, tracks the killer of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy and uncovers a plot involving hate literature,

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

militias and arms trafficking.

Plot

On Christmas Eve in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, a dispatched LASD Sheriff is shot dead by an armed robber, who early on robbed a convenience store and also killed its African-American owner. The alcoholic, hard-driven

Detective Jerry Beck is tasked with the investigation. While examining police records he comes across a

person of interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...

named Bobby Burns, who has recently been paroled from a four-year robbery sentence. He and a parole officer go to Burns' home only to find his college student brother, John, who claims he has not seen Burns and is only staying for the holidays. A man suddenly flees the house and Beck captures him after a chase on foot; he turns out to be one of Burns' friend who is also on parole from committing armed robbery. The man tells Beck he last saw Burns driving a maroon Ford Ranch Wagon en route to

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

. In Cottonwood,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, Burns and his cohort rob a Mexican bar and kill its patrons. A local police chief informs Beck of the crime and he immediately leaves for Arizona. Beck and the chief head to a ranch alleged to be Burns' hideout, where Burns and his men attack the officers by firing automatic weapons; they escape driving the Ford. Beck retrieves a cache of documents Burns dropped, which contains

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

propaganda, maps, and an address book. Beck leaves for Bogan,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

to track down one of the people listed in the book, Reverend Gebhardt, who is the leader of the religious white supremacist organization

Aryan Nations Aryan Nations is a North American antisemitic, neo-Nazi and white supremacist hate group that was originally based in Kootenai County, Idaho, about miles (4.4 km) north of the city of Hayden Lake. Richard Girnt Butler founded Aryan N ...

. Beck is joined by

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

Agent Kressler and they head to Gebhardt's church, where Gebhardt reveals the entity's aim of cleansing America of its "racial impurities", and denies ever seeing Burns. Burns, though, has been hiding near the church casing the place. That night, Burns springs on Beck while driving his car, holding him at gunpoint. As Burns prepares to shoot him, Beck crashes his car into an oncoming police vehicle to escape. During a gunfight, Beck lights a

matchbook A matchbook is a small paperboard folder (known as a matchcover) enclosing a quantity of matches and having a coarse striking surface on the exterior. The folder is opened to access the matches, which are attached in a comb-like arrangement ...

and sets a car leaking gas on fire, causing Burns to escape with his men after an explosion. Back in Los Angeles, Beck's superiors have become frustrated over his performance on the force due in part to his alcoholism and uncouth behavior. They recommend he undergo a psychiatric analysis; after the session, though, Beck threatens the psychiatrist into letting him pass the evaluation. A phone call later that day informs him that he is now fit for duty. In

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, he meets Police Captain Dixon, who entrusts his team of black men on the force to track Burns. Along with Kressler, he and Dixon head to a paramilitary training camp owned by the Aryan Nations and ambush Gebhardt and the other members. His search for Burns yields no results, which causes hostility between him and Kressler. Beck, though, discovers a concealed door that leads to a

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

. A gunfight ensues between him and Burns; Beck shoots and fatally wounds him. As he lay dying, Burns denies killing the Los Angeles cop. John suddenly emerges from behind them and, as he holds Beck and Kressler at gunpoint, confesses it was he who shot the cop to show his brother that he shared his contempt against the police and fidelity to white supremacy. Beck hurls John insults about his brother, and John reciprocates by open firing at him. When John runs out of bullets and springs from cover, Beck shoots him dead. At a press conference, Dixon informs that the FBI will be revising its position on white supremacy groups, and he credits Kressler with the success of the investigation due to the evidence the agent gathered. Outside, Dixon and Beck befriend one another and go their separate ways.

Cast

Detective Jerry Beck *

as Linda Kimble * William Forsythe as

Special Agent Arthur Kressler *

as Elliott Webley * Frank Military as Robert "Bobby" Burns *

Tate Donovan Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in '' The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disne ...

as John Burns * Antoni Stutz as Ray *

Mickey Jones Mickey Jones (June 10, 1941 – February 7, 2018) was an American musician and actor. He played drums with acts such as Trini Lopez and Bob Dylan, with whom he played on his 1966 world tour. He became a founding member of The First Edition ...

as Sleepy * Ron Campbell as Crossfield * William Traylor as Chief Elton Tremmel *

Hy Anzell Hy Anzell (September 7, 1923 – August 23, 2003) was a Yiddish-speaking American actor. He originated the role of the flower shop owner, "Mr. Mushnik", in the original off-Broadway production of ''Little Shop of Horrors'' with Ellen Green ...

as Captain Waxman *

Michael Jeter Michael Jeter (; August 26, 1952 – March 30, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his career on stage and screen, Jeter played diverse characters. He won a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. He portrayed Herman Stiles on the sitcom '' Eve ...

as Dr. Alexander Krantz * James B. Douglas as Agent Gilroy *

Brad Sullivan Bradford Ernest Sullivan (November 18, 1931 – December 31, 2008) was an American character actor on film, stage and television. He was best known for playing the killer Cole in ''The Sting'', hockey goon Mo Wanchuk in '' Slap Shot'', mobster G ...

as Chief Hillard * Tim Reid as Chief Dixon

Production

"Jerome Beck" is listed in the film's closing credits as walk-on character Detective John, and also as the film's technical police advisor. Beck was a

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

detective who sold the film rights to his life to Frankenheimer after meeting him. Don Johnson later recalled:

That was amazing, because it was a real-life character. It was an actual cop, and he wrote the script. John Frankenheimer was the director... and I was excited to work with him. Jerry was a homicide cop in L.A., and he had curly hair, so I permed my hair, which was a, uh, very interesting choice. Because I kind of looked like a… It's kind of odd. I don't really know how to describe it. I don't know if you know a lot about perms, but if you do them, they relax after about two or three weeks. So my hair goes through these amazing transitions of being really tight and really wavy and sort of goofy-looking. aughs./blockquote> According to director Frankenheimer, Connie Sellecca was originally chosen for the part that went to Penelope Ann Miller. Johnson refused to work with Sellecca, so she was fired and paid off. Production was designed by
Ken Adam Sir Kenneth Adam (born Klaus Hugo George Fritz Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for '' Dr. Str ...
. Director of Photography was Gerry Fisher. Music was by Gary Chang. Principal photography began on April 14, 1988, in
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
. Shooting locations included
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Vall ...
, and High River. The final three weeks of filming took place in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.

References

External links
* * {{John Frankenheimer 1989 films 1989 action thriller films American police detective films Films directed by John Frankenheimer Films scored by Gary Chang 1980s English-language films American action thriller films Warner Bros. films Films about racism in the United States Films set in Arizona Films set in Colorado Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Oklahoma Films shot in Los Angeles 1980s police procedural films Films shot in Calgary Films set in Yavapai County, Arizona 1980s American films English-language crime films English-language action thriller films