I Come in Peace
| I Come in Peace | |
|---|---|
| File:I-Come-In-Peace-Poster.jpg Promotional film poster | |
| Directed by | Craig R. Baxley |
| Written by | Jonathan Tydor Leonard Maas Jr. David Koepp John Kamps |
| Produced by | Jeff Young |
| Starring | Dolph Lundgren Brian Benben Betsy Brantley Matthias Hues Jay Bilas Jim Haynie David Ackroyd Sam Anderson |
| Cinematography | Mark Irwin |
| Edited by | Mark Helfrich |
| Music by | Jan Hammer |
| Distributed by | Triumph Releasing Corporation (US) |
Release date | 28 September 1990 |
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $ 8,000,000 |
I Come in Peace (produced and released outside North America as Dark Angel) is a 1990 science fiction action thriller feature film about a rule-breaking vice cop who becomes involved in the investigation of mysterious drug-related murders on the streets of Houston, Texas. The film was directed by Craig R. Baxley, and stars Dolph Lundgren, Brian Benben, Betsy Brantley and David Ackroyd.
The shooting and international title is Dark Angel; it was planned to be released under the same title in the United States (which had a late release) but was changed to I Come in Peace because of two other movies entitled The Dark Angel (from 1925 and 1935), according to executive producer Mark Damon (in a 1993 interview with UK magazine Impact) who preferred the original title.
Plot
Houston cop Jack Caine (Dolph Lundgren) does not let police procedure prevent him pursuing his mission to wipe out the White Boys, a gang of white collar drug dealers who killed his partner while Caine was stopping a convenience store robbery.
The White Boys disguise their narcotics trafficking behind rows of expensive luxury sports cars, executive level jobs, and flashy designer suits. Led by the vicious but urbane Victor Manning, the White Boys operate above accusation but not suspicion. Law enforcement knows they are dirty, but they cannot prove it. Caine is determined to bring them down.
Caine’s superior is tired of his unusual and improper tactics. Meanwhile, Caine's girlfriend, coroner Diane Pallone (Betsy Brantley), wants him to make a stronger commitment to their relationship.
When the White Boys steal a shipment of heroin from a federal evidence warehouse, they hide evidence of their involvement by blowing up the facility, killing or injuring numerous people. This brings in the FBI, which becomes involved in Caine's vendetta against the White Boys. Caine is partnered with a by-the-book partner, FBI agent Arwood "Larry" Smith (Brian Benben). They investigate the drug theft and murder of several key White Boys soldiers. Smith wants Caine to follow official procedure, but Caine ignores him. He disregards Smith's interference and begins to suspect that the Feds are investigating more than just the White Boys.
Caine’s instincts are proven right. The first clue is the murder weapon in the White Boys’ massacre: a hyper-fast, super-sharp vibrating disk like nothing they have ever seen. The second is a series of drug-related deaths has everyone very puzzled. The corpses are full of heroin, but the cause of death is not drug overdose. Caine and Smith do not follow the manual in their pursuit of answers. They end up on the trail of Talec (Matthias Hues), a vicious extraterrestrial drug dealer.
Talec shoots his victims full of drugs and then uses alien technology to extract endorphins from their brains, synthesizing them into a substance to be used by addicts on his home planet. He is pursued by an alien cop named Azeck (Jay Bilas), who warns Caine and Smith that if Talec is not stopped, thousands of intergalactic drug dealers will start to come to Earth to slaughter its population. Putting aside their differences, Smith and Caine team up to take Talec down.
Home video release
After the film's theatrical run, it was released on VHS and laserdisc in 1991 by Media Home Entertainment. A Region 2 (widescreen) and Region 4 (fullscreen) DVD is available in Europe, Japan and Australia. On September 2011, in the US, only a MOD (Manufactured On Demand) widescreen DVD from MGM Classics Collection was available online. It was released under its original title, "Dark Angel".
A Blu-ray edition will be released on August 27, 2013 by Shout! Factory as part of their Scream Factory label.
The 1994 film Dark Angel: The Ascent is not a sequel to this film.
References
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External links
- I Come in Peace at IMDb
- Dark Angel/I Come In Peace at DOLPH - the ultimate guide
- I Come in Peace at Rotten Tomatoes
- Washington Post review
- Deseret News review
- Spinning Image review
- Moria review
- Time Out review