Green Ice ** (1981, Ryan O’Neal, Anne Archer, Omar Sharif) – Classic Movie Review 6967

Director Ernest Day’s tired 1981 British action thriller stars Ryan O’Neal as Joseph Wiley, an out-of-luck engineer adventurer who meets a rich mysterious woman, the femme fatale Holbrook (Anne Archer), in Mexico, and they head for Colombia, in northwestern South America, where they help the rebels by joining emerald (green ice) robbers.

Weary it may be, although there is a modicum of low-brow excitement, with the chain of unsurprising but okay action sequences, including a stronghold heist, old-style fisticuff fights and comfortingly familiar Bullitt-style road pursuits.

The romantic comedy clashes with the realities of the political situation in Colombia, though the film-makers hope that the cute stars and the pretty scenery will sufficiently sugar the pill. Omar Sharif enjoys himself as an old-style bad guy, an emerald magnate called Meno Argenti. Also in the cast are Philip Stone, John Larroquette, Domingo Ambriz, Michael Sheard and Sandra Kerns.

Green Ice is directed by Ernest Day, runs 115 minutes, is made by ITC, is written by Edward Anhalt, Ray Hassett, Anthony Simmons and Robert De Laurentiis, based on the book by Gerald Browne, is shot by Gilbert Taylor, is produced by Lew Grade and Jack Wiener, and is scored by Bill Wyman, with Production Design by Roy Walker

Green Ice is rated suitable for 15 years and over.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6967

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