Beyond Justice

Stars: Rutger Hauer (Split Second, Blade Runner, Nighthawks), Carol Alt (A Family Matter), Elliott Gould (Bugsy, M*A*S*H), Omar Sharif (Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia). "B"-movie action draw Rutger Hauer stars as Tom Burton, a "renegade ex-CIA agent" according to the box write-up (though this isn't made clear in the muddled movie). Tom is hired by "corporate C.E.O. Christine Saunders" (Carol Alt). For reasons that aren't even remotely made clear, Christine's son is kidnapped by her ex-husband (a dissolute gambler) and whisked to Morocco where he meets his grandfather, the Emir (Omar Sharif). According to the box "the boy is a pawn in a deadly game of international betrayal with ruthless lawyers (Elliott Gould), treacherous warriors and corrupt government agents." Ruthless lawyer Elliott Gould mumbles about two lines during the first 10 minutes of the movie and is never seen again, government agents--corrupt or otherwise--are not evident in the movie, and the treacherous warriors must be a group of cast extras called "predators" who occasionally show up for a battle scene. In order to rescue the boy, "Burton's hand-picked commando team battles missiles and slashing swords through an erotic adventure of intrigue and corruption." In the movie we saw, the only missile fired was the one by Burton that blew the doors off the Emir's hacienda, and the "erotic" content consisted of one kiss (on the lips). Disney's Beauty and the Beast is more "erotic" than this. In short, Beyond Justice is a foreign-produced piece of gibberish, made for about 10 bucks, with Rutger Hauer the only drawing card (except for a lush soundtrack by film music master Ennio Morricone which is totally out of sync with the lackluster action). Audience: Even die-hard action fans should skip this.