I have a soft spot for 'Steel'

I saw "Steel" several years ago on Showtime. I taped it and knew that it wasn't perfect. However, there was something that I enjoyed about it. And my biggest source of enjoyment came from not from all the special effects--which were decent enough--but from the on-screen chemistry between Shaquille O'Neill and Annabeth Gish. When Tembi Locke's character is introduced, I thought, "Oh! She's going to be the obligatory romantic interest. She's cute." But then she's hurt or killed. Maybe she's killed because I don't remember her popping up later. Anyway, Susan Sparks (a.k.a "Sparky") pops back up and everything I predicted about character interaction was thrown out the window. It seemed to me that there was more than a fair amount of flirtation between John and Susan. And you know what? It works better than most romantic comedies where person A tells everyone--except person B--how much they love person B. "Steel" succeeds in that function because it follow an important Hollywood rule: Show. Don't tell.

And when Starz ran it's superhero marathon I was able to retape "Steel" along with "Judge Dredd" (it has it's moments) and "Tank Girl" (gotta love the mutant kangaroos). I found something I had missed on previous viewings. When Sparky present the transceiver to John, she does so using a box that looks like it was designed for an engagement ring. I can't believe I missed that one before.

Other things I liked:

Shaq: He's seemed awkward in the suit when he first appears. But that's cool. It's the first time he's worn the armor. He's not a great actor, but when he's out of the suit, he has just a likeable, approachable quality. There's also a bit of goofiness that seemed out-of-place the first time I saw it, but that I've warmed to since then.

Annabeth Gish: I don't think I've seen many of her movies. I did see her on "The X-Files", though. I think this was the first time I'd ever seen her in a movie. No, I've "Mystic Pizza". That said, I loved her in this movie. It seems like she's having fun with the role and it comes through in her performance.

Judd Nelson: Plays evil bastard nicely. His character is great in a nasty way. Kills people he calls "friends". Kills people he calls employees. Kills people that contradict him. Trys to kill someone who got him kicked out of the Army and members of that person's family. Why? Because they're in the way. Is Nelson's performance perfect? Eh. Probably not. But he inhabits the character well and chews scenery. Which is what works for this kind of character. Oh and I *liked* the whole "hot dog" speech. Sure, it was odd, but it seemed perfectly in character.

Richard Roundtree: Dude! He's Shaft!

Irma P. Hall: While not a big part of the movie, the whole Black and Bleu thing was amusing to me. It still is for some reason.

Hill Harper: Hill Harper wonderfully portrays a cheesy criminal. Then his character dies. And you know what? Hill Harper made an impression on me. Enough that when I first saw him on an episode of "CSI: New York", I knew I'd seen him somewhere else. And the last time I had seen "Steel" had been a year or so. So I can connect the entire cast of "CSI: New York" to the cast of "Steel". And I can connect the cast of "Steel" to "Alias" because the weird medical examiner was on an episode of "Alias"!

Gripe:
What was Tembi Locke doing there? Did she have a bigger part and her scenes were cut?