Rapid Exchange

Excellent action movie with an original plot. I've never seen a plot like this where money is stolen in midair and the good guys come out on top. The musical score was outstanding and helped move the movie along at a real good pace, especially during the action sequences. The locations sequences where different too, I believe most of the film was filmed in Europe. I would enjoy seeing another movie of this type with the same actors and actress. The movie moved along at a good pace and was never boring. Maybe some of the interior sets were a little bit of a stretch for the imagination being inside an aircraft, but I felt overall they fit appropriately into the movie.

It's a heist movie. Sure, the idea's not original, and you can predict roughly what's going to happen as soon as you meet the players; but it's still good fun.

There are very few big-name stars, which helps a great deal - if you see Bruce or Mel, you know he's going to come out on top, and here there's just a little bit of doubt.

I was repeatedly reminded of The Italian Job - particularly in the "you're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off" scene (it doesn't use that line, but you'll know the scene when you get to it); it's a shame that this didn't get the publicity that the remake of that film did, as I found it much more enjoyable.

The special effects aren't bad. They're not hugely flashy as on films with bigger budgets, but they do the job; most of the action takes place at night, which certainly helps with the bluescreening. The technicalities are a bit iffy, but not as wildly implausible as usual for Hollywood; they may actually have got a competent technical advisor on this one.

Not an intellectually engaging movie, but a good choice for a relaxed evening in.

The acting was so bad that is so difficult to believe in a movie with so crazy ideas. The expressions of the guards and their reactions were so bland that not even rookie actors in a high school play are so unbelievable.

So much money on a plane an such lousy and so few guardians on board. Okay a 747 is a huge plane, but you don't transport that amount of money so frequently as to have such an elaborate electronic equipment and a vault on board to "safeguard" the valuables. And also the interior of the "vault" is so unrealistic with high ceilings and very ample rooms, you are not inside a building, but a plane and don't have the luxury of empty spaces.

Blowing a hole on the side of a flying plane is no small issue but here the plane keeps flying as if nothing happened. There are so many inconsistencies that made me gag.

As a fan of Henriksen (I liked him in the "Millennium" series) and of course Lorenzo "Renegade" Lamas, I had expected at least SOMETHING from this film. Sadly, the plot is predictable, the acting is bad and the computergraphics used for most stunts don't work out. Sometimes it even looks like they've captured some shots from Microsoft Flight Simulator.

The cinematography sucks as well. Unnecessary funky camerawork in the beginning only detracts (from the cheesy dialogue) and gives the film a cheap, made-for-video-look. It works in hiphop-movies and Jet Li movies, but seems out of place in this flick.

I would have liked this film 10 years ago. I was 11 then.

Like a cross between Air Force One, Cliffhanger and Lassiter, only without Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Selleck (or any other real stars - I'm about to give up on Lance Henriksen), decent special effects or - well, basically anything worth watching.

Good music by Hans Zimmer and The Alan Parsons Project. The music actually written by Christopher Holden, however, pretty much reminds me of something left over from Dallas or Dynasty.