By Erin Free
In this regular column, we drag forgotten made-for-TV movies out of the vault and into the light. This week: the 1986 drama The Brotherhood Of Justice, a teen vigilante flick starring Keanu Reeves, Kiefer Sutherland, Billy Zane and Lori Loughlin.
One of the many (many, many) pleasures of watching vintage telemovies of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s is getting to see the work of so many talented players when they were at the beginning of their careers. In this respect alone, the 1986 teen vigilante flick The Brotherhood Of Justice is an absolute trove of riches, with a number of big names present and accounted for both behind and in front of the camera.
First broadcast by major US network ABC on May 18, 1986, The Brotherhood Of Justice was produced by the powerhouse duo of Peter Guber and Jon Peters, the very definition of 1980s excess as well as the driving force behind seminal flicks like Batman, Flashdance, The Color Purple and many more. The director was TV vet Charles Braverman, an eventual major player on important TV shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Northern Exposure and Melrose Place, while one of the co-writers was Jeffrey Bloom, who directed the enjoyably spurious likes of Blood Beach (1980) and Flowers In The Attic (1987), as well as the excellent sci-fi TV movie Starcrossed (1985) with James Spader. To top it off, the propulsive, unusual score was composed by Brad Fiedel of The Terminator fame.
In front of the camera, meanwhile, was a fair sized crew of future stars, all at their vigorous, youthful best: Keanu Reeves (this was one of many projects for the future John Wick in 1986, but represents his first major leading role amongst supporting turns in the likes of Youngblood, and ahead of his breakout in the brilliant River’s Edge), Kiefer Sutherland (two years after his stunning debut lead turn in 1984’s The Bay Boy, the same year as Stand By Me, and a year before he lit it up in The Lost Boys), Billy Zane (three years before he so memorably menaced Nicole Kidman in Dead Calm) and Lori Loughlin (two years before she became a star on Full House). There are also other interesting players in Gary Riley (Stand By Me, Summer School), TV regular Don Michael Paul, Darren Dalton (best known as the Soc with a conscience in The Outsiders), Evan Mirand (1987’s underrated My Best Friend Is A Vampire) and Joe Spano (Hill Street Blues).
With the likes of the Death Wish series, The Exterminator, and a wild, bloody barrage of others, the vigilante film was an absolute mainstay of the 1980s, and The Brotherhood Of Justice puts a wildly entertaining and youthful spin on the sub-genre by setting its tale of outside-the-law retribution in a California high school. After a spate of vandalism and acts of outright destruction on his high school campus, Principal Bob Grootemat (a wonderfully fiery but still measured Joe Spano) encourages the senior students to begin looking after their school and defending it against sinister outside forces.
A group of the school’s football players, however, take their principal’s words a little too literally and form a vigilante group. Though team captain Derek (Keanu Reeves is already very Keanu Reeves, even in surprisingly preppy mode, complete with side part, blonde highlights and super-slick wardrobe) and the quiet Scottie (Darren Dalton) want to target only drug dealers and serious reprobates for beatings and “lessons learned”, the more hot-headed Mule (Evan Mirand is great, and really should have been a star) and Collin (the excellent Don Michael Paul), along with nerdy Barnwell (Gary Riley is brilliantly smarmy), go all in and get high on the violence and power.
The slightly unhinged Les (the wonderfully idiosyncratic Billy Zane steals his scenes here with his trademark method intensity), however, is the most potentially dangerous of them all. Also caught up in the increasingly violent vigilante madness are Derek’s concerned girlfriend Christie (Lori Loughlin) and tough good guy Victor (Kiefer Sutherland’s youthful charisma literally explodes off the screen), who provide the film’s voices of reason.
Like the actions of the film’s eponymous vigilante group, The Brotherhood Of Justice gets increasingly dark as it goes on, kicking off with the adrenalised ransacking of a drug dealer’s house party, with the masked-up boys (one even wears a Richard Nixon mask and does the patented double Vs…did Keanu remember this for Point Break?) throwing stink bombs and pushing people into the swimming pool, but then devolves into brutality and cruelty as the entitled, racist teenage brutes begin targeting Mexicans and fellow students they just don’t like.
Moving at a quick pace, there’s a real intensity to The Brotherhood Of Justice that easily overshadows its chintzy 1980s fashions and hairstyles. As the recently reviewed 1981 telemovie The Wave so powerfully demonstrated, the power of the ideologically driven teenage group can be dangerous, and the angry, superior boys of The Brotherhood Of Justice are an increasingly insufferable lot. They’re perfectly balanced, however, by Kiefer Sutherland’s resolute outsider, who proves that there’s a quiet power in individualism too.
An entertaining, thoughtful drama with an admirably downbeat ending, The Brotherhood Of Justice is both a strong example of the teen vigilante flick and a hothouse bursting with young, on-the-rise talent.
Availability: The Brotherhood Of Justice is available to stream in a slick, crystal clear presentation on Tubi.
If you enjoyed this review, check out our other vintage telemovies The Wave, The California Kid, The Cracker Factory, Night Terror, Inmates: A Love Story, The Shadow Riders, CHiPs: Roller Disco, Dawn: Portrait Of A Teenage Runaway, Young Love, First Love, Escape From Bogen County, The Death Squad, Hit Lady, Brian’s Song, The Defiant Ones, A Cry For Help, Trilogy Of Terror, Policewoman Centerfold, Smash-Up On Interstate 5, Something Evil, Savage, A Step Out Of Line, The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, A Very Brady Christmas, The Gladiator, Elvis, The Rat Pack, Silent Victory: The Kitty O’Neil Story, Terror Among Us, The Hanged Man, Hardcase, Charlie’s Angels: Angels In Vegas, Vanishing Point, To Heal A Nation, Fugitive Among Us, To Kill A Cop, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Police Story: A Chance To Live, Murder On Flight 502, Moon Of The Wolf, The Secret Night Caller, Cotton Candy, And The Band Played On, Gargoyles, Death Car On The Freeway, Short Walk To Daylight, Trapped, Hotline, Killdozer, The Jericho Mile, Mongo’s Back In Town and Tribes.
