Cracker Jack

Yes the plot has been done over and over again. But the plot works. Lethal weapon it is not but they tried!. Certainly not a mind blowing action masterpiece but it's a pleasant way to pass the time.

Put up your hand and than catapult it down, and say "bah!" to this film. An extremely weak film, that is based upon some old, already used cliché, you know "terrorists taking over, one man army, bunch of hostage", this time in the mountain hotel. Well... yahoo.

We got Thomas Ian Griffith (Karate Kid 3, Vampires) as a leading action man, but he looked here like he didn't give a damn for this film. He was even slow in martial arts scenes, he can do faster than that, but when you're doing a low budget film... what's the point? Christopher Plummer is here! What a hell? A great, classically trained actor to appear in such low budget crap as a leading villain? I don't understand... what is attractive to such great actors in low budget films? We also have Nastasja Kinski... well, she was OK.

There isn't much to say about this crap film. Except... you can watch it if you want to... fall asleep for example.

If you like the gifted Kinski and the excellent Christopher Plummer you can give this piece a (one) chance. Bang! Plummer deserves all the praise for his portrait of a real baddie with a clever and cynical mind. But do not expect to much brain of this B-picture.

Maverick cop with family problems and fondness of using his gun – Check! Isolated location with valuable object which is begging to be stolen – Check! Tasty looking love interest – Check! Assorted band of dumb cardboard cannon fodder villains with dodgy European accents – Check! German sounding bad guy played by an English actor with a piece of corny dialogue for every occasion – Check! Corny one liners – Check!

Deary me, does this film take the wee wee or what? The clichés come as thick and fast as an avalanche and most of the cast just stand around gawping at just how bad the script is!

In a blatantly cheap and cheerful straight to video rip off of Die Hard only set on a mountain (complete with some nicked lines from the aforesaid) we have all the usual action move cliché's ticked off progressively as we go along with some good old fashioned violence and nudity thrown in to wake up anyone in the audience who may just have nodded off.

Jack Wild is the cop in full on John McClane mode here who even manages time for the ye ancient bad guy with gun has used all his bullets gag at one point.

In amidst this mess, there are a few well known recognisable faces who I can only assume needed the cash and/or were simply playing it for laughs right from the pointless opening scene that had nothing to do with the plot whatsoever through to the final implausible conclusion complete with ropey dialogue and even ropier effects.

Looking up this three quid from the Supermarket bargain bin effort on IMDb I am astonished to find that this dud spawned not one but two sequels, I have got to find these gems on DVD! It looks like the first sequel is a rip off of Under Siege 2 and the second sequel, well goodness knows! One thing that is always a bad sign is that the actor playing Jack changes with each film and even the character's name seems to change for the third instalment.

Still, blind purchases of cheap DVD's just would not be the same if studios didn't keep trotting out material of this awful quality!!

Stumbling upon this 1994 movie titled "Crackerjack", from director Michael Mazo, here in 2025, of course I opted to watch it, as it was a movie that I hadn't already seen.

Writers Micheal Bafaro and Jonas Quastel put together a script and storyline that actually proved better than I had expected. The storyline turned out to be a rather enjoyable and entertaining one, so it was a joy to sit through the 96 minutes that the movie ran for. Sure, one might argue for this being a somewhat run-of-the-mill early 1990s action thriller, but it was still an enjoyable and entertaining movie. So thumbs up to writers Micheal Bafaro and Jonas Quastel for that accomplishment.

The movie does start out in a pretty upscale speed, throwing the audience right into the action, without us actually knowing what is going on. I liked that, because it pretty much set a hope for a fast paced and action-packed movie.

The movie actually has a pretty impressive cast ensemble, with the likes of Thomas Ian Griffith, Nastassja Kinski, Alex Diakun and Christopher Plummer on the cast list. The acting performances in "Crackerjack" was good. Leading actor Thomas Ian Griffith carried the movie nicely. And I had never thought that I would actually see Christopher Plummer in a villanous role, but he really performed rather well as a villain.

If you enjoy action thrillers, and get the chance to watch the 1994 movie "Crackerjack", I would recommend you to do so. I was genuinely and wholeheartedly entertained throughout the course of this movie.

My rating of director Michael Mazo's 1994 movie "Crackerjack" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.