Cool As Ice (1991) {Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review}

Reviewed By Jason Lockard

In the early 1990s the hip hop scene was taken by storm by a man named Robert Matthew Van Winkle but most people know him by his stage name Vanilla Ice. He was so popular in the music scene that he was asked to make his film debut in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.

In the same year he made his film debut Vanilla Ice would get his own starring film vehicle, Cool As Ice. While it received negative reviews and was a commercial failure, over the year it became a cult classic.

The great folks at Kino Lorber Studio Classics have been knocking the Blu-ray releases out of the park as always. Now they are giving cult movie fans something they can sink their teeth into with Cool as Ice on Blu-ray. 

The film follows Johnny (Vanilla Ice) is a hip hop rapper who stops in a small town after one if his crew's motorcycles broke down and has to be fixed. While there he meets Kathy (Kristin Minter, TV’s ER), a high school honor student. A “good” girl and a “bad” guy? For real! You betcha!

David Kellogg only made two theatrical films in his directing career. Cool as Ice as his first and followed by Inspector Gadget. Now it maybe crazy to say, but I really like Inspector Gadget and after watching this film for the first time ever. I enjoyed Cool As Ice too! Kellogg brings a great style to film.

Now for the film I know this was film is considered by many to be a bad film. I don't consider it a bad film. I don't even consider this film to be a 'so bad it's good' film. I just found this film to be a lot of fun with great music. And after all that's what you want with a film. Now I will be honest here the acting of Vanilla Ice leaves a bit to be desired, but his is defiantly a charismatic character!

Cool as Ice makes it's debut on Blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber. The film is presented in 1080p in the original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio. The soundtrack is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. While this transfer may not be a restored version of the film, it is still a very impressive transfer. The colors are bright and the picture is clean. As for the audio it is a standard soundtrack, but it is powerful enough to showcase Ice's music.

Special Features:
* NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Joshua Nelson
* Theatrical Trailer
* English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

For I was a bit young to see this film when it first came out. And than as I grew up I kind of forgot about it! So when I KL Studio Classics released this I had to see it, and I am so glad I did! You can count on Kino Lorber to do a great job on their Blu-ray releases and Cool as Ice is no different!

If you are fan of 90s cinema or Vanilla Ice the KL Studio Classics Blu-ray of Cool as Ice is going to be one you are going to want to have on your shelf. Head over to Amazon.com and order your copy today.