My memory of when I first saw this movie, I learned, recently, is contradicted by IMDB’s release date. It appears to be one of those rare flicks that’s flown under my radar. My knee-jerk reaction, when I’m made aware of its existence, is it’s a flick I saw in the early ’80s, after we were finally able to afford cable. According to IMDB, Green Ice (1981) never got a theatrical release here in the U.S. because it—“…was delayed for several years due to a lack of a hook to sell it. Finally, Universal Pictures chose to send this movie direct to cable, where it debuted on HBO in 1984.” It’s the 1984 that doesn’t line up with my memory, as it stands currently at the age of 55, but in David J. Moore’s commentary he mentions how it went straight to cable in the early 80s! Ah-ha! Okay, at least, he backs up my assertion of having seen it in the early 80s. Obviously, not in 1981, but it had to be either ’82 or ’83, because in ’84 I was in high school, and I don’t readily associate this movie with my high school years, I link it to the tail end of my elementary school years, which is 7th and 8th grade, which is ’82 and ’83. So, where does the truth lie, for a while I thought, I’ll never know, unless someone can get me concrete proof of when it hit cable . . . and then I remembered someone on Twitter!! I don’t know who he is, but his page is simply titled, HBO Guide, and it’s a collection of photos of surviving cable guides the cable companies used to send everyone back in the day. When we first got cable, it was HBO and Spotlight we acquired, so far I’ve never come across anyone who still has any Spotlight guides, but thank God for this dude on Twitter! I hit him up and asked him if he had any that showcased when Green Ice came out, and he sent me these two photos, validating my early 80s memory!!
One of the things I did manage to remember from this flick was the extremely grim prologue. The movie, as a whole falls into the heist sub-genre, and what’s being heisted are emeralds, hence the title, Green Ice, and since emeralds come from Colombia in South America, that’s where a majority of the flick takes place, with an opening that involves a group of students hiking down from the mountains that get stopped by the Colombian Army, specifically a patrol commanded by a Lt. Costas (Manuel Ojeda); once they discover the gems amongst their belongings they execute the kids, including a girl by the name of Kerry (Tara Fellner). As the movie unveils its plot we’ll learn the emerald trade in this part of the world is controlled by a cartel headed up by our villain, Meno Argenti (Omar Shariff), and the army is under his control too, which means they keep watch for anyone coming out of the mountains who might be up there to take “his” gems, and if they do come across people in that regard, execution is how that problem gets fixed.
The movie’s female lead is heiress, Lillian Holbrook (Anne Archer), and that chick killed in the prologue was her sister, during the first act she gets news her sister’s gone missing in them parts. It’s common knowledge she was part of a revolutionary gang who were stealing the emeralds to fund their operation. Eventually, she’ll get word her body’s been found and that the army killed her.
The movie’s male lead is electrical engineer and “idea man,” Joseph Wiley (Ryan O’Neal), who was on vacation, but ended up here in Mexico when he was late for his plane, and decided to come here instead. Just by sheer coincidence, he bumps into Lillian, who’s private helicopter is broke, and he just so happens to be here, and she needs a ride back into town. You can tell right from the get-go he’s smitten by her, and, perhaps, she him, but as he learns through a rather acrimonious first meeting with Argenti, she’s his fiance. A marriage he wants only to get him back into the diamond trade he was run out of, and her father is the head of this diamond concession. Thing is, she’ll learn Argenti was fully aware her sister was killed by “his men,” and in a scene restored on the extended cut, if she ever learned Argenti had something to do with her sister’s death, he’s a dead man.
The commentary is most informative, since the movie is based on a novel by Gerald Browne, and the book and movie are compared extensively. In the book Wiley’s a bit of a hustler, which goes a long way to explain how he gets roped into this emerald business and how dangerous it can be, when Lillian sets him up in a room of a hotel she owns that’s supposed to be for someone else, a someone else who’s expecting a call from a dude who wants to buy some green ice from him, and what does he do, instead of saying, you probably want the dude who’s room this was, he pretends to be that guy and tries to make the deal himself. None of this goes down like he wanted, that guy he was masquerading as shows up at the beach and tries to kill him, making us understand this ruse was easily found out.
In the meantime, Lillian is siding with the rebels and their leader, Miguel (Domingo Ambriz), and eventually Wiley and she decide the best revenge against Argenti might be to steal his collection of green ice he keeps in his building, on a top floor in a vault that has only an elevator access from the lower floor, and none from above. The gems are flown in from the mountains by helicopter and delivered on the roof. Radar is used to spot anyone who might be using an aircraft to try and land and break in that way. It’s all very high tech, for 1981. But Wiley manages to find a way in, using a one man hot air balloon from his friend Claude (John Larroquette). He and Miguel manage to break in, and put his electronic engineering knowledge to use to get the vault open. But escape wasn’t meant for Miguel. He doesn’t quite make it out alive, using suicide as his escape rather than being murdered by Argenti and his goons.
The most unexpected aspect of this flick was how our leads manage to actually lose the emeralds they stole; so now they’re simply on the run from Argenti with nothing to bargain with if they get caught. It has a happy ending though, and back in New York, Lillian and Wiley make one last stop to a dock where some beans have been shipped in to him, beans with a bag of emeralds inside.
I had totally forgotten John Larroquette was in this. The first thing I had ever seen him in was the Bill Murray Army comedy, Stripes (1981), but had totally forgotten he was in this. He only has a small part. His character is only there to bring in and operate the hot air balloons, then he’s out. This is the only Ryan O’Neal movie I own, though I’ve seen him in What’s Up, Doc? (1972), The Main Event (1979) and another early 80s comedy, Partners (1982). I’m not a general fan of his, but I like him enough in this movie here, enough to collect it, and he’s not bad in what I can recall of those previous flicks I listed.
We have Green Ice (1981) on disc here in the U.S., but it’s only in DVD form, having been distributed by now-defunct physical media boutique label Scorpion Releasing back in 2014. It’s out of print, but was the extended version, and is still relatively affordable through third party sellers on Amazon. This version I’ve just reviewed is its high definition debut from Down Under, from Australia’s physical media boutique distributor Imprint Films, a sub-label of Via Vision Entertainment! You can order it from their site directly, as well as from other Australian sellers like JB Hi-Fi, DVDLand, EzyDVD, and Sanity. If you’re based in the U.S., you can order it on Amazon US! Via Vision’s disc is region free, which means, if you’re not in Australia, you can still watch it on whatever blu-ray player you own.
SLIPCOVER
FRONT/BACK COVER ART
REVERSE ART
VIDEO/AUDIO/SUBTITLES: 1080p 1.78:1 High Definition Widescreen—2.0 English LPCM (Stereo)—English HOD Subs only
Imprint’s remastered version of the theatrical cut (1:49:19) looks real good; colors pop, clarity is excellent and has nice black levels. I only wish the upscaled extended cut was properly remastered too. It’s good looking but not quite as the theatrical.
EXTRAS INCLUDED . . .
- Extended Cut Of The Film, Upscaled To High-Definition (1:56:30)
- Audio Commentary By Author David J. Moore On The Extended Cut (2024) (NEW)
- Gravity Artist: Stunt Coordinator Vic Armstrong on ‘Green Ice’ (2024) (16:28) (NEW)
- Isolated Music And Effects Track Featuring Score By Bill Wyman
- Textless Titles Featuring Maurice Binder Designed Sequences (4:45)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:51)
- Limited edition Slipcase With Unique Artwork
Excellent commentary as Moore delves into numerous comparisons between book and movie, and revealing the cut that debuted on HBO back in ’82 was not the extended cut, which means, until now, I’ve never seen the long version. There are restored scenes of character moments and some dialogue that makes motivations a bit clearer. He also compares the movie to Romancing The Stone (1984), a flick I saw in the theater, and recall thinking it kind of reminds me of Green Ice. Moore’s theory is the screenwriter must have either read the novel or seen the movie and was inspired by it. The actor who played Lt. Costas is also in Romancing The Stone playing a very similar character. The interview with stunt coordinator Armstrong was great too, as he reveals they originally wanted Steve McQueen for the role of Wiley, but he had to turn it down because he was in the late stages of cancer (he died in 1980).
This is an excellent release, with my only disappointment being the lack of a proper remaster for the extended cut, for those added 7-minutes does make the film a better viewing experience.
MEMORY MOVIES 