Meltdown - Kernschmelze

it's patently obvious that the writers (who have some "x-files" episodes under their belt) are big fans of "24", even going so far as to get leslie hope (jack bauer's k.i.a. wife in "24"-season 1) on board here...the plot twists and general feel are that of a "24" episode that's been compressed into a 2-hour time slot, and that ain't a bad thing since all the unnecessary sub-plots inherent in a regular season of "24" are virtually eliminated by time constraints..a taut job of direction by chechik who's done solid work before on "diabolique" (and a severely crappy hatchet job on "the avengers") ...opening credits somewhat reminiscent of the end of "fail safe"...nicely underplayed performances by the principals (particularly bruce greenwood) who could easily have been tempted to go way over the top here, and some legitimately funny lines to break up the tension

if you enjoy "24", this puppy is right in your wheelhouse...

The editing in this movie was rather unusual. They kept fading in and fading out. The hand held camera work didn't really work for me, too much made me dizzy. And the choice to go black and white at times was uncalled for, at first I thought it was for the "terrorists" to gather information but then out of nowhere it would just go because. The main terrorist has been in The Mummy and Darkman now he's playing another bad guy. The character of Shea is rather over the top I'm not sure if someone like that would really be in the FBI, and he's the senator in Rules of Engagement. Also the actions of the anti terrorist team were rather harsh, you'd think they'd be a little more controlled.

Over all it was enjoyable watching.

I try to watch as little TV as possible. One of my very few favorite series is "24". I agree the comparisons to "24" are quite apt here. I watched this because cable 'made for TV' movies are proving to be some of the best product available today. Far better than spending $7+ USD to go see the latest feature films.

I did not realize until researching afterwards that the lead terrorist character was the same playing Imhotep in "The Mummy". He is clearly an under-rated actor. The rest of the acting was not extraordinary, however sufficient. I thought I recognized the female 'chip' also played Teri Bauer in "24". The Muslim engineer portrayed illustrates just how much "American" muslims have in fact been Christianized. He did not recognize that the lead terrorist was quoting directly from the Quran.

What is significant about this feature is that it illustrates quite clearly just how f***** up the leadership of our federal govt. really is. It portrays to what lengths ("extreme prejudice") our incompetent leadership will go to cover up, disguise, and deceive the masses. You come to understand why some 'patriots' would resort to extreme measures to wake up a nation and especially it's leadership to the malaise we are currently under spell. Lucretius has stated (paraphrase) that "extremes on either side are bad". However, Goldwater also stated "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

I was told by a friend and fellow 24 fan, that there was a fantastic movie made on the same subject as this years series storyline. I rented the movie and was completely blown away. I have to say, some of the comments above are harsh. As a television movie, this is hands above 95% of what's made. No one has mentioned that Chechik seemed inspired by Paul Greengrass' work on Bloody Sunday, rather than 24. Interestingly enough, I would say the writers of 24 actually saw this movie and went so far as to use its premise and if you can believe it, even cast the same actor as the lead terrorist, Arnold Vosloo. That said, the movie is pretty relentless. Chechik places you inside moments without editorializing. Although I might question some of the motivation of the terrorists, once I got the big twist, I found myself being less interested in the why and more interested in the how. Which I suppose is the reason FX made the movie. More importantly, the ending leaves you breathless in its callousness and in the position the US government takes regarding their actions. Actions characterized as being for the "good of the country." It's amazing to me how bad for the country that posit is. Really well done.

This film was not all that bad as the story went but the camera work is what makes it difficult to watch. I just don't like that so-called "realistic" camera work that is being done nowadays; you know the type- jumping off center, panning around, etc. What got me particularly irritated about this film though was the new thing that they threw into the mix by shooting a few frames in black and white in each scene. I believe that the film would have been much better if the camera work was shot in the much more conventional way because as it was I couldn't concentrate on it and found myself analyzing the camera work instead. Maybe if more people express dissatisfaction with camera work like this the filmmakers will finally get the hint.