Panique sur le grand huit

Pretty good movie with Antonio Sabato Jr. (nuff said) - Acting is OK. Stephanie Kramer does her usual good job.. (I miss her in Hunter though) -- A nutjob threatens a roller coaster park and Antonio is off to the rescue. This is a made for TV movie for a good reason.. That's where it should stay. If you're an Antonio fan.. Here's a tip: Its on usually late at night on cable. Out of 5 stars, I give it 2 1/2. Get 1/2 bag of popcorn and some soda!

Reading the plot outline may lead you to think that this is something like "Rollercoaster". That it ain´t. This makes even the 1977 Sensurround schlockbuster look like a masterpiece. The actors (mostly fair ones actually) wrestle with a inept if not inane script. Direction, story, photo, music, well everything really screams "low budget"! If the ultracheap MTV-stylewannabe opening sequence doesn´t make you reach for the zapper nothing will.

There´s 90 minutes of my life I won´t get back!

1. The acting is down-to-earth realistic. There isn't glamor like the big budget movies the main actors are usually in, and that makes it realistic.

2. Thrill was filmed at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California. I worked there as a ride operator for 2 1/2 years, and miss that job.

3. The plot was realistic. As I stated before, there wasn't any glitz and glamor, except the fact that Theresa's home is owned by a professional athlete (my husband and I don't like sports, so I can't remember who the athlete is). If she were really financially in trouble, she could have sold the house, or car.

4. Realistic special FX. The FX I know of; The roller coaster isn't run by a computer, nor is it laid out like the computer indicated. The log ride was manually triggered to stop the boats before the fall (I loved working on that ride). The rides that were running without ride operators were most likely turned on with the operators blocked out and some had to have something pushing a pedal down, like a brick. The train operator probably crouched down inside the engine cabin. The trains' horn was heard, and I know that there is a string you have to pull on.

5. Last, but not least; The romance between Anne and Jack is heartwarming, and realistic. I honestly think there is room for a sequel.

My vote of 10 is for the experience being an extra in a movie, id probably rate the movie a 3 or 4. I live right near Santa Cruz where filming took place and my parents, who happened to be in a Roller Coaster club (ACE, aceonline.org) were asked to shoot scenes on the coaster. I was only 12 at the time, so i had to do this supposed "school" while filming and i couldn't shoot the scenes on the coaster as there was not enough time. You see me standing in line 2 or 3 times (the continuity was actually OK) and you see my parents getting off the coaster. The best part didn't even happen to me, but one of the guys in our club, he got to be on the coaster as Mr. Sabato was jumping from one train to the next. I believe he filmed for a week or 2 and maybe a few thousand dollars. I filmed for 2 days and made like 500 bucks or somethin like that.

I think you can see me when Mr. Sabato runs up to the station toward the end and it is revealed that the bombed is still alive. "Thats Impossible!" he says. I have a green shirt and long, bushy hair that curls around my neck in the vein of MacGyver.

Yep, I'm famous.