Customer Reviews

Cool as Ice [VHS]

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

In a more perfect universe I suppose he would have left us with just a little more, but did we truly deserve it? Did we as a civilization really embrace and honor the message that Ice put forth through his work? It wouldn't be appropriate for me to answer such a question that exceeds the scope of of only one man." I don't believe that this country will ever come across such a great figure as Vanilla, not for some time anyways." This was Quoted by Mr. Nelson Mandela reflecting upon 'cool as ice's first week ticket grosses. He vanished shortly afterwards, almost as quick as he changed the world. Perhaps it was inevitable that Ice would eventually leave, but so quick? Well they say that the brightest flames always vanish the quickest. I would like to think that Ice's music secretly reveals what his goals were, there was a line in 'Ice, Ice, baby!' that went" rollin' in my V.O, drop top down so my hair can blow!" The optimist in me would like to think that that one line is a indication as to where he is now. I can almost see him if I close my eyes, hes somewhere out there in this great republic of ours, rolling around from town to town city to city in that white V.O of his, giving himself to those in need. Vanilla Ice was many things, he was a musician, an actor( judging by his work in this film, perhaps the finest ever.)but most of all he was a healer. It was his bussom that we cried into after the gulf war, he was there to comfort us, and well we took him for granted and asked for too much , we didn't realize that he was only human just like us, and so he went away. What he left us with was an album and this very movie( a testament to love, compassion, and of course a word to our mother earth.) Perhaps someday when we least expect it he will return to reclaim our undying devotion, that is if we keep our hearts pure and open. And together they will beat, Can you hear them Vanilla they are beating for you to drive that magnificent V.O back into them, but most of all they beat for you. P.S I paid a cool 107.67 for the tape and it was worth every penny.

This film was pure cinematic brilliance. From the direction of David Kellog, to the ground-breaking camera work of award-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaninski comes a new breed of film-making. This film was beautifully shot (1.85:1) and is a feast for the eyes. It is as if the filmakers are taking us on a jorney similar to entering an alternate dimesion. Yes, we step into a world where, essentially, we all learn what it means to be cool as ice. As is noted in David Stenn's cleverly penned script, "It ain't where your from, It's where you're at anyway. And right now I'm with you." That pretty much captures it right there. For 2 hours we are with Ice, playing Johnny Van Owen, as a rebelious rapper who is travelling across country, by motorcycle, on his world tour. Accompanied by his 3 bandmates, unfortunate circumstances arise when Bandmate "Jazz"'s (played by a hilarious Deezer D.) bike breaks down. Now stuck in a town they don't belong whose denizens are discriminatory and rude, Ice happens upon the woman of his dreams. It is love at first sight and Ice now faces incredible odds to win the woman he so desperately loves. This film is powerfull, engrossing, and gripping. I just didn't want it to end. There are tear-jerking moments like when Ice says goodbye to Tommy "I'm outta here like yesterday, slick." (so bring your hanky). There is also an oscar winning scene in which Ice proclaims to Kathy "You don't know me. You don't know me at all." (eat your heart out James Dean). Most of all, This movie was escapism at it's finest. Pure entertainment and a thrill ride you just don't want to stop. I find myself watching it over and over so I can relive the moment when I first found out what it meant to be "Cool as Ice." 5+ stars.

"Cool as Ice" has a distinct class struggle undertone redolent of "The Discreet Charm of the Burgeoisie" or the best of 1950s French cinema. Vanilla Ice is the classic rebel outsider and loner, although I think his performance is drawn more from early Brando than James Dean. In one sense he reminds this reviewer of the classic Ernest Hemingway "code hero" such as lieutenant Henry in "A Farewell to Arms" or the fisherman in "The Old Man and the Sea" - a person who does not need the approval or validation of outside society to prove his self worth and inner, spiritual integrity.

Earlier that same year (1991) Vanilla Ice rapped "Go ninja! Go ninja! Go!" in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze - while the turtles fought on the dance floor. Ice was demonstrating the utopian vision of man existing spiritually within and outside of nature, a vision first put fort in such early, first generation romantic works as Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" or "The Ruined Cottage" or even Blake "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell". I also found parallels between Kat's father )portrayed by Micheal Gross) and Alexei Karenin, Anna's estranged husband in "Anna Karenina".

"Cool as Ice" is an absolute masterpiece, a snapshot of America in the important, epochal year of 1991 - a nation caught between the end of the Reagan boom years of the 80s and election of Bill Clinton in 1992.

Throughout the ages, cultures have been defined by the peak artistic creations spawned by the ideas and tenets that the civilization held dear to them. The Renaissance had the Sistine Chapel and the Mona Lisa. The Baroque era had the Bach Concertos and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. To truly define our era, the 20th century, one need not look at trivialities like Gone With The Wind or Citizen Kane to ask themselves the true question, "Who am I?" Truly no other movie captures the strength and longevity of our times, our lives, our cultures as good as "Cool As Ice". The sheer artistry puts any Astaire/Kelly routine to shame. The plot, epic in its scope, yet humbled to represent the common man and his plight through a wicked society, seemed to have been crafted by Hawthorne, so brililant and deep were the emotions. The poignancy of such lines as "It ain't where you from, it's where you at" symbolize the rugged individualism that America represents. You can almost feel the red, white, and blue oozing out of Vanilla Ice. His stirring performance makes James Dean seem like a square. He transcends the film medium as well, as his musical score, rife with emotional turbulance not seen since Stravisky's "Le sacre du printemps", captures the essence of how our troubles can be washed away by believing in oneself. Vanilla Ice is America, and America is Vanilla Ice.

The muse has spoken. Vanilla Ice's feature film debut is absolutely astounding. Astounding because this film was actually made to cash in on Vanilla's success as a one-hit rapper whose popularity was dubious at best and was only equalled by the vitriolic backlash he received shortly after. Contains Oscar-calibre dialog like "drop the zero and get with a hero". Jesus wept. I cannot hardly imagine who put their hard earned ducats down to see this in the theatre. The saving grace is that this film is so undeniably bad that it's good. To quote another reviewer: "Vanilla Ice accomplishes what every comedian dreams of; he makes the audience crack up without making a single joke". Kristin Minter is shortchanged as Ice's love interest being that she is hot and can act but due to poor direction and the fact she likes Vanilla her talents are wasted. At least Michael Gross is given one last chance onscreen before his career sank without a trace. To summarize, the sheer fact that this movie exists is a testament to how poor our taste was in the 80's. Beats out every bad movie I've seen to be number one. I give it 4 stars for irony. A classic of the genre. Rent it, you'll thank me.

I laughed! I Cried! I hurled! I've seen this movie over 30 times -- more than any other movie that I have seen in my life. I take that back. To call this a movie is an insult...it is film at its finest. And there are so many fine points to the film. For example when Nik and Cat are leaving the Sugar Shack, every car in the lot is white. Also, did you notice the writing on the wall, how about the tv set with the planter? Can you read what's on the side of Vanilla's shades? What's Johnny's last name? Do you remember the name of the model in the opening sequence (monique) who was a VERY popular swimsuit model in the early 90s? Just look at the blossoming careers of the stars. Tommy was in sandlot, Kat on ER, the goon has been in Seinfeld. Obviously, Cool As Ice was the springboard to their success! Vanilla Ice owns his own extreme sports store in Fla and is most recently been on tour at major venues across the States! From the classic one-liners "Aww yeah. Drop that Zero and get with the hero" "You need a psychiatrist" "I'm kinda busy right now know what I'm sayin?" "Lookie lookie lookie in Kat's black bookie" "I'm gonna drop some funky lyrics" "Scmucks" "You know, the chick who drives the horse" "You're seein me now" "See ya dick. That's nick. Oh yeah yeah ....Nick" "You are ours!" "Hey you hit pretty good for a girl" and the unforgettable "yup yup she likes me" "dissed again" Of course these are only a few of the classic lines from this classic tale of adventure and romance. Most of all, there is no profanity beyond a "hell" and a "damn" therefore it is family entertainment at its finest! Why have your kids watch Bambi and end up crying when Bambi's broke mommy gets the smackdab? Johnny'd tell them kids to "drop that zero and get with the hero." The kids will cheer the ending of Cool As Ice and want to watch it again and again and again. For $80, it's a wise investment in what has made American Film "the best around."

Dr. Shawn E. Chase, P.E., J.D. D.V.M., M.D., MBA, OBgyN

We mock that which we do not understand. Nearly 15 years have passed since this seminal 1991 work exploring post-Cold War realpolitik was released to almost universal critical acclaim, though it fared poorly outside of art-house theaters in the most cosmpolitan of Europe's capital cities. While the binary, us-or-them thinking of the protagnoist, the nearly Shakespearean Mr. Ice, was probably lost on larger audiences, those of us struggling with the fall of the Berlin Wall and our own divided loyalities sympathized with the film's attractive heroine and her existential dilemma: Drop the zero? Get with the hero? Which is which, and whom is whom?

One other comment: While the out-of-print VHS version of this film is perfectly adequate for the casual viewer, I'd highly recommend the superior transfer of the Bratslavian-import DVD, which includes among its bonus features a lengthy roundtable discussion of the film by Henry Kissinger, James Baker and N.W.A.

Unlike many of the untalented reviewers who have reviewed this movie I have this movie on Laser Disk, that's right Laser Disk.

Instead of watching this movie in stereo, I watched it with Dolby Digital.

Vanilla Ice should get an 100 Oscar if no talents such like Russell Crow and Tom Hanks have Oscars. He is the greatest crossover talent in the Universe.

I had the privilege to watch the amazing fight scene in the movie in slow motion unlike the other reviewer's who had to watch it on VHS.

His rapping is unparalleled on Laser Disk, I've seen this movie on VHS and it's insulting. It's like watching a movie on VCD then watching it in DVD. There is no comparison.

Let me quote the genius that is "Vanilla Ice"; "Drop the Zero and get with the Hero". Not even Arnold Schwarzenneger could come up with a better one liner (actually he can't that would mean he has talent like Jean Claude Van Damn).

Every time I need inspiration I watch "Cool as Ice" and so should you. How inspirational is it well let me tell you? I was in NYC and saw an interview of Eminem and here's how it went.

Interviewer: Who inspired you to get into the rap game?

Eminem: Ah there's some many people who told me I couldn't rap, and at first I couldn't ya know, but I kept watching "Vanilla Ice" starring in "Cool as Ice" and it inspired me.

Interviewer: Really?
Eminem: You know I can't dance like him but who can!

If it wasn't for "Vanilla Ice" we wouldn't have Eminem, so you could call him "Vanilla Ice the Return" or just "VI 2"

Not many can claim that they have influenced popular culture so ingratiatingly as Vanilla Ice has. He stepped up in 1991 to come into our hearts. Well, Vanilla Ice, you've captured mine. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't regret giving away my Vanilla Ice sweater in eighth grade.
Back to the Iceman. Recently I was blessed in that my close friend Matt purchased this quality film. We began to watch it in earnest. I have seen it many a time in the past three weeks. In each additional viewing, the movie only increases in its value. "Cool As Ice" (directed by David Kellog) is a national treasure. It is a terrible affront to our society that we are slowly killing off this gentle giant.
One area in particular where this film excels is in the area of production design. Nina Ruscio is a magician with contrasting colors, bad forced perspective and ee cummings poetry. Nor can one readily ignore the fantastic and inspiring costumes that Vanilla Ice, who plays Johnny, wears. He seems to me to be a 1991 version of Johnny Bravo. The costumes in this picture are amazing. We have the bland look of the townspeople and the fireworks of color that is Johnny and his posse. They break and they sway, all the while backing up Ice with their phat beats to match his mad dope rhymes. The romantic interest, Kat, is a vision always in virginal white.
The cinematography is also very interesting. The use of light is particularily fresh here. The director of photography on this film, Janusz Kaminski, is an Oscar winner ("Saving Private Ryan") who has an interesting style on this film. It shouts. Sometimes the shots fall because they yell too loud and sometimes they soar like Naomi Campbell's beautiful singing voice. I would compare his guerilla shooting style in the final sequence favorably to the opening moments of "Saving Private Ryan".
Two brief encounters need to be remembered.
"Hey yo what's up maam."
"Can I help you?"
"Yo I'm looking for Kat."
"We don't have a cat."
"Kathy! Your daughter!"
And who can possibly forget the fabled first meeting between the very special couple.
He jumps the fence with his motorcycle (even though there is no ramp), spooks Kat's horse, she gets thrown. Basically he almost gets her killed. He runs over to help her up.
"Hey you OK?"
She punches him in the gut.
"Damn! What the hell's wrong with you?"
She storms off with her horse, angry. Johnny's conclusion?
"Yup. Yup. She likes me."
As with any masterpiece, there are far too many nuances to this oft brilliant and woefully underappreciated gem. I will leave you with these words of wisdom straight from the Iceman's mouth:
"I don't sweat it on the mic-
'Cause I'm Cool As Ice."

How much praise can one heap on single movie? In 'Cool As Ice,' Vanilla Ice (Van Winkle)clearly demonstrates that he is the master of two mediums with his singing and acting talents filling the 90 minutes to the delight of fans and would-be fans across the globe!

I found the story line compelling: Ice must help an ailing damsel in distress find her kidnapped brother. It was an appealing vignette of 90's amoral sexuality, a time when both men and women were struggling to define their roles in society and doing so at the cost of true palatable love. The masochistic Ice character plays off well against the feisty, yet coy Kat, and the two eventually wind up falling in love. Fans of Bergman will see similarities to the characters in 'Wild Strawberries'.

The appeal of this movie is broad. I took my niece to see the advanced screening and she alternately laughed at the well timed comedy, and swayed to the hip hop rhythms of Ice's singing. But the deeper meaning of the movie was not lost to the audience. "You better drop that zero and get with the hero" is anecdotal of a culture of political conservatism that was gripping the country at the time (1991), and I can't help but think of the impact that this movie had on ushering in the Clinton administration into office. Check out the DVD and you'll see what I mean.

Truly a treat for the art house crowd!