Steel Dawn (1987)

In a post-apocalyptic world, a warrior wandering through the desert comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by a murderous gang that is after the water they control.

Director:

Lance Hool

Writer:

Doug Lefler

Stars:

Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Anthony Zerbe

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Swayze	...	Nomad
Lisa Niemi	...	Kasha
Anthony Zerbe	...	Damnil
Christopher Neame	...	Sho
Brion James	...	Tark
John Fujioka	...	Cord
Brett Hool	...	Jux
Marcel van Heerden	...	Lann
Arnold Vosloo	...	Makker
James Whyle	...	Tooey
Russel Savadier	...	Off (as Russell Savadier)
Joseph Ribeiro	...	Cali (as Joe Ribeiro)
Alex Heyns	...	Priest
Brad Morris	...	Bluto
Tullio Moneta	...	Henchman

Storyline

In a post-apocalyptic world, a warrior wandering through the desert comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by a murderous gang that is after the water they control.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | warrior | sword and sorcery | pagan subtext | chop socky | 

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Taglines:

Patrick Swayze. The 'Dirty Dancer' is now a desert warrior!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 March 1988 (South Africa)

Also Known As:

Desert Warrior

Filming Locations:

Dead Vlei, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia

Box Office

Budget:

$3,520,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$311,892, 8 November 1987, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$562,187

Company Credits

Production Co:

Independent Film Centre,Lions Gate Films,Silver Lion Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Early film role of Arnold Vosloo, who appeared in The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001).

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Goofs

When the boy is re-captured, he jumps from the sand buggy and suddenly grows three feet! Clearly a six foot male doing the stunt.

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Connections

Spoofs The Road Warrior (1981)

User Reviews

Patrick Swayze's best post-apocalyptic sci-fi action underrated cult-classic gem!

Steel Dawn (1987) is Patrick Swayze's underrated post-apocalyptic sci-fi action cult-classic gem! It is my second personal favorite Patrick Swayze's action film he ever did! It is a cult classic film Patrick Swayze ever did. I miss the guy I really do. The first movie will always be Road House (1989) this is my second favorite film! In my honest opinion this movie is a classic of the 80's and it is MILES way better than Point Break (1991), Ghost (1990) and Next of Kin (1989) the characters that Patrick Swayze played. I have this movie on Blu-ray I hardly got it and I love this movie to death! I have so fun watching it and I enjoy it. This is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic action samurai flick, it is not Mad Max: The Road Warrior a copycat film like was in Resident Evil: Extinction that movie was mainly a copycat of that movie this wasn't. Directed and produced by Lance Hool who earlier directed Missing in Action 2: The Beginning my favorite Chuck Norris film! This was his second movie he directed and starring Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi. I love Nomad it is Patrick Swayze favorite character of mine.

Plot: Water becomes a precious commodity in the desert community of Meridian. When a mob, led by the evil Damnil (Anthony Zerbe), takes over the town's supply, the good people fight back by hiring Nomad (Patrick Swayze). Nomad is the only person who can put an end to the greet in this modern interpretation of the Western classic "Shane."

Let it be known, that "Steel Dawn" is a favorite of mine, one of those rare, nostalgic, obscure and imaginative beauties, a film that from my viewpoint, never really got the attention it deserved. Why it didn't, I don't really have any idea, as it's lined with a star-studded cast. Very well directed and acted (even enjoyably "over-acted" at times). With a super-cool futuristic take on the classic western genre, and not to mention, one of the most quotable movies I' ever seen! Though it never quite grabbed the multitudes (perhaps because audiences were becoming worn out on doomsday & post-apocalyptic films of the era), it did most certainly grab my attention and I' been hooked on it ever since catching it on television.

This is a childhood film, yes it is a film from a childhood that I have grown up with it. It has a great cast: Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Brion James, Anthony Zerbe and John Fujioka. Actor John Fujioka was also in American Ninja (1985)my favorite martial arts Ninja film, before was cast in Steel Dawn. This is my favorite Patrick Swayze film and it is awesome, the sword fights were excellent and I love it so much! The acting in this movie was decent from Patrick Swayze and the rest of the cast. I have enjoyed this film, but it is really underrated the same as it is Missing in Action 2: The Beginning but for an 80's flick for an 1 hr. and 40.minutes hey I enjoy it, watching Patrick Swayze kicking ass is my guilty pleasure.

I love samurai sword fights, Patrick uses a sword to kill mysterious sand creatures. Throughout the battle with Sho (Christopher Neame) and Nomad (Patrick Swayze), I at least felt like they were actually trying to kill each other as opposed to posturing and/or baton twirling... I actually think this was a fight choreographer who was doing the best they could with what/who they had to work with. Patrick Swayze helped with the choreography. He definitely knew what he was doing and how to work the hardware. He was legit bad-ass, this final fight between those two is epic!

Theme Song for this movie: Australian composer Brian May (not the one from Queen) did the music for the post-apocalyptic Steel Dawn. He also did the music for Mad Max and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, which the makers of Steel Dawn brushed off as pure coincidence. Brain May must be an expert at post-apocalyptic atmospheric movies.

Patrick Swayze has to jump in to help, and instantly kicks everyone's ass. Steel Dawn is a damn solid action cult classic gem!

R.I.P. - Patrick Swayze (1952 - 2009) I really miss you so much and I wish you could do more bad ass action movies, I am your biggest fan and so was my mom we all miss you and we all love you, I love you to death!

Steel Dawn is a 1987 American post-apocalyptic feature film that mixes the genres of science fiction, western and samurai cinema. It stars Patrick Swayze and his wife, Lisa Niemi.

Steel Dawn (underrated) (why doesn't THAT film get the cult/appreciation/notice of this POS) Road House and Black Dog are my top 3 personal favorite best Patrick Swayze movies he ever did! This movie get's 10 out 10 the best underrated unappreciated cult-classic post-apocalyptic sci-fi action western samurai movie!