Dangerous Ground (1997)

Director:

Darrell Roodt

Writers:

Greg Latter (writer) &
Darrell Roodt (writer)

Release Date:

12 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

What he wants is revenge. What he gets is the fight of his life.

Plot:

Vusi Madlazi returns to the South African village he left as a young boy (he was organizing against apartheid...

Plot Keywords:

Cocaine | Drug Dealing | Drugs | Homecoming | South Africa

Cast

Thokozani Nkosi	...	Young Vusi
Ron Smerczak	...	Interrogation Policeman (as Ron Smerczac)
Wilson Dunster	...	Heavy Policeman
Ice Cube	...	Vusi Madlazi
Sechaba Morojele	...	Ernest Madlazi
Peter Khubeke	...	Igqira (as Peter Kubheka)
Roslyn Morapedi	...	Vusi's Mother
Elizabeth Hurley	...	Karen
Mabel Mafuya	...	Woman
Fana Mokoena	...	Youth
Maimela Motubatse	...	Youth
Nkululeko Mabandla	...	Youth
Robert Whitehead	...	Sandton Hotel Receptionist
Gresham Phetjaulima	...	Bellboy
Tony Caprari	...	Bar Owner

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA | South Africa

Language:

English | Zulu

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #34163) | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Spain:13 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Coffee Bay, South Africa

Company:

New Line Cinema

Goofs:

Continuity: Karin's and Steven's apartments appear to be on the street level if you look from the street, but when Karin goes out the window to cross to Steven's apartment there's a street way down below.

Movie Connections:

References Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Soundtrack:

Count on Me

A punchline betraying not a jot of joy or insight

This 'motion picture' is an absolute joke. It simply cannot be taken seriously; taking on the South African situation and inserting Ice Cube and Elizabeth Hurley just about sums it up. And it can't even be 'taken humorously' as the whole charade is so utterly joyless and deadly dull.

This film is cliché-addled in the extreme; South Africa is presented, pretty much, as any old place; only distinguished by the occasional accent and the excessive crime rate. Any sense of reality is out of the equation, as is entertaining or useful usage of melodrama or other non-naturalistic forms. One has to laugh really; there's nothing else to do when you are presented with the posturing and faux-sincerity invested in the film by its average team of actors. But it is a hollow laugh, betraying not a jot of joy or insight.

The weak storyline, which does not engage the mind on any level, is sketched out through dialogue by turns dull and absurd. As ever in 'serious' films inflected by her presence, Liz Hurley is a liability. The woman just cannot act it seems; thus, she seems more effective simply hamming up her own image in "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" and "Bedazzled". Her attempts at a South Africa accent gad around all over the globe; an embarrassingly inept effort, in truth. Yes, she 'looks good', depending quite upon one's own tastes, but it appears that that is the only reason she is here - along with her ubiquitous, 'dat skirt'-fuelled star name.

So, a damn well disastrous film, and a real waste of time spent watching it.