A major American city, the day after tomorrow. A city with history, glamour, nightlife
and serious crime.
The MetroPolice (MetroPol) are about to unveil the most expensive and secretive weapon in its arsenal: the Viper Project. It is a car a car with a secret identity. In its "Street Mode" the auto can pass as a sleek and powerful performance car. But a shift of a lever activates the Viper's "Defender Mode," transforming it into a high velocity pursuit-and-capture vehicle loaded with the latest defense and tactical equipment. The Viper is MetroPol's last hope against the increasingly sophisticated crimes favored by the Outfit, the powerful and mysterious mob that controls the city's underworld.
But the Viper Project has one flaw: the vehicle is so demanding that a driver cannot be found within MetroPol. Desperate to keep the project alive, Councilman Strand (Jon Polito), a ruthless city official, extends the search to the other side of the law Micheal Payton (James McCaffrey) is the Outfit's best wheel-man, leader of a skilled group of elusive thieves known as the Highwaymen. He is a man of rough edges who relies on his instincts. When Payton's car is demolished in a police pursuit, Strand conspires to replace the comatose Payton's memory with a "created identity." Payton awakens with amnesia and is told that he is Joe Astor, a policeman chosen to drive the Viper.
Astor is teamed with project director Julian Wilkes (Dorian Harewood), the brilliant a meticulous inventor who designed and built the Viper. A stray bullet in a gang crossfire put him in a wheelchair, dearly dashing Julian's hopes of escaping his ghetto neighborhood, but his intelligence and force of will kept him going. Julian trains Astor to drive the car. Though their different temperaments lead to a clash of personalities, the two men become friends and partners.
Complicating Astor's and Wilkes' lives is Frankie Waters (Joe Nipote), the MetroPol motor pool chief and self-professed "car nut." Possessed with a quirky and slightly surreal personality, Frankie's mission is to insert himself into the Viper team and cut himself some action. Frankie eventually allies himself to Astor and Wilkes by virtue of the vast font on information and gossip that funnels through his office.
As the dreaded Outfit grows aware of the car, the organization makes it a target, desiring the powerful vehicle for its own lawless use. When they learn of his former criminal identity, Astor is contacted by one of his old gang who reveals his true outlaw past. Astor reels with the discovery. The former crony attempts to lure Astor back to his previous life, pressuring him to steal the car for the Outfit. Astor ultimately refuses. No matter that the identity he thought was real had been a lie, the lie has become his reality and he has centered himself about it. The brutal Highwaymen retaliate by killing Elizabeth Houston (Sydney Walsh), the hospital therapist with whom Astor has fallen in love.
Then, a sudden reversal of funding devastates the Viper Project following its first, highly successful night battling crime in the streets. The car is scheduled for dismantling. Everything that Wilkes and Astor had been working towards evaporates. Astor discovers that the Outfit is behind the funding reversal. When the mob could not steal the car, it had instead insured that MetroPol would never use the vehicle to oppose them. With a bribe to Councilman Strand, the Outfit has effectively pulled the plug.
Determined to continue their fight against the Outfit, Astor and Wilkes "liberate" the Viper with the help of sympathetic MetroPol commander Delia Thorne (Lee Chamberlin). Astor discovers that during his criminal days he had put away a vast sum of money. This sudden wealth now funds Astor and Wilkes in their private war with the underworld, and allows them to set up their "lair," a combination garage/lab/headquarters secreted within a long-abandoned power station outside the city.
With Joe Astor as a visceral driver, Julian Wilkes the genius mechanic who continually attempts to add to the car's abilities, and Frankie Waters their "mole" within MetroPol, the Viper team works in the shadows for justice as their car begins to acquire a legend of its own
The MetroPolice (MetroPol) are about to unveil the most expensive and secretive weapon in its arsenal: the Viper Project. It is a car a car with a secret identity. In its "Street Mode" the auto can pass as a sleek and powerful performance car. But a shift of a lever activates the Viper's "Defender Mode," transforming it into a high velocity pursuit-and-capture vehicle loaded with the latest defense and tactical equipment. The Viper is MetroPol's last hope against the increasingly sophisticated crimes favored by the Outfit, the powerful and mysterious mob that controls the city's underworld.
But the Viper Project has one flaw: the vehicle is so demanding that a driver cannot be found within MetroPol. Desperate to keep the project alive, Councilman Strand (Jon Polito), a ruthless city official, extends the search to the other side of the law Micheal Payton (James McCaffrey) is the Outfit's best wheel-man, leader of a skilled group of elusive thieves known as the Highwaymen. He is a man of rough edges who relies on his instincts. When Payton's car is demolished in a police pursuit, Strand conspires to replace the comatose Payton's memory with a "created identity." Payton awakens with amnesia and is told that he is Joe Astor, a policeman chosen to drive the Viper.
Astor is teamed with project director Julian Wilkes (Dorian Harewood), the brilliant a meticulous inventor who designed and built the Viper. A stray bullet in a gang crossfire put him in a wheelchair, dearly dashing Julian's hopes of escaping his ghetto neighborhood, but his intelligence and force of will kept him going. Julian trains Astor to drive the car. Though their different temperaments lead to a clash of personalities, the two men become friends and partners.
Complicating Astor's and Wilkes' lives is Frankie Waters (Joe Nipote), the MetroPol motor pool chief and self-professed "car nut." Possessed with a quirky and slightly surreal personality, Frankie's mission is to insert himself into the Viper team and cut himself some action. Frankie eventually allies himself to Astor and Wilkes by virtue of the vast font on information and gossip that funnels through his office.
As the dreaded Outfit grows aware of the car, the organization makes it a target, desiring the powerful vehicle for its own lawless use. When they learn of his former criminal identity, Astor is contacted by one of his old gang who reveals his true outlaw past. Astor reels with the discovery. The former crony attempts to lure Astor back to his previous life, pressuring him to steal the car for the Outfit. Astor ultimately refuses. No matter that the identity he thought was real had been a lie, the lie has become his reality and he has centered himself about it. The brutal Highwaymen retaliate by killing Elizabeth Houston (Sydney Walsh), the hospital therapist with whom Astor has fallen in love.
Then, a sudden reversal of funding devastates the Viper Project following its first, highly successful night battling crime in the streets. The car is scheduled for dismantling. Everything that Wilkes and Astor had been working towards evaporates. Astor discovers that the Outfit is behind the funding reversal. When the mob could not steal the car, it had instead insured that MetroPol would never use the vehicle to oppose them. With a bribe to Councilman Strand, the Outfit has effectively pulled the plug.
Determined to continue their fight against the Outfit, Astor and Wilkes "liberate" the Viper with the help of sympathetic MetroPol commander Delia Thorne (Lee Chamberlin). Astor discovers that during his criminal days he had put away a vast sum of money. This sudden wealth now funds Astor and Wilkes in their private war with the underworld, and allows them to set up their "lair," a combination garage/lab/headquarters secreted within a long-abandoned power station outside the city.
With Joe Astor as a visceral driver, Julian Wilkes the genius mechanic who continually attempts to add to the car's abilities, and Frankie Waters their "mole" within MetroPol, the Viper team works in the shadows for justice as their car begins to acquire a legend of its own