The Glimmer Man [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Amazon.co.uk Review

Steven Seagal needed a new approach to his standard head-busting heroics, so he teamed up with Keenen Ivory Wayans for this routine 1996 action flick. This time stone-faced Steve plays Los Angeles homicide detective Jack Cole, newly transplanted from New York and teamed up with Jim Campbell (Wayans). They're assigned to track down "The Family Man," a serial killer who earned his nickname by crucifying entire families and leaving religious graffiti as his calling card. The case heats up when the latest victim turns out to be Cole's ex-wife, and Cole is considered a primary suspect. That makes Seagal get really mad--you don't want to get Seagal too upset, y'know--but he still has time to quote Buddhist wisdom and crack wise with Wayans, who plays it relatively straight as the practical half of this partnership. Glimmer Man is typical Seagal stuff all the way, with obligatory fight scenes every 10 minutes or so, but Seagal fans will enjoy it and Brian Cox makes a suitably hissable villain. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

AN OK EFFORT FROM SEAGAL.......2007-02-03

The years since Steven Seagal burst upon the screen as Det. Nico Toscani in the movie "Above The Law" back in 1988 have been like the seven fat years in the book of Genesis and by the time he made "The Glimmer Man", some seven years later, Seagal had to wear extra baggy clothes to hide the extra weight that he put on his frame from all the success he had since then. Steven Seagal, Det. Jack Cole and his partner Det. Jim Campall(Keenen Ivory Wayans), who only seems to be in the movie for comedy relief since all he seemed to do is get himself in trouble and have Seagal get him out of the messes that he gets himself in all during the film, are put on the "Family Man" murder case in L.A.

The "Family Man" murdered some half dozen families and had them crucified in some weird ritual after they were dead. Seagal here plays a cop who when he cracked up back in the early 1980's from the guilt that he felt about his service in Vietnam where he was known as "The Glimmer Man", a hard as nails killer who the enemy only saw a glimmer of before he did them in, he went to Thailand and took up Buddhism and became a sweet and peaceful man who wouldn't hurt a fly even though the movie "The Glimmer Man" is one of the most violent films that Seagal ever made.

"The Glimmer Man" is an almost incomprehensible movie to understand and follow that starts off with a serial murder and then goes to what seems like a weirdo psychiatrist Frank Deverell, Bob Gunton, who thinks that he's the Godfather and uses a gang of thugs to smuggle arms from the now defunct Soviet Union to a Serbian freedom fighting organization. This whole racket is run Det. Jack Cole's former boss in Vietnam Mr. Smith, Brian Cox, who's working together with the Russian Mafia, that's about the best way I can describe the plot in the movie.

Early in the film Det. Cole's ex-wife Helen and her husband Andrew Dunleavy are murdered by the "Family Man" killer and it's made to look like it was Det. Cole who was the killer. This makes Cole realize that the killings are a cover for something more sinister and after breaking a number of heads and arms and legs of Russian gangsters and Deverell thugs he finally gets to the bottom of what is really behind all these killings.

The movie is so violent it made me wonder what Seagal, who had a lot of control of the material in the film, was trying to tell his audience, love your fellow man? since it went against everything that Buddhism stands for which I at first thought that the movie was advocating?

"The Glimmer Man" building itself up to it's inevitable bloody conclusion at the Overington Hotel in downtown L.A where Det. Cole has the Deverell mob turn on each other when he had a tape recording of Deverell played back on the phone to his top henchmen Donald Cunningham, John M. Jackson,that his boss was going to turn him in to save his own behind and that lead to a shootout between the two at the hotel where they were supposed to find both Det. Cole and Campell,the C&C boys , as Cunningham trapped Deverell there without knowing that he knew about his, Deverell, plans to double-cross him.

The hoods ended up killing themselves with, of course, the help of Cole & Campbell with only Cunningham left for Cole to do in at the end of the movie. Steven Seagal seems to really enjoy working people over in the movie, he does it with such relish and enthusiasm, despite his non-violent Buddhist beliefs to the point where he beats them in some cases to death even when their no longer a threat to him at all when that he had to do is just put the cuffs on them and have them locked up behind bars, this isn't by a long shot going to make too many people watching the movie get turned on to Buddhism which I assume the film wanted them to do.

Seagal the last boy scout.......2006-04-06

It's a re-hash of Bruce Willis's 'Last Boyscout', made 5 years earlier. ie: He's a freelance cop with an undisclosed history & a witty sidekick. There are wise-crack jokes & big explosions. The sidekick's 'apartment' gets 'trashed' & the bad guy discusses 'business' while swimming in his indoor pool.
Except Willis has the charisma to make it highly entertaining.

well I liked it.......2005-04-30

If you don't like segal at all then you won't like this film as it does have his personality stamp on it. This is a very good film even if you are not president of his fan club. Stunts, effects, decent storyline, a fine saturday night film.

Seagals best film EVER..........2005-01-21

This is probably Steven Seagal's best movie. He is usually more adept to play a macho army colonel runnin' round kicking in some geezers head, but in this he does it with a spark of acting panache and talent in the mix. Most films I have seen with him in such as Executive Decision and the 'Under Siege' films, seem to be focused on him being some hero, this is no exception but he adds heart and soul to his game, the glimmer man is slightly original and quite graphic. It's downfall is Seagal's reputation to make crap films, and so less people are attracted, but when I watched it I could see the flair and immagination of his acting, and his support from Keenan Ivory Wayans is superb... This film is well worth watching because keeps you gripped and poised for more - and just for the guy said it was 'utter crap' just like his other films, well he's wrong it isn't like his other films - It is better...

UTTER CRAP..DO NOT BUY!!.......2004-03-03

OK PEEPS BE WARNED THIS FILM IS UTTER CRAP AS I SAID IN THE TITLE OF MY REVIEW....DO NOT BUY IT!! IF YOU'VE EVER SEEN A STEVEN SEAGAL MOVIE YOU ONLY EVER HAVE TO WATCH ONE TO KNOW WHAT THE REST OF HIS PATHETIC FILMS ARE LIKE...YOU'VE BEEN WARNED, DON'T WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED CASH.

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