User Reviews

This comment does contain minor spoilers!

"In The Line of Duty: Street War" or "Urban Crossfire" is a well-made TV movie.

The plot is: Officers Raymond and Robert (Mario Van Peebles and Michael Boatman) are going after Justice Butler (Courtney B. Vance) an evil drug dealer. Unfortunately, Raymond gets killed by him. Now Robert wants revenge. Butler escapes and now Robert and Detective Reilly (Peter Boyle) have to catch him before he commits more crimes.

The acting is good with Peter Boyle and Courtney B. Vance standing out. The writing and directing is standard. No surprises in this story. Overall, it's worth seeing for the acting. One of the director's other movies "The FBI Murders" is also recommended.

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STREET WAR is another TV movie and entry in the low budget IN THE LINE OF DUTY series. The all-black cast make it feel like a blaxploitation movie at times but the scope is generally smaller and casts as its protagonists a group of dedicated cops who go gunning for revenge when one of their number is killed 'in the line of duty'. Peter Boyle is the old-timer who shows up to set things in motion.

The film features routine plotting, some melodrama, and lots of plot twists along the way. The plotting is probably better than the characterisation. Notable cast members include Courtney B. Vance's drug lord bad guy, a youthful Morris Chestnut, and an underutilised Mario Van Peebles. STREET WAR is quite watchable as these films go but it's also rather tame and the material is a little too familiar, having been handled in a more interesting way in the past with the likes of THE NEW CENTURIONS.