Drop Zone

Drop Zone (1994)

** (out of 4)

Gary Busey plays (what else?) a crazy DEA agent who decides to work the other side of the law by stealing various computer files. The difference is that they basically drop out of the sky and onto planes where they get the information, which means cop Pete Nessip (Wesley Snipes) must train in skydiving to go after them.

There were some great action pictures that were released in the 1990s but DROP ZONE certainly isn't one of them. I still remember watching this in the theater and the buzz after the movie was over was everyone being really letdown. I mean, you've got a likeable action star in Snipes and a great villain in Busey yet the end result was something rather boring and certainly not exciting.

I think the biggest problem was the screenplay and the entire idea of this skydiving team doing all of this stuff. It just seemed very far-fetched that all of this could happen and there just wasn't any drama or suspense in the movie. I think the lack of suspense is due to the filmmakers wanting us to suspend our brain function a bit too much.

For the most part Snipes turns in a good performance and Busey is always fun to watch but neither man is given much to work with here. Their characters are clearly trying to draw off of some of their earlier work and there's just no fresh magic in DROP ZONE.

Although it's utterly ridiculous, I really, really enjoy this movie. Badham is a fine, if underrated action/thriller director; WarGames is great, Nick of Time is good, and his other notable movies include Stakeout, Saturday Night Fever, and The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings. He keeps Drop Zone moving quickly enough that suspended disbelief doesn't lift, which is a good thing considering that the bad guys are rogue skydivers. Seriously. Fortunately, the head bad guy is played by Gary Busey, who could make an interior decorator evil.

There's some great aerial photography, and it makes skydiving look awesome. It's extremely well-paced, the supporting cast is likable, and the script is enjoyably amusing. Snipes is one of the premier action stars of his generation, and his presence alone can elevate a movie from the mediocre to the above average. And Yancy Butler is absolutely smoking. End of story.

This movie is actually one of the more compulsively watchable to be released at the end of the action movie renaissance of the mid-'80s to mid-'90s. I'd watch it right now, even though I just saw it last night. My definition of a good movie.

<*sigh!*> Am I the only one this entire sad, weary world who notices that all these action films use the exact (and I mean exact!) same plot? Or am I just the only one who cares?

As action movies go, this one is OK, I guess. (But that's a little bit like saying "As cases of diarrhea go, this one was OK.") On the plus side, the aerial photography depicting the skydiving scenes was spectacular. There were the requisite number of explosions, chase scenes, and witty banter on the part of both the hero (Wesley Snipes) and the villain (Gary Busey), delivered archly in the expectation that one of their ripostes might become a popular catchphrase. And Yancy Butler is not too hard to look at, either.

However, if I pay $8 or $9$ to watch a film, I expect a little more than something made from a cookie cutter. Hollywood spends a great deal of time, effort and money putting together movies with extraordinary special effects, and they've become quite good at it. OK, so I'm impressed! Can't a few more of them work a little bit on story, characterization and dialogue? Is that really too much to ask?

As I watched this movie (and to be fair, I stumbled across it on television rather than paying an exorbitant ticket price at the theater; this probably made me more disposed to be tolerant) All I could think was that this is what Coleman Francis might have made had he had a bigger budget. Maybe he would have thrown in more coffee, cigarettes, booze and bad tempered swearing as well.

i liked this movie,but i didn't love it.if you like watching people jump out of parachutes,you'll enjoy this one.there are a few good action sequences,including a involving bad guys kidnapping someone from a 747 at 38,000 feet and escaping with parachutes.Wesley Snipes is in this one as a U.S Marshal on their trail and he also has a personal stake in catching them.he has some decent fighting scenes,but he has been better.Malcolm-Jamal Warner also appears in a definite departure from his Cosby Days character of Theo Huxtable. Gary Busey is also in the movie,and is his usual reliable self.Michael Jeter is also good for some laughs.and of course,for eye candy,we have Yancy Butler,who is also a fairly good actress.at least i have always thought so.when you put everything together,the movie is pretty good though not great.still, i enjoyed it for the most part.my vote for "Drop Zone":7/10

A '4' is twice what this turkey deserves (a '2') but it's appropriate for a number of reasons, and the primary reason is John Badham who does an excellent job when given something to work with (WarGames, Stakeout 1 & 2, Point of No Return, Bird on a Wire, et al). But since making this flick all his movie projects have been real duds. Maybe there's a connection?

Another two reasons are Yancy Butler and Claire Stansfield who provide the requisite eye candy. Another reason is Gary Busey who always knows how to play the stereotypical slime ball and do it at least half well. And the final reason is the skydiving which is exciting.

But that's where it ends. This is otherwise a movie much like Do or Die, made with preconceptions in mind ('hey let's make a movie with lots of skydiving sequences') and no worries if the story actually makes any sense. And don't you worry about it either because it doesn't. One could elaborate here but those elaborations would be spoilers. And hey - dramatic denouement it ain't but if you don't got that...

So why a '4' instead of a '2'? Why when the lead is being done by - Wesley Snipes? Why indeed? Precisely for the above reasons - and because as a whole it's exciting and not a total waste of time. In other words it isn't Gone with the Wind but maybe you don't feel like seeing Gone with the Wind tonight anyhow.