IMDb > The Star Chamber (1983)

The Star Chamber (1983) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
6.2/10   2,401 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Peter Hyams
Writers:
Roderick Taylor (story)
Roderick Taylor (writer) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for The Star Chamber on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
5 August 1983 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | Crime | Thriller more
Tagline:
THEY HAVE COMMITED EVERY CRIME IN THE BOOK. Yet the law cannot touch them. They are free to walk the streets. UNTIL TONIGHT'S MEETING OF... [THE STAR CHAMBER] [UK Theatrical] more
Plot:
Disgusted with criminals escaping the judicial system via technicalities, an idealistic young judge... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Exclusive Video: Hal Holbrook Stands in That Evening Sun
 (From MovieWeb. 12 November 2009, 6:38 PM, PST)
Jerry Bruckheimer Still Wants to Play 'Apaches'
 (From Cinematical. 13 October 2009, 9:45 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Judges, Juries...And Executioners more (25 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Michael Douglas ... Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin
Hal Holbrook ... Judge Benjamin Caulfield
Yaphet Kotto ... Det. Harry Lowes
Sharon Gless ... Emily Hardin
James Sikking ... Dr. Harold Lewin (as James B. Sikking)

Joe Regalbuto ... Arthur Cooms

Don Calfa ... Lawrence Monk
John DiSanti ... Det. James Wickman
Otis Day ... Stanley Flowers
Jack Kehoe ... Hingle

Larry Hankin ... Det. Kenneth Wiggan
Dick Anthony Williams ... Det. Paul Mackey
Margie Impert ... Louise Pacinni
Dana Gladstone ... Dept. Dist. Atty. Martin Hyatt

David Proval ... Officer Nelson
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
109 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)
Certification:
Germany:12 (re-rating) (2006) | West Germany:16 (original rating) | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R
Filming Locations:
Los Angeles, California, USA
Company:
Frank Yablans Presentations more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Director Peter Hyams created lighting innovations to create the eerie atmosphere of the movie, including a daylight lamp, and utilizing light beams for the exterior shots. more
Quotes:
Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin: There's a lot of nobility in this room. Must be the paneling. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (2009) (V) more

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User Comments

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful.
Judges, Juries...And Executioners, 8 February 2004
7/10
Author: virek213 from San Gabriel, Ca., USA

The 1983 film THE STAR CHAMBER posits a situation that must seem outlandish, but does go right to the root of our justice system. What if a secret cabal of judges were set up to pass their own verdicts on criminals who had gotten off on minor technicalities?

This is the problem facing Michael Douglas, who portrays an idealistic judge of the L.A. Superior Court who finds himself being forced to free criminals up on charges that include kidnapping and murder because the police bent the law a bit to get the evidence that would send "the bad guys" to jail for life or possibly to Death Row. Douglas later learns from his mentor (the always watchable Hal Holbrook) about a secret cabal of judges--a Star Chamber--that metes out its own brand of justice against those it feels have wrongly been set free. As a result, numerous criminals wind up getting executed. The further Douglas gets into the Star Chamber, however, the more he realizes that the cure these judges propose to rid society of criminal disease is far worse than the disease itself.

Though it is not always plausible, THE STAR CHAMBER is nevertheless compelling, with Douglas and Holbrook giving standout performances under the direction of Peter Hyams (OUTLAND; CAPRICORN ONE; 2010), who co-wrote the film's script with Roderick Taylor. Some might compare it to the 1973 Dirty Harry film MAGNUM FORCE (in which the cops take the law into their own hands), and many would say its theme of vigilante judges is drenched in right-wing gilt, but I don't think that's the case. This is one of those films that definitely makes you think; and while THE STAR CHAMBER may have been released twenty years ago, its themes still hold up in a world where, rightly or wrongly, people see the justice system as too slanted in favor of the criminals.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
What bothers me . . . black_opera_man
The Trash can and the warrant brendangrehan
Yaphet Kotto-Why did he shoot a cop? hannahp1
why is Douglas holding a gun in the picture? jk80
female judge griff573
Good and Bad MAFishman1
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