Dead Bang

Dead Bang follows Jerry Beck, a Los Angeles homicide detective assigned to the murder of a police officer killed on Christmas Eve. The trail leads him into the world of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups, which are preparing an attack that would claim more innocent lives. Beck's investigation unfolds alongside his personal troubles, including a drinking problem and a marriage that has fallen apart, and he must confront those difficulties if he is to stop the conspirators. The film is set in Los Angeles and draws on the hate-group milieu of its period.

John Frankenheimer directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Foster, and Stephen J. Roth produced. It was released in March 1989 and runs 105 minutes. The cast is led by Don Johnson as Jerry Beck, with Penelope Ann Miller, William Forsythe, Bob Balaban, Frank Military and Tate Donovan among the credited performers.

Dead Bang sits twelfth in the chronological order of the eighteen features Frankenheimer directed, arriving after 52 Pick-Up and before The Island of Dr. Moreau. Made for a reported fifteen million dollars, it returned roughly eight million worldwide, a shortfall against its cost. On IMDb it holds 6.1 from about five thousand votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.4 from a much smaller group of voters. A critics' rating of 4.6 from twelve reviews places it below the audience scores.