Thin Ice – Synopsis
Danny Riggs is a loose cannon LA cop whose first love was racing flat track motorcycles, and when he finally quits the LAPD, which brings both relief and satisfaction to his boss and the commissioner, until they see him giving a press conference from the back of a pickup truck naked to illustrate the part of a man’s anatomy he believes the department no longer has, he goes back to it.
At the track he meets impoverished Russian rider Mikhail Scarr, who rides bravely on cheap and outdated equipment. Danny is incensed when a wealthy and arrogant rider takes Mikhail out and after a spectacular chase which matches a Harley racer against a Ferrari that culminates in an abandoned quarry, Danny takes Mikhail under his wing - unfortunately for Mikhail! After very nearly getting Mikhail killed in a bar room shoot out, the two return to Danny’s house where they view a porn DVD given to Danny as a leaving gift by his workmates, who all knew there is no woman in his life. The DVD features a beautiful porn star called Anna, and who Mikhail informs him is no doubt Russian.
Danny’s detective instinct tells him she is doing it against her will and it’s confirmed when he sees a man in a window reflection move in to beat her. The man turns out to be Russian gangster Viktor Karov, the owner, amongst other things, of the Moscow Ice Speedway team the Black Bears. One of the other things he owns is an importing business right there in LA, so Danny makes a visit. After nearly destroying the joint, Danny is forced to defeat one of Karov’s goons, a huge Mongol called Soo, and has to use a forklift truck to do it.
The Russian ice racing season is about to start and Mikhail finds he has a companion for the trip home. Danny soon proves he has the courage to ride the spectacular and dangerous bikes with their steel spiked tires and Karov prefers to have him where he can keep an eye on him until an opportunity arises to kill him, which shouldn’t be too hard in an ice race. At a restaurant Danny spots Karov showing off one of his assets, Anna. The next night he goes to a warehouse studio where he knows she will be filming to find out if she is filming under duress and, in a rest room he confronts her and she tells him why: Karov holds her four year old daughter and will not hesitate to kill her if she does not perform. What makes this more horrific is that it’s his daughter too.
A rescue is planned after Danny wrecks the studio, and he, Anna, Mikhail and his girl Natasha head for Karov’s dacha where the girl is held. The film ends in an action packed chase across a frozen lake on an upturned car hood sled towed behind an ice racer, and Viktor this time is not the victor.
