This isn't a bad film but it isn't exactly a great film either; Wesley Snipes does a good job as airline security expert John Cutter who is in the wrong place at the right time, Bruce Payne is okay as the psychotic terrorist and Alex Datcher is fairly forgettable as the feisty stewardess. For a thriller this is also lacking in any twists whatsoever. We are told who is bad and who is good almost as soon as their character appears.
The film opens with Charles Rane in an operating theatre awaiting plastic surgery, we know he is somewhat insane as he insists in having no anaesthetic. Before the operation can start the police move in and Rane attempts to escape but is eventually captured... now they just have to get him to Los Angeles for trial. Obviously the best way to transport one of the world's most wanting criminals across the US is to put him on a commercial flight with a couple of marshals. Of course Rane's people are on the plane amongst both passengers and crew and shortly after take off they seize the plane. Luckily they hadn't counted on John Cutter the airline's new security expert being on board.
He manages to call the airline and alert them about the hijacking before being briefly captured. He escapes his captors then flees to the plane's storage area where he accesses the avionics bay and forces the plane to dump fuel. This necessitates landing at a small airfield in Louisiana where Cutter jumps from the plane and is promptly detained by the local police who are stereotypical incompetent Southern yokels. While the plane is on the ground Rane and some of his associates get off the plane and flee to a local fair ground where after a bit more fighting he is captured again. That isn't the end though as his people still on the plane threaten to kill more hostages if he isn't freed. Once back on the plane Cutter confronts Rane one last time with the inevitable results on expects from this sort of film.
This isn't a film I'd go out of my way to see but it is okay if you have eighty minutes to kill and want some fairly mindless action. I wouldn't advise buying it unless you are a fan of cheesy action flicks or of Wesley Snipes.
The film opens with Charles Rane in an operating theatre awaiting plastic surgery, we know he is somewhat insane as he insists in having no anaesthetic. Before the operation can start the police move in and Rane attempts to escape but is eventually captured... now they just have to get him to Los Angeles for trial. Obviously the best way to transport one of the world's most wanting criminals across the US is to put him on a commercial flight with a couple of marshals. Of course Rane's people are on the plane amongst both passengers and crew and shortly after take off they seize the plane. Luckily they hadn't counted on John Cutter the airline's new security expert being on board.
He manages to call the airline and alert them about the hijacking before being briefly captured. He escapes his captors then flees to the plane's storage area where he accesses the avionics bay and forces the plane to dump fuel. This necessitates landing at a small airfield in Louisiana where Cutter jumps from the plane and is promptly detained by the local police who are stereotypical incompetent Southern yokels. While the plane is on the ground Rane and some of his associates get off the plane and flee to a local fair ground where after a bit more fighting he is captured again. That isn't the end though as his people still on the plane threaten to kill more hostages if he isn't freed. Once back on the plane Cutter confronts Rane one last time with the inevitable results on expects from this sort of film.
This isn't a film I'd go out of my way to see but it is okay if you have eighty minutes to kill and want some fairly mindless action. I wouldn't advise buying it unless you are a fan of cheesy action flicks or of Wesley Snipes.