(15
March 1996) Director: Stuart Baird 2h 13m action
adventure thriller
Written by the
writers of
Predator, brothers Jim Thomas and John Thomas
(who also have a credit here as Producers),
it was a big surprise <<SPOILER>> that the "big
dog"StevenSeagal wasn't in this movie for very long. So if you're
looking for the typical
Trash-Talking Seagal beatdown,
this is not it.
This movie is all about
Kurt Russell
(his is the only above-the-line credit). Halle
Berry does a great job at stealing the show, though, and John
Leguizamo is as entertaining as always.
The
head villain in this movie is played by David Suchet (his lovable
portrayal of Agatha Christie's sleuth Hercule Poirot is the polar
opposite of this 'terrorist'). He and Halle Berry's character "Jean"
have a moment in the movie that is pivotal. The acting is
top-notch for any genre. Rounding out the cast is Oliver Platt,
Andreas Katsulas(also the bad guy in Someone to Watch Over
Me), Joe Morton,
J.T. Walsh,
Len Cariou,
The-Rock-nerve-gas-victim (and
Action
Movie Freak Whiner list member)
Ingo Neuhaus (a former Army Ranger in real life),
and, in her 15 minutes of fame, Marla Maples Trump, plus even
more . . .
As Action Movies go, this is a
by-the-numbers winner, and it's a classic. It opens with lots of
blood and violence, features skilled
Super Soliders (a "counterstrike terrorism
team") with the
accompanying themes of
Camaraderie
and Dominance, and as it's a hijacking situation, falls
under the Action Movie subgenre:
Heist. They are, in
essence, trying to hijack the hijackers. [The flight is an
Oceanic Airlines flight, a
fictitious company name used in many movies, and most recognizably in the
TV Show Lost, but this movie was the first.] The Super
Soldiers include
B.D. Wong, best known as "Dr. Henry Wu" from Law & Order:
SVU. The character he played in Jurassic World was also
named Dr. Henry Wu, and he will be returning for the sequel.)
The movie's opening scene sets up Seagal as the
Bad Ass
Action Figure he usually is, and
show what his soldiers are capable of. Also, they lose a man and do
not achieve their goal of recovering the Nerve Toxin DZ-5.
Kurt Russell first
appears flying a plane and
ends up flying a plane. Love movies that features that
symmetry. Also, this movie has a great theme music! The tag line is . . .
"High-flying excitement. Fasten your
seatbelt."
So, what's at stake? Let's hear about it in
that classic Action-Movie-announcer voice in this awesome trailer:
action movie freak
