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''Street Knight'' is a 1993 American
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
Albert Magnoli Albert Magnoli (born 1954)The San Bernardino County Sun: July 16, ...
and starring Jeff Speakman.


Plot

Jake Barrett ( Jeff Speakman) is a former cop who retired from the
LAPD The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...
following an incident where he failed to save a young hostage from a disturbed criminal. This incident has haunted him for the past several years, and he now works repairing cars at a garage once owned by his father. The city, which has been the battleground for a conflict between
street gangs A gang is a group or society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collecti ...
the Latin Lords and Blades, is currently under a tenuous truce negotiated by the heads of the two gangs. A group of Latin Lords members drive to a meeting supposedly arranged by Blades leader "8-Ball," where they are ambushed by criminals led by James Franklin (
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 ...
). All of them are killed by Franklin except for their driver, Carlos Sanchez (Richard Coca), who flees. Franklin stages the scene of the crime to look like the Blades carried out the killings. A friend informs Barrett of a woman who needs his help. He meets with her and learns that she is Carlos's sister Rebecca (Jennifer Gatti). She tells him that Carlos has been missing for the two days since the shooting and asks for his help, but he initially refuses, telling her that he no longer does police work. Meanwhile, several more killings are carried out by Franklin's group as they search for Carlos. Each of the victims is a member of one of the two gangs, and their murders are carefully staged to implicate the opposing gang in each case. As a result, tension between the gangs begins rising. Barrett meets with Latin Lords leader Cisco ( Ramón Franco) and later 8-Ball (Richard Allen) and asks both gangs for time to investigate the case, having become suspicious after reviewing evidence from the first shootings. He then meets with Rebecca and agrees to help her, before asking his friend Raymond ( Bernie Casey), a forensics expert, for help. However, Franklin discovers Barrett's involvement in the case and sends two men to kill him. Barrett successfully kills the two before delivering their bodies to Raymond for identification. As a result of the staged killings, the Blades and Latin Lords are about to go to war. Barrett asks for a meeting with 8-Ball, but before they can meet, one of Franklin's men disguised as Barrett guns him down at a strip club. Franklin also has Raymond killed, but before he dies, he passes a disk containing the results of his analysis to Barrett. Now a wanted man, Barrett acts on information from Rebecca and finds Carlos at an observatory, taking him into protective custody. However, Franklin tracks down and abducts Rebecca, then sends information to Barrett demanding he trade Carlos for her. Raymond's analysis reveals that the criminals are corrupt cops led by Franklin, who is an ex-
Special Forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
soldier. Barrett drops Carlos off at a safehouse before going to the abandoned rail yard described in the demand, but Carlos secretly follows. With the police sufficiently distracted, Franklin and his men carry out their planned
diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
heist. After stealing the diamonds they frame the heist as the deed of the Latin Lords before heading to the rail yard. Barrett informs the investigating officer, Lt. Bill Crowe ( Lewis Van Bergen) of the rail yard before going there himself. He battles Franklin's gang, but is unaware that the Latin Lords and Blades are present and giving him aid. He confronts Franklin, who has Rebecca as a hostage, duplicating the situation from years ago that caused Barrett to quit the force. When Barrett puts down his gun, Franklin releases Rebecca and opens fire, but Barrett uses a hidden gun to shoot back. After they fight hand-to-hand, Rebecca returns Barrett's gun to him, allowing him to open fire and kill Franklin. In the aftermath, Barrett's name is cleared. The Blades and Latin Lords, who were informed of the truth by Carlos, lay down their grudges against each other. Carlos and Rebecca are reunited, and they leave together with Barrett, who has become Rebecca's love interest. Before leaving, Barrett is told by Crowe that the department is willing to reinstate him, to which Barrett says "I'll think about it."


Cast

* Jeff Speakman as Jake Barrett *
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 ...
as James Franklin * Bernie Casey as Raymond * Jennifer Gatti as Rebecca Sanchez * Richard Coca as Carlos Sanchez * Ramón Franco as Cisco * Richard Allen as "8-Ball" * Lewis Van Bergen as Lieutenant Bill Crowe


Reception

The film opened to mostly negative reviews. Chris William of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' called the film "almost pleasureless", said it showed Speakman "looking like the poor man’s
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 ...
on steroids, and acting like it too" and added that "here are no clues here that would remind anyone that Magnoli debuted with a well-reviewed hit, '' Purple Rain'', nine years ago--though the fact that Speakman’s naked rear is lovingly lingered upon within the first five minutes has a touch of
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
butt-love to it, and there might even be a dash of Apollonia in Gatti’s fully clothed but vacant performance." Emanuel Levy wrote in '' Variety'' that "political correctness and unrealistic hopefulness inform "Street Knight," a formulaic actioner that exploits, but doesn't deal with, the timely issue of gang warfare in Los Angeles. Proficient production values and adherence to genre conventions may result in moderate success at the box office, a useful warm-up on the way to videoland." Richard Harrington of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' said that it "could just as well be titled ''Sleep Tight'', except for its annoyingly loud soundtrack, featuring excessive shooting and expressive punching, as well as one of the worst synthesizer scores this side of a 900 line. Part of a probably hopeless campaign aimed at turning Jeff ('' The Perfect Weapon'') Speakman into a martial arts-action film superstar, ''Street Knight'' never gets out of the starting gate, which is blocked by a ludicrous script looking to capitalize on Los Angeles gang violence." Roger Hurlburt of the ''
Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...
'' described the film as "a vicious and convoluted action-drama" that "leaves a trail of bodies from the opening frame", and described Speakman as "a pitiful actor barely able to play the hunky avenging angel", closing his review by saying that "it's frightening to think this is the kind of motion picture Americans want to see."


References


External links

* * {{Albert Magnoli 1990s crime action films 1993 films American crime action films Kung fu films American martial arts films Films directed by Albert Magnoli Films scored by David Michael Frank Golan-Globus films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language crime action films