Instant Justice (1986) Reviews

• Stupid? Oh yeah - stupid good!

  therews-12006-09-18

  This movie is fantastic in its abysmal awfulness. Sure, there are bad movies, but then there are movies that are fun to watch specifically because they're so bad. Instant Justice is one of those movies, especially when you throw in the massive doses of pure '80s trashiness. Tawny Kitaen's hairdo is the biggest tease I've ever seen! There's a shower scene (not really spoiling anything here) that should win some sort of super-schlock award. Definitely worth renting for the big hair and idiotic one-liners alone (assuming, of course, you don't have to spend more than 99 cents). Have a few drinks and fade away into classic '80s B-tainment.

• Decent action movie, but some of the talkier/unnecessary bits could have been trimmed.

  tarbosh220002011-05-16

  Scott Youngblood (Pare) is a Marine with an impeccable record - a true American hero. When he hears that his sister Kim (Bridges) is in trouble and mixed up with evil gangsters/drug runners Dutch (Del Amo) and Silke (Avoth), he travels to Madrid to save her. Sadly, he's too late. Dutch and Silke killed her, as part of their phony modeling/prostitution scam. Now burning with revenge, he finds a contact in Spain, Jake (Crook) and together they go looking for Dutch and Silke. Meanwhile, since the death of Kim, a new model has come in to take her place, Virginia (Kitaen), but Youngblood tries to rescue her from her dismal fate. Because Youngblood is a model Marine, he realizes some of his tactics may be contrary to the code of ethics of the Corps, so he goes to Maj. Davis (Napier) and resigns. Davis is confused, but warily trusts Youngblood. Now totally rogue, Youngblood is free to dispense some INSTANT JUSTICE. You've heard of Instant Oatmeal. Now prepare yourself for Instant Justice. Pare puts in a Dolph Lundgren-esque performance as the wooden, no-nonsense Youngblood (you gotta love those hero names). The fact that he's the ultimate Marine allows for some classic 80's patriotism along with the barfights and one-liners. Not to mention the car chases with rockin' guitar solos. It's nice to see Tawny Kitaen, who doesn't appear in a lot of these types of movies, along with familiar faces like Napier and Pare. Kitaen's hair certainly typifies the "big" style of the time. This was Director/writer/producer Craig Rumar's only film to date. Surely he was inspired by the action boom of the day. His story of a lone hero who tries to go to the authorities and go through the proper channels but comes up against maddening bureaucracy and has to take on the baddies alone is always a nice story to see. But, it must be noted that one Anthony Bingham steals the show as Sgt. Walker. For no conceivable reason, Pare tells him he has stains on his uniform. Bingham's line, delivered in a way that is a classic for the ages, replies, and I quote, "My hamburger spilled ketchup". I'll just let you mull that over in your mind for a while. We rewound that great cinematic moment. Youngblood is a man of action with an 80's soundtrack behind him (not the least of which is "Danger in the Streets" by Lee Hart). While maybe some of the talkier/unnecessary bits could have been trimmed, making the movie just a bit leaner and meaner, Instant Justice is a decently entertaining and typically-80's action film - and that's just what we're normally after. For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

• Had high hopes as a pare fan...big let down

  ManBehindTheMask632011-02-07

  Instant Justice was suppose to be Michael Pares big break-action film...produced by mega studio Warner Bros....the film bombed and it deserved to. Pare has made some classics (Streets of Fire, Bad Moon, Eddie and the cruisers I & II) but this film is not one of them. It was a sign of things to come from his uneven and often wooden career. Pare is good shape and still has the charm but the action is poorly staged, the supporting actors are terrible, and the film just feels cheap. Check it out for some old school Pare but don't expect much. Maybe you will enjoy it more going in to it expecting less than i did. Pare is in great shape though.

• Pretty good movie for an action movie !!Overlooked gem!!!

  Doc_Who1999-09-30

  This movie is about a young marine who goes off in search of his sister's killer in Spain. The Marine is played by Micheal Pare. He gets help from a few friends and the miltary. The young man eventually finds the killer and gets his instant justice. The story is well put together and the action is fast !!Instant Justice is ok if you like Micheal Pare or off the beaten path action movies!!This is an overlooked gem of action movie overlooked the year it was released!!!

• Marine issue...

  fmarkland322006-06-15

  Michael Pare stars as Scott Youngblood(A not so cool action star name) who goes to Spain to get vengeance on the pimp who killed his sister. The pimps of course shrug off big brother but what they don't know is that Scott is one of the best marines in his unit and his one man army antics will have the bad guys praying for a quick death. I saw this movie on WGN a couple of months ago and I still had it recorded on my Teevo when I decided to watch it again. It's one of those stupid action movies that could only be made in the 80's and for the life of me I don't know why I missed this one in theaters but I did. It's a dumb movie but I loved the action sequences as well as Michael Pare's heroics. Tawny Kitaen was a lot hotter then I remembered and the action sequences were well staged. The movie is of course wonderfully stupid but anyone who hears of a movie made 20 years ago, called Instant Justice, knows what to expect. * *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty good)