Film

Steel

Name: Steel
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime
Released: 1979
Cast: Lee Majors, Jennifer O'Neill, Art Carney, Harris Yulin, George Kennedy

Action

A 1979 action film about a retired construction foreman who overcomes his fear of heights to help an old friend complete a building project while battling corporate sabotage. It's a workmanlike heist-adjacent adventure that treats blue-collar craftsmanship as heroic. Gritty, practical, and earnest—made for audiences who enjoy watching competent people solve problems under pressure.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy blue-collar underdog capers where a crew of seasoned specialists bickers, improvises and races a deadline with more grit than polish.

Skip it if the tough-guy talk and cardboard villain feel stock, and its charm depends on a sincerity you may not share.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a brisk hour and forty-two minutes of mostly straightforward procedural craft, with tension built from machinery and clocks rather than deep character.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Great Escape1963

A masterclass in assembling a team, planning a heist, and executing it against overwhelming odds. Spielberg didn't invent this formula, but this film perfected it—and it's endlessly rewatchable.

But It's over two hours long, and the middle section involves a lot of talking about tunnels. Patience required.

The Towering Inferno1974

Another '70s disaster epic that treats practical problem-solving as edge-of-seat drama. Watching professionals do their jobs under extreme stress, with genuine stakes and a killer cast, is deeply satisfying.

But The spectacle hasn't aged perfectly, and some supporting performances veer toward melodrama. It can feel a bit silly now.

The Italian Job1969

A heist film that celebrates craft and teamwork with a light touch and genuine wit. The Mini Cooper chase is iconic, but the real pleasure is the camaraderie and elegant planning.

But It's fundamentally a caper—breezy and fun rather than tense. If you want real stakes and moral weight, this isn't it.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Steel

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Man on Wire2008

Both are fundamentally about the poetry of construction and coordination—watching people with genuine skill and nerve do something others thought impossible, outside the rules, for the sake of the thing itself.

A documentary about Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. It has the same DNA as Steel: meticulous planning, a team assembled to solve an impossible problem, and the triumph of craft and audacity over corporate logic.

But It's a documentary, not a narrative film, and some viewers find the tone a bit whimsical. The final section about aftermath is quieter than you might expect.

Damnation Alley1977

Another Lee Majors adventure in the same scrappy, practical vein. A post-apocalyptic road movie with genuine strangeness and no pretense to sophistication—just pure pulp fun.

But The special effects are notably rough, and the plot is thin. It's cheesy in a way that requires affection for '70s B-movies to survive.

The Poseidon Adventure1972

A disaster film that builds real tension from watching ordinary people improvise their way out of an extraordinary situation. The ensemble cast is terrific, and the practical set-pieces hold up.

But It's very much a product of its era—the pacing is deliberate, and some of the acting styles feel dated. Takes time to get going.

Walking Tall1973

A gritty, revenge-driven action film about a man taking on corruption in his hometown. Practical, brutal, and uninterested in sophistication—pure '70s genre filmmaking at its most direct.

But The violence is brutal in ways that can feel gratuitous. It's also unapologetically simplistic in its politics and morality.

Jaws1975

A film about three men solving an impossible problem through preparation, courage, and improvisation. The famous mechanical failures forced problem-solving that made it better—it's about competence under pressure.

But If you've seen it a hundred times already, there's little new to discover. The sequels are significantly worse, so don't go there.

The Guns of Navarone1961

A WWII adventure about a specialist team assembling to accomplish an impossible mission. Complex plotting, genuine tension, and the satisfaction of watching smart people outthink their enemies.

But It's nearly three hours, and the dialogue-heavy middle section can drag. The pacing assumes your patience like few modern films do.

North by Northwest1959

Hitchcock's most purely fun thriller, full of practical problem-solving, narrow escapes, and a ordinary man forced to be resourceful. It moves constantly and never condescends to its audience.

But It's a Hitchcock film, so the treatment of women is dated in ways that can be hard to look past. It's also deeply artificial in its plotting.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Both are about the fever dream of building, and both treat the construction site as a metaphor for human ambition and its costs. Where Steel is optimistic, Synecdoche is a descent into obsession and failure.

Charlie Kaufman's film about a theater director who builds a massive replica city inside a warehouse as a work of art. It's about construction, assembly, men who need to build, and the obsession that consumes them.

But It's abstract, difficult, and genuinely bleak. If you wanted an uplifting action film, this is the opposite—it will unhinge you rather than entertain you.