Terminal Velocity

"Teminal Velocity", a B-level action flick with sky diving as the principle source of thrills, sticks Sheen and Kinski at the center of international intrigue with sundry bad guys chasing them around as they to manage to find ways to free fall through space and into love. Full of plot-holes, this typical commercial Hollywood product is a potpourri of stunts, shootouts, effects, pytotechnics, romance, etc. sufficient to keep the bleary-eyed channel surfer awake until the end. The flick has one really cool stunt near the end, goes easy on the sex, doesn't take itself too seriously, and is an enjoyable "ride" as long as expectations are kept low.

When Ditch Brodie takes a novice skydiver (Chris Morrow) up in his plane for lessons, she tragically falls to her death. Brodie loses his license and tries to live with the loss. However an closer look at a video of the accident reveals a second plane where a body was thrown to impersonate Chris. Brodie investigates and uncovers a plot to capture sensitive information and return it to Russia.

This is a really fun film. It's not meant to be a masterpiece or a deep political thriller. It is meant to be a fun ride through exaggerated characters and silly set pieces. The plot is almost pointless - it's just an excuse to hang the set pieces around. However what you do get is Sheen overacting, great action scenes - the best being Sheen skydiving after a car which has Kinsji locked in the trunk. You understand? - it's meant to be big dumb fun. Personally I think this is better than a lot of big summer films that have big special effects scenes and ridiculous plots but try to take themselves seriously. This knows it's all a bit unlikely but enjoys itself anyway.

Sheen is the key to the tongue-in-cheek approach. He doesn't play a character - he almost just plays himself! Even when he's in action scenes he's smiling - because he's having fun! and it makes me enjoy it a lot more. Kinski almost has as much fun in her role, but she has to carry a lot of the plot so she is more serious at time. A pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini is menacing in his small bad guy role and Melvin Van Peebles makes an appearance to show that it's not just his son that can do daft films.

Overall it's silly dumb fun. Sheen enjoys himself so why can't you?

Ok, so it's not Shakespeare. It was a serious Crash and burn at the box office, but I consider it to be my duty to defend this film. So some of the jokes are lame and the plot virtually non-existent, but you just have to remember one thing:It was really FUN! And as I see it, that's the only thing that matters. Charlie Sheen isn't exactly at home with the action hero thing, but he brings a good humour that the usual action hero hunks would have seriously over-looked, and in a film like this it's the humour that holds it all together. For a Wet Wednesday evening, you can't beat it. Go... Rent, buy, borrow, whatever you need to. I guarentee you'll laugh at least once, even the most surly among you. (And for those Charlie Sheen fans out there, this is one you should definitely see. Not as good as some of his other films, but definitely an important spot in his career) Watch this movie, and enjoy.

SPOILER: Happened to watch it when it was aired on TV and must admit I wasn't disappointed.

A hot babe Nastassja Kinski walks into Training centre seeking a few sky-diving classes and Charlie Sheen more-than-willing obliges. A slight over-sight of Charlie Sheen leads to the death of the new student. Sheen loses his license but determined to investigate further leads to uncovering a big suspense coupled with a roller-coaster ride.

A lot of holes in the movie but the tongue-in-cheek dialogs and fast pace of the movie make you overlook it all. Afterall, you are watching the movie for fun - and you are getting it.

Action sequences are well-executed especially the mid-air sequences. I must admit when Sheen fails to open Kinski's parachute and she falls "plop", I was like "Oh... my God!".

Watch it for fun... would definitely recommend it. 6/10 rating.

This film was much better than I expected it to be. Its a very enjoyable fast paced action film, which doesn't take itself to seriously, with an on form Charlie Sheen, a beautiful Miss Kinski and the added bonus of a pre-superstar James Gandolfini. Its actually the perfect film for a Saturday night with a few beers and Pizza. There are many great action set pieces and Charlie has some great one liners too, I mean this isn't meant to be a work of art, its a light hearted action film, and it does it well, I'll even forgive the part that ripped off the ejection seat sequence from Die Hard 2, after all Goldeneye done it too!