Drop Zone

Pete Nessip and his brother are escorting a federal prisoner to trail. The prisoner is a top code breaker. On the plane terrorists take over, kidnap the prisoner and sky dive out of the plane – Nessip's brother is killed in the raid. Nessip pursues the gang to uncover what really happened, joined a group of skydivers led by Jessie Crossman. Meanwhile Moncrief is working out his plot to secretly uncover the identities of all DEA agents and sell them to a local drug lord.

After the disaster of Passenger 57 you could understand if Snipes had passed on any more airplane related movies, but this is much better than 57 was. The story is daft of course, but it does allow plenty of good aerial photography and some good action scenes. However it takes itself a bit too seriously. It came out in the same year as Terminal Velocity (Charlie Sheen's skydiving movie), where TV was much more fun to watch as it never took itself seriously, Drop Zone loses the fun a bit by taking it all as a serious movie.

Despite that Snipes is really good – as in 57 he is able to rise above the material and give a strong central performance. His charisma carries him even when his lines are weak and as usual his fight scenes are impressive. Busey does his usual bad guy stuff easily and is so-so and the rest of the cast are ok. The most interesting thing about the cast for me was the `Homicide, Life on the Street' connection that saw tow great actors from that cast in small roles here, namely Kyle Secor (who played Bayliss) and Clark Johnson (who played Lewis).

Overall this is a solid action film. It's nothing special and not overly impressive but it passes 90 minutes without leaving any negative (or positive) marks!

This movie was made at the same time as „Terminal velocity" with Charlie Sheen. Some people are complaining that one movie is a rip-off the other. To be honest I don't know who is right. I don't really care. Both movies are on the same level. Both are decent popcorn movies to kill some time. Nothing to write home about.

I have a soft spot for Gary Busey and I'm happy that he's the villain in "Drop zone" . Wesley Snipes as hero is nice , because he gives his rather generic hero some depth. You can obviously feel his pain.

The movie has some quite attractive photography and interesting music. It also gives us some insight at the skydivers community.

All in all it's not a bad way to spend a night. I give it 4/10.

Drop Zone is an action ride from start to finish starring Wesley Snipes as a detective hunting down the men who killed his brother. No, the movie won't win any academy awards, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable action romp. The action is excellent, the girls are gorgeous, and the musical score is top notch. If you go in looking for a touching movie, don't bother. But if you just want something to enjoy for a couple hours of visual fun that requires little mental exercise, this will do quite nicely.

A '4' is twice what this turkey deserves (a '2') but it's appropriate for a number of reasons, and the primary reason is John Badham who does an excellent job when given something to work with (WarGames, Stakeout 1 & 2, Point of No Return, Bird on a Wire, et al). But since making this flick all his movie projects have been real duds. Maybe there's a connection?

Another two reasons are Yancy Butler and Claire Stansfield who provide the requisite eye candy. Another reason is Gary Busey who always knows how to play the stereotypical slime ball and do it at least half well. And the final reason is the skydiving which is exciting.

But that's where it ends. This is otherwise a movie much like Do or Die, made with preconceptions in mind ('hey let's make a movie with lots of skydiving sequences') and no worries if the story actually makes any sense. And don't you worry about it either because it doesn't. One could elaborate here but those elaborations would be spoilers. And hey - dramatic denouement it ain't but if you don't got that...

So why a '4' instead of a '2'? Why when the lead is being done by - Wesley Snipes? Why indeed? Precisely for the above reasons - and because as a whole it's exciting and not a total waste of time. In other words it isn't Gone with the Wind but maybe you don't feel like seeing Gone with the Wind tonight anyhow.

Although it's utterly ridiculous, I really, really enjoy this movie. Badham is a fine, if underrated action/thriller director; WarGames is great, Nick of Time is good, and his other notable movies include Stakeout, Saturday Night Fever, and The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings. He keeps Drop Zone moving quickly enough that suspended disbelief doesn't lift, which is a good thing considering that the bad guys are rogue skydivers. Seriously. Fortunately, the head bad guy is played by Gary Busey, who could make an interior decorator evil.

There's some great aerial photography, and it makes skydiving look awesome. It's extremely well-paced, the supporting cast is likable, and the script is enjoyably amusing. Snipes is one of the premier action stars of his generation, and his presence alone can elevate a movie from the mediocre to the above average. And Yancy Butler is absolutely smoking. End of story.

This movie is actually one of the more compulsively watchable to be released at the end of the action movie renaissance of the mid-'80s to mid-'90s. I'd watch it right now, even though I just saw it last night. My definition of a good movie.