Killing Blue (1988) Reviews

• Deary and confusing murder drama set in 1988 West Berlin

  sol12182005-10-17

  **SPOILERS** Just too hard to follow with too many sub-plots makes "Killing Blue" fall apart long before the movies unsurprising conclusion. That's about as exciting as an attack of insomnia. Berlin homicide inspector Alex Glass is having a bad time with his conscience after he mistakenly shot and injured a little girl in a blotched attempt to arrest a fugitive in a Berlin apartment house. Upset with himself and his work Glass starts to drink and goes into a deep depression over his actions that crippled the girl for life. Glass secretly buys her gifts and presents to make up for what he mistakenly did to her. Even his new assistant Shirley May notices Glass' ugly demeanor with him treating her worse the the criminals that he deals with every day. It's then that something happens that changes Glass' attitude when he becomes involved with the drug death of Ennis Warner. That leads right to Berlin District Attorney Michael Karstens doorstep who's daughter Monica was Ennis' best friend. Being very close to Karstens as both a friend of the lawman Glass took a personal interest in Ennis's death. Finding that Ennis was a street hooker and druggie Glass tracked down her supplier lover and possibly murderer a small-time thug named Jack Miskowski. It turns out that Miskowski was with Ennis the night that she overdosed.The movie then takes a left-turn when high-priced hooker Lisa comes on the scene and Glass, after saving her from a over demanding customer, starts getting it on with her. Only to later find out, from a photo in Lisa's hotel room, that she and Miskowski are lovers as well as being involved in his drug and prostitution racket. It also comes to both Glass and Karsten' attention that Karstens' teenage daughter Monica is a junkie and is also getting her drugs from Miskowski just like her late friend Ennis did. Michael in trying to get Monica away from Miskowski's clutches tries to stop her from meeting him but loses track of her only to find Monica the next day at a construction site strangled to death. Miskowski now Monica's suspected killer gets away from Glass and the Berlin police in a sting operation they set up for him. It's then when the movie really turns upside down with Michael secretly meeting with Miskowski at an empty train station. With what at first looks like an exchange is about to be made between the two Miskowski gets a knife in his gut killing him with Michael taking off with a briefcase that the drug dealer had on him. In his car Michael finds out that he was doubled-crossed by the conning Miskowski but it's now too late for him to make things right for himself. Since Miskowski is no longer around to tell him where the "real deal" really is. Murder blackmail and a major plot twist are the main ingredients to this convoluted police crime drama. That has the victim change into the real villain in the film as we see that he's not the goody goody two shoes that we thought that he was a the start of the movie. Michael Karstens had very serious mental and emotional problems that he acted out some time ago and Miskowski somehow got a hold of a number of photos, or took them himself,that he was blackmailing him with. It also came out, unknowingly at the time to the audience,that Monica also knew about her step-father's secret life that in the end lead to her murder. It was Inspector Glass who had an idea of what was the real reason for Miskowski's death. By him keeping it from the public is what brought Michael out in the open and thus expose his reasons for not only killing Miskowski but the real and unnerving reason to why he did it.

• Schlock Around the Clock

  Zantara Xenophobe2002-03-22

  This review contains some spoilers, but I will do my best to avoid giving away important surprises. The American video box for `Midnight Cop' features a bunch of shots of Morgan Fairchild, a few smaller ones of Michael York, and one of Frank Stallone. This led me to believe that these three were the most important characters. In actuality, the real star is the title character played by Armin Mueller-Stahl. Stahl wasn't a familiar face in America when this was distributed on video in 1989, which is probably why the box doesn't show his picture, but even its description avoids mentioning the central character as much as possible. That's too bad, since Stahl is a good actor, and in this movie he is in most of the film while Fairchild is more of a minor character, in my opinion. As the movie was rolling along, I was enjoying it for the most part, and figured it would be a sleeper hit. It wasn't great thanks the editing. While scenes in the movie were nice and gritty without being so glum that they make you ill, transitions were poor and it looked like the editor stuck scenes together using a jar of elementary school paste. However, I was still enjoying the cinematography and familiar but interesting story. Then something went terribly, terribly wrong. Stahl plays a Berlin homicide police commissioner (though he acts more like a police detective). He is living with the mental trauma of not being able to see his own daughter anymore and the guilt of accidentally crippling a little girl in a shootout. He ands his new assistant (played by one of the screenwriters) get wrapped up in a strange murder case of a young woman that is killed with an overdose of heroin and gets Vaseline rubbed on her face. Stahl believes the killer to be drug dealer Frank Stallone. To try to get at Stallone, Stahl starts warming up to prostitute Morgan Fairchild. But the deeper he gets in the case, the more he starts to believe someone else is behind the murder and is trying to frame Stallone. There is more to the plot, but I do not wish to discuss it for I would have to reveal some aspects I should not give away. That all sounds good, right? So what the heck happened? What caused it to sink like a stone? Well, for one thing there are the performances. Frank Stallone is actually very good as the dealer. He doesn't have enough screen time, but I could tell he is better at playing a bad guy than he is at the hero, such as his role in the lousy `Terror in Beverly Hills.' Michael York, playing a district attorney, is also very good in his role. Stahl is a mixed bag. When he is doing cop stuff, he seems uncomfortable and unsure of how to act. But when he is expressing emotion, he is very good. Fairchild, though, is sos bad she stinks up all her scenes. An annoying thing about the movie is the setting. I know it was filmed in Berlin, but you wouldn't be able to tell by using your ears. Stahl speaks with a German accent, York with a British accent, and everyone else with an American accent. They needed to either move the filming location or get and all-German cast. Or at least actors who could use a German accent. But the final thirty minutes really kill the good experience. I knew who the real killer was before the first murder took place. But the crucial answer as to why the murders are happening is never pinpointed. There are about three different theories thrown at you, but they don't make any sense when you try to group them all together or apply the motives to the second killing. There are two other things that are dreadfully wrong, too. One is the really terrible and really unbelievable love angle between Stahl and Fairchild. Come on! Who are they trying to kid here? The other is the pitiful final scene, completely unnecessary and totally contrived. Combined, these elements take what could have been a 6 or a 7 and lower them to a 4. And of course, there is also the vendor with a ladybug stuck to the top of his bald head, but I'll let you see that one for yourselves. Zantara's score: 4 out of 10.

• Meaningless

  Hitchcoc2006-11-30

  This is the story of a police inspector who is carrying the weight of inadvertently injuring a little girl in the process of apprehending a drug dealer. A young woman is killed. He gets together with a prostitute in order to get more information and pursue the evildoer. In the process there is a series of encounters with Morgan Fairchild. It's all eye candy and voyeurism. There is little to recommend this movie. It is frenetic and wanders around all over the place. Of course, Morgan Fairchild, being the great Shakespearean actress that she is, puts forth a masterful performance. Armin Mueller-Stah, a German actor, and Michael York don't fair much better in their roles. It just didn't seem like it was worth the time.

• What a waste

  imdb-58772005-10-03

  I'm sure I must have seen a worse movie (though nothing comes to mind right now), but I've never seen a movie that was a bigger waste of talent. The script is barely coherent -- it's difficult to tell what relationship the characters have to one another -- and the director seems to have absent from the set for most of the filming. Put Armin Mueller-Stahl, Michael York and Monika Bleibtreu together and you could have an award-winning production. Instead we have ...well, let's be charitable and say that a couple of times Mueller-Stahl manages to break away from the truly awful writing and make Inspector Alex Glass into a *two-dimensional* character. Nobody else can even get past one. Yes, it really IS that bad.

• I'VE DONE THE WRONG THING ALL MY LIFE

  nogodnomasters2019-05-14

  This is a cop drama/mystery/thriller?/ spoof? that takes place in the part of Berlin where everyone speaks English. Alex ( Armin Mueller-Stahl) is an old cop that people run away from as if he is a super cop. He has a dry sense of humor to him. While he is hunting a crime boss, a woman over doses on heroin. This leads him into the arena of drugs and brothels. He works with an assistant he doesn't initially like which adds to the dry humor. Beck beer and Marlboro Lights product placement. People are heavy smokers, in fact a woman smokes while she is eating soup. There is some jazz detective music, but this is far from anything noir. While the film is not laugh out loud funny, it appears to have some humor we normally find in indie films. The plot is not that great. The dry humor and flashback value would be the reasons to watch it. Also released under the title "Killing Blue." PARENTAL GUIDE: No f-bombs. sexual situations, nudity