Enemy of My Enemy

I just saw this movie on DVD because it had a plot similar to something I am writing. This movie just did not come together and no one seemed to have their heart in the project especially for a medium budget movie ($45 million).

I think there were some good ideas, but the lack of attention to details makes it almost amusing in places and impossible to believe the acting. I think the viewer gets distracted by the problems like banging the fire extinguisher on the air shaft while supposed to be sneaking through it, and the person responsible for disarming an atomic bomb not knowing how to work a fire extinguisher. The chain of these unbelievable details seems to keep poping up throughout. However, looking for the problems in the movie is the most charming thing about it.

This political thriller has a pretty good, up-to-date story (Serbian terrorists seeking revenge after one of their leaders is kidnapped by US soldiers to stand trial in Hague); but the execution is strangely lifeless and dull. Tom Berenger had top billing on my video cassette cover, but he didn't appear until about half of the movie had passed, and even then he got less screen time than Weller's son, played by teenage heartthrob Jeremy Lelliott. There is one rather catchy plot twist near the end (I didn't see it coming, maybe someone more observant would have) involving Weller and Hannah; but it didn't save this movie from being quite mediocre. By all means, the action stunts, the explosions and the machine-gun-firing is impressive, but the story and (most of) the acting is not. So unless you're a die hard fan of either of the actors involved, you probably won't be satisfied after watching this movie. Rating on a dice, I'll probably give it a 3 (out of 6).

I'm usually a sucker for mindless action flicks, but this was an incredible waste of time, both for the actors involved and anybody who tried to watch. The military special effects are laughably fake, with colored smoke substituting for real explosions. I like Weller, Hannah, and Berenger, but even they cannot rise above this horrendous made-for-TV script. In fact, this was easily their worst film -- for all of them. When the actors do stop to give their lines, the result is often unintentionally humorous. There are far too many unnecessary plot elements, making the movie feel like 6 different scripts were thrown into a blender. The scenes stolen from other movies ranging from Mission Impossible to Toy Soldiers are immediately recognizable and come across as gratuitous and weak. It's just a shame. There was so much potential, instead it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

DIPLOMATIC SIEGE is a low rent thriller that rounds up a half-decent cast and throws them into a clichéd and predictable storyline involving some evil Serbian terrorists who take over the US embassy in Romania and proceed to issue various demands else the hostages will be executed. Of course, it's up the usual renegade heroes who are trapped on the inside to find a way to defeat their enemy...

Despite this being a B-movie in every respect, it's actually quite enjoyable with strong, clear choreography and crisp direction from Gustavo Graef Marino. Okay, the script was never going to win any awards for originality, but there's a brisk pace that doesn't let up and some fun moments for the known actors. There are some well-mounted shoot-outs with machine guns and the like but our heroes spend the movie evading the enemy rather than engaging, so DIE HARD it ain't.

Headlining the cast is Peter Weller (ROBOCOP), putting in a typically assured performance, and cast opposite him is Daryl Hannah, shortly before Tarantino cast her in KILL BILL. The third known face is Tom Berenger, sleepwalking through a stereotypically tough military role, although cult fans may spot an aged Brion James lower down as a stuffy US general. DIPLOMATIC SIEGE is only average at best but as B-movies go it isn't too bad at all.

This so-called international thriller was so dreadful that I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The team of four writers who wrote this trash should be imprisoned for crimes against humanity. The eight producers who brought it to the market should be tried for conspiracy to cause brain death. It was that bad.

This film was horrible in all regards. The production standards were below TV quality. The photography was poor, the sound was muddy and the music was pure garbage. The premise was interesting; that the U.S. planted atomic bombs in all its embassies in the Soviet Union and Eastern block countries during the cold war to give them first strike capability. Now that the cold war was over the U.S. was disarming all the bombs, but the last one was in an embassy taken over by a group of terrorists. Our heroes (Daryl Hannah and Peter Weller) had to disable it before the terrorists got control of it.

The presentation of the story was abysmal. The dialogue was so bad that I was literally guffawing between eye rolls. Some scenes were so implausible that I had to wonder what the writers were smoking. For instance, our heroes are clanking through the ventilation system, trying desperately to find a way to get downstairs to the bomb to disable it. Terrorists are all around killing one hostage an hour. So, this would be a perfect time to start necking in the air duct, right? The writers thought so.

Daryl Hannah and Tom Berenger did their best to bring credibility to their ridiculous characters with some success. Peter Weller was awful. His character had a batch of very stupid lines, which he was able to elevate to absurdity.

I rated this film a 2/10. Do not see this film under any circumstances. Action junkies might be tempted because of the enormous body count. Resist.