''Steel Dawn'' is a 1987 American

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

action 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 Lance Hool and starring

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze ( ; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and dancer. Known for his romantic, tough, and comedic roles in blockbusters and cult films, Swayze was nominated for three Golden Glob ...

and

Lisa Niemi Lisa Niemi Swayze (born Lisa Anne Haapaniemi on May 26, 1956) is an American writer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and director. She is the widow of actor and dancer Patrick Swayze. Early life Lisa Anne Haapaniemi was born in Houston, Houst ...

. The working title of the film, which mixes the genres of science fiction and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, was ''Desert Warrior.''

Plot

Nomad (

), a swordsman, wanders through the desert in a post-

World War III World War III, also known as the Third World War, is a hypothetical future global conflict subsequent to World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). It is widely predicted that such a war would involve all of the great powers, ...

world. He searches for his mentor's killer, the assassin Sho (

Christopher Neame Christopher Neame (born 12 September 1947) is an English actor who resides in the United States. UK career Neame's UK film credits include appearances in two Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Horror films: ''Lust for a Vampire'' (1971) and ''D ...

). In the past, Nomad had a position of privilege as a soldier of the elite guard. Nomad's family were killed and this continues to torture him. Nomad encounters a group of settlers in the town of Meridian. Damnil (

Anthony Zerbe Anthony Jared Zerbe (born May 20, 1936) is an American actor. His notable film roles include the post-apocalyptic cult leader Matthias in ''The Omega Man'', a 1971 film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel, '' I Am Legend''; as an Irish Ca ...

), 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 (

). She has a son, Jux, who quickly endears himself to Nomad. Kasha reveals to Nomad that she has a 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 Brion Howard James (February 20, 1945 – August 7, 1999) was an American character actor. He portrayed Leon Kowalski in '' Blade Runner'' and appeared in '' Southern Comfort'', '' 48 Hrs.'', ''Another 48 Hrs.'', '' Silverado'', '' Tango & Cash'', ...

), 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 attempts to help Nomad 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 walks into the desert.

Cast

as Nomad *

as Kasha *

as Damnil *

as Tark *

as Sho *

John Fujioka John Mamoru Fujioka (June 29, 1925 – December 13, 2018)"John 'Mamo' Mam ...

as Cord * Brett Hool as Jux * Marcel Van Heerden as Lann *

Arnold Vosloo Arnold Vosloo (born 16 June 1962) is a South African and American actor. He began his career as a stage actor and starring in South African films like '' Boetie Gaan Border Toe'' (1984). After emigrating to the United States in the late 1980s, h ...

as Makker

Production

Principal photography took place in Dead Vlei, Namib-Naukluft Park,

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Reception

''Steel Dawn'' premiered on 290 screens on November 8, 1987, in the United States. It grossed $311,892 on its opening weekend. It reportedly made approximately $562,187 against an estimated $3,500,000 budget. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

the film has a weighted average score of 24 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Walter Goodman of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' noted that the film closely follows the plot of the classic 1953 western '' Shane.'' In a retrospective review from Film.com, Eric D. Snider wrote, " 'Steel Dawn''has a very simple plot, so the only way to stretch the material into 90 minutes is to spend some time with the characters and watch them inhabit their strange, futuristic world. But the movie also has very simple characters who are devoid of personality and are not fun to spend time with, and the movie has also refused to set up their strange, futuristic world in any kind of detail." Matt Gamble, of ''Where the Long Tail Ends,'' gave a more positive review, writing, "''Steel Dawn'' opens with...a scene so amazing that it will melt your face right off. The problem is, the scene achieves such great heights that the rest of the film pales in comparison. Which is a shame, as ''Steel Dawn'' is a damn solid, if a bit predictable, movie." It holds 35% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

References

External links