Evasive Action

How desperate must Roy Scheider have become to accept a role in this straight-to-video offering from Jerry P. Jacobs, who must be some incestuously close relative of Alan Smithee. It is sad indeed when a quality actor is forced to prostitute his art in this way...and I thought I'd seen it all with Raul Julia's swan-song as General Bison in the frivolous STREETFIGHTER!

Total CON AIR clone without the budget, stars, script or direction. I particularly liked the character played by Clint Howard.."Hector the Director!" Have producers no shame!

I saw this a few weeks ago after a friend lobbed in from South East Asia with a VHS copy. Stuck it for 40 minutes then put on CON AIR to finish it! Avoid.

For me, the best part of this runaway train disaster, was the closing credits, where you get to understand just how many interesting character actors are totally wasted by the ridiculous script. Let's start with Roy Scheider, as a Mafia boss. Then there is Don Swaze, Clint Howard, Ed O'Ross, and Ray Wise, all lost in the cartoon-like goings on. You have a train. You have the bad guys taking over the train. You have the train eventually crashing into Los Angeles Union Station, yet everyone in the station seems oblivious to the fact that a locomotive has just torn through half the terminal. Hero, Dorian Harewood, jumps off the speeding train with no ill effects, steals a dirt bike, and somehow gets back on the train without a misstep. The weak attempts at levity, especially with the control room operator, are pathetic. Then there is the damaged helicopter, which somehow manages to get a cop onto the roof of the train, before disappearing behind a hill in flames. I could go on and on. The intriguing cast is absolutely the only reason to see this, but only if you are prepared for the ridiculous script. - MERK

A straight-to-video knock-off of Con Air and Under Seige 2, which doesn't have the budget or ideas to pull off anything beyond what you might see on daytime TV. It's packed full of character actors who aren't given much to do but do keep things rolling along sufficiently. Roy Scheider seems to be enjoying the chance to play a nasty bad guy but unfortunately gets lost in the crowd as the movie progresses. Dorian Harewood is not your stereotypical action lead, but he actually suits the character's reluctant participation well. Clint Howard is his usual creepy weird self and plays a pointless yet entertaining character. Don Swayze does his thing and is underused, and it's sad to see Keith Coogan reduced to such a minor side role. This movie is fine if you set your expectations low and still have a thirst for such outings beyond what it models itself on.

This mess of movie is just a big Con Air Rip Off. The Story, The Names, The End. Like, Clint Howards character is named Hector "The Director" and his bald compare with Malkovich character the balded Cyrus "The Virus". Don't bother watch this movie unless you are like me fan of direct-to-video movies. And at last Don Swayze looks like a Ostrich in the movie.

There are some familiar faces in this "Con Air" rip off. Dorian Harewood from Gothica and Full Metal Jacket is the lead actor who is 12 years into a 15 year sentence for shooting the guy who killed his wife. Ed O'Ross the villain from Red Heat who also had roles in Lethal Weapon and Universal Soldier has a role as the tough Warden of the prison. Clint Howard is a long way from his Gentle Ben days, but he has been turning up in small roles in movies for years. Waterboy, Austin Powers, Ed-TV, Tango & Cash and Backdraft. Don Swayze who has been in.....um.... err... We'll he's Patrick Swayze's brother. The star of the movie though is Roy Scheider who is a mob boss serving a life sentence. They are all prisoners on a train transferring The worst of the worst Prisoners to a new High-Tec prison. Scheiders character organises an escape with Harewood filling out the Nic Cage role from "Con Air" of trying to stop him, while remaining on his good side.

The end ridiculously takes stock footage from Silver Streak, and a lot of explosions and stunts happen off screen like Harewood jumping from a motorbike to the train, and a helicopter crashing.

I gave it 5/10 simply for Roy Scheider. There's a great scene early in the film where Scheider establishes his bad-ass credentials by brutally clubbing an uncredited Sam Jones (Flash Gordon) to death. Scheider was 66 when he made this, and he looks nails. I only watched this on TV because of Roy Scheider. Its sad that he had to took roles in movies like this to pay the bills, and its understandable that he did, we all have to make a living. I can forgive that rather than Sly Stallone starring in tripe because he was offered $15,000,000 to do so.