Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Jason_VoorheesIMDb Many people hate Steel and to honest I can understand why but I saw it when I was a kid and I liked it. Even today I still like it. Sure Shaq is a bad actor but this movie he was actually trying, unlike Kazaam!. In that movie he wasn't even trying because the script was so bad for Kazaam! it wasn't even worth trying. While Steel he actually tried his best, even if you hate this movie you have to admit the music is really good. While the movie was so bad it killed superhero movies for the 90's it's worth it just to here that theme song in the movie. While I like this movie I still wouldn't recommend you watch it. If you wanna check it out feel free to do so but you'll probably have the same reaction as everyone else. They all say it's awful. In my opinion I like Steel don't judge me it's my opinion, you don't have to like it but everyone else hates it. Thanks for reading.

dee.reid With all this madness about superheroes going on right now ("The Avengers" just opened today), I decided to go back in time to 1997, to the poorly received box office flop "Steel." I was 12 back in 1997, but I have to admit that I liked "Steel" then (I also liked the big-budget adaptation of another favorite superhero of mine, "Spawn").15 years later, a lot has changed. For one, I've grown up. I now realize that "Steel" is not a very good movie. I remember around that time, my cousin saw "Steel" in the theaters and told us that it was not a very good movie. The critics and most sensible audience members seemed to agree.But I digress; "Steel" is good for one thing and one thing only: a rainy day, like today. Since I'm not daring brave the over-crowded theaters for fear of being over-run by Avengers fan-boys (and fan-girls), I decided to pop in my 14-year-old VHS copy of "Steel" and relive 1997 like it was just 15 years ago (which, in fact, it was)."Steel" is the live-action adaptation of the second-tier DC Comics character co-created by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove, with NBA star Shaquille O'Neal playing the titular steel-armored, non-super-powered superhero whose real name is John Henry Irons in his civilian identity.I'm not really a fan of the movie anymore (most readers will remember that I'm largely a Marvel Comics reader), but I find the history of the original comic book character to be quite fascinating: as yet another proud, positive black-American superhero in comics, John Henry Irons is a brilliant former weapons designer for a private arms-manufacturing company whose life is saved, both literally and metaphorically, by the mighty Man of Steel himself, Superman. Ironically, a later incident with the powerful super-villain Doomsday costs Superman his life, and Irons's life is changed forever when he decides to don a powered suit of armor of his own making - much like Marvel Comics' Tony Stark/Iron Man - and fight crime himself as Steel (with Superman's logo blazoned mightily on his chest as a reminder of his inspiration) and wielding a powerful sledgehammer, too.The 1997 live-action adaptation removes any mention of Superman (or his apparent death), except for a tattoo O'Neal has on his arm, and goes forward with its own origin story. Certain aspects of the movie are faithful to the comics, but the rest of it is pretty campy and just bloody awful. This time out, Irons is a weapons designer for the U.S. Army and when an ambitious rival, Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson), is involved in an accident that kills a U.S. senator and leaves his best friend Susan "Sparky" Sparks (Annabeth Gish) a paraplegic, Irons resigns from the military in disgust.Irons (whose name is reportedly inspired by the legendary black-American folk hero John Henry) returns to his home in Los Angeles, only to discover that street gangs are out committing brazen bank robberies using the exact same, albeit heavily modified, weapons he designed. With Sparky and Uncle Joe (Richard Roundtree) by his side, Irons dons a custom-made suit of armor as the armored superhero Steel. As he dives deeper into his investigation, he discovers that his old rival Nathaniel Burke (who has since recruited young neighborhood street kids to do his bidding) is behind the robberies and the deadly new weapons out on the street."Steel" is pretty cheesy and campy, and I don't mean that in a good way.Unlike most people, I don't think Shaquille O'Neal is that lousy an actor. I think that if he were given the right material, he would manage out OK. At least here, I think he seems perfect for the part of John Henry Irons/Steel; it's just a shame that the rest of the movie, as written and directed by Kenneth Johnson ("V"), is just not very good. In other words, Shaq just needed a better movie. The special effects, the hokey street dialogue, and the performances don't help matters much either. Richard Roundtree and Irma P. Hall do what they can, but aren't given a whole lot to do beyond offering elder-generation advice to the younger folks. Judd Nelson relishes his role as a stereotypical villain, but it's really Annabeth Gish as the physically handicapped yet resilient gadgeteer Susan Sparks who really seems to shine the most in what could have been a very limiting part.I sense that a remake/reboot is, or soon probably will be, in the works sometime in the near future, and that is one "Steel" I just "may" (italicized) fork over $7.50 at my local movie theater to see. Until then, "Steel" will continue to mightily serve its purpose for rainy days (and some late-'90s nostalgia)...4/10

Eric Smith This is one of the most horrifyingly awful films of all time. It would an embarrassment to your local dump to find this movie wallowing in there. It's not even worthy of that! Shaquille O'Neal delivers a performance that (gasp!) is worse than his awful performance in Kazaam! Apparently, after the mild success and small critical praise of Shaq's performance in Blue Chips, he thought he had a chance at a real acting career. I would like to know who it was that encouraged him to go forth with two more lead roles in his career?! The only reason he did so well in Blue Chips was because he was basically playing himself! Casting Shaq in this big, lumbering idiot of a role is so bad, it actually makes us laugh...hard. The costuming is a joke. It's all too obvious that Shaq is wearing a rubber helmet when its supposed to be made of steel! He also looks just plain ridiculous in that suit. He looks like an over-sized kid ready for Halloween, as he has to strain to peer through the eye holes. He just looks like a metallic turd. The special effects are mediocre at best, and the rest of the cast is bland. Judd Nelson, who's career said bye-bye back in the '80s, is among the worst villains in movie history, and certainly didn't help his career any. The story is ludicrous and often makes no sense...that is, when there is an actual story to follow, and the dialogue is so bad, that they have to resort to stealing lines from other, far better, action movies!! After this, its plain to see why you didn't see another comic-book based movie for a while (excluding Batman & Robin, which was a joke in itself). This movie literally killed the comic book movie for almost a decade.

bob the moo John Henry Irons is a weapons designer for the military who has been key in the development of a range of experimental weapons that immobilise enemy troops without any fatalities. However when Nat Burke tries to increase the power of the weapon during the test, the result sees a Senator dead and one of his colleagues disabled. The court martial sees Burke kicked out of the military and John decides his days of weapon design are over – returning to LA to work in a small steel mill. However when his weapons somehow make it into the hands of LA's criminal underworld, John decides that it is "on" and takes steps to counter the threat.Universally derided ever since it was even green lit for production, this film does have little to recommend it but still produces very basic distraction if that is what you want. The plot is obvious and goes just where you expect it to and it offers little for the discerning adult viewer (or to be honest the undemanding ones too). The action will please children but it is the wider delivery where it all falls down and, contrary to opinion, it is not all Shaq's fault. The script is clunky for the most part and has lots of injokes, most of which are embarrassing basketball references although, that said, the "Shaft" joke drew a laugh from me simply because it was so unexpected and so disrespectful to the film! This is very basic stuff though and nobody seems that interested in trying to make it more than that.Johnson is happy to deliver a kiddie-friendly superhero movie for the most part and this is all it seems to be. The cast have potential but too few of them have any decent material to work with. O'Neal can't act and that's the truth. He can play basketball and, given the riches this has given him we should not feel too sorry for him here. He says his lines and he stands where they tell him to stand but that is not the same as producing a character and being engaging – neither of which applies in this situation. Gish has little to do and Roundtree seems happy just to be a walking reference. Nelson hams it up in an obvious baddie while Harper, Hall and Ray J (!) are not the ones to address the lack of quality. The only person that I actually noted with interest was Kevin Grevioux, not because of his performance here but more because he is an interesting man who has built a small but varied career.Overall then this is a poor superhero movie but one that has had just about enough money spent on it to make it distract children and undemanding adults. The backlash against has been a bit overly cruel but it is still not any good with basic acting, basic script, basic plotting and action that only aspires to be colourful and noisy.