Tripwire (1989) User Reviews

A surprisingly well-made action film that delivers the goods.

[ChoiBaby · 19 March 1999]

Ruthless international mercenaries trained to kill have decided to hijack a speeding railroad train loaded with a full arsenal of powerful military weaponry capable of threatening world peace... The only hero who can intercept the villains' scheme for world domination through the endangering of the human population is the irascible Jack DeForest (Terence Knox). He's an over-the-counter secret agent working for the U.S. Government who must thwart left-wing terrorists led by Josef Szabo (the ever-reliable David Warner).

However, the battle between good and evil has escalated into a personal fight of reprisal when DeForest accidentally dispatches the son of the notorious terrorist Szabo. This gruesome murder of the terrorist leader's loved one has instigated plenty of evil's unprecedented wrath! Seeking an all out retribution, Szabo launches an attack pinpointing DeForest's family...resulting in the untimely murder of Jack's wife and the abduction of their only teenage son...

Now, DeForest must fight not only for his country...but for the one he truly cares about...

TRIPWIRE will not win any awards for creativity, novelty in the storyline or even for longevity. TRIPWIRE, unfortunately will not stand the test of time. Thanks to this film's dearth of originality, it will relinquish on the video shelves along with hundreds of mind-boggling action films.

That, having been said, I was pleasantly surprised to find TRIPWIRE to be a not-so-bad thriller. TRIPWIRE is an action-packed tale with lots of standout moments from the eye-opening intro involving breathtaking motorcycle stunts to the taunting conclusion. The exhilarating skimobile pursuit between the protagonist and a fugitive is fun to watch as well.

TRIPWIRE is a complex thriller which entertains just as easily. Character development is rather innovative throughout, with DeForest's son as among the best characters. The actor is great portraying a troubled teen. David Warner as well chews the scenery as a hard-bitten, very bitter terrorist who vows revenge on the one responsible for the untimely murder of his son.

Considering this movie's limitations with its low budget and the anonymity of this motion picture to the general public, TRIPWIRE is a well done action film with an even pace and characters who are not so repellent. The film is on-target all the way from the explosive, high-caliber overture to the screen's fade out... This movie is worth a look for genre fans.

RATING: **1/2 out of ****.

So bad it is worth watching

[Genevieve_X · 1/10 · 21 July 2011]

Okay, this is one of those 'tick the box' films. Evil terrorist, shady mid eastern organisations, "hot shot" FBI agent playing by his own rules, son who is moody and listening to bad metal music because dad is never around, black police chief. I could go on ... and I will - loads of opportunities for set up fights, where just shooting someone would've been much more logical, oh too obvious plot introductions that set the scene for "a-ha" moments later, the loose cannon cop sacked from "the feds" and takes up bareknuckle boxing "somewhere near Arizona (or wherever"), evil dudes called "carlos" and "el tigre". Yep, it is just that bad. Who funds these things????? But really funny and worth it for the 1980s kitsch.

VHS fodder!

[teachermarkthailand · 3/10 · 19 August 2021]

Released at the end of the worst decade ever for movies (1980s) this collection of routine clichés was what kept Blockbuster in business! This, and a thousand movies like it, was what you grabbed to make up the numbers when the fifth VHS video was free and you couldn't make your mind up what to get!

It's a mindless schoolboy battle between cartoon good guys and cartoon bad guys. Lots of chases, gun fire and fighting.

This example of the genre is elevated very slightly by the notable cast members and the fact that the music hasn't been spewed out of a Moog synthesizer!

Roll up your jacket sleeves and flip up your collar... It's the 80s!

Entertaining action.

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 17 June 2013]

Jack DeForest (Knox) is a take-no-prisoners FBI agent who's out to stop an international ring of terrorists led by the fanatic Szabo (Warner). Szabo's goal is world domination by means of smuggling all kinds of dangerous arms. Helping him are his henchman Hans (Mortensen) and the beautiful Trudy (Lewis). Even street thugs like Turbo (Richardson) go up the ladder to Szabo, who has his fingers in all sorts of illegal activities. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with the tough, no-nonsense DeForest, whose rogue ways...well...cause him to go rogue in pursuit of justice. Captain Pitt (Kotto), of course, doesn't approve of his "cowboy" tactics. But in a weirdly personal twist, while in pursuit of Szabo, DeForest kills his teenage son. So in revenge, Szabo kidnaps and brainwashes DeForest's son and forces him, through constant druggings, to be a part of Szabo's criminal network. So now DeForest must rescue his own flesh and blood, while attempting to "deforest" the terrorist network. Can he do it? Tripwire is a minor undiscovered gem in the world of video-store action. It starts with a bang, an extremely impressive chase sequence. After this wheelie-popping' intro, the stunts and parade of familiar names in the cast keep things afloat. Truth be told, it does sort of run out of steam in a couple of places, but on the whole, Tripwire is a strong entry in the "I've never heard of it" action sweepstakes. Another thing that helps the movie is some of the more off-kilter directorial touches, thanks to James Lemmo, a man known for his associations with Abel Ferrara and William Lustig. For example, for the first seven minutes of the movie, there is no dialogue. There are some unusual camera moves as well later on, and the performance of Yaphet Kotto is oddly naturalistic.

The movie continues to hit all the right notes, as exemplified when DeForest is kicked off the force, and becomes a down and out...wait for it...PUNCHFIGHTER! We always appreciate some unexpected Punchfighting. Knox plays an impressive hero, and gets in some good dialogue. Rounding out the impressive cast are cameos by Meg Foster and none other than Tommy Chong. Of course, DeForest has a young punk son who cranks up his 80's metal on his boombox and has Frank Zappa posters on his wall. But all of that aside, if you were in a video store in the golden year of 1989 and saw Tripwire's box art, how could you NOT rent it? It's impressive - and also similar to the Lemmo/Lustig vehicle Hit List (1989). Something about dudes being dragged from cars must really fire them up. Well, color us impressed.

Tripwire is another example of why the 80's were so fertile and rich with entertaining action. It's only now that we're sorting it all out and enjoying everything from that time period. And despite a few minor missteps, it's finally time that Tripwire had its moment in the sun.

A Well-Done 'B'' Action Movie

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 2 February 2007]

This had Class B written all over it, yet it was still very entertaining and not a bad action film. For an R-rated film, it was surprisingly free of some things you normally see and hear. Some of the scenes in the bars were crude and the beginning had Rambo-like violence with little credibility, but the majority of this was a well-done film.

A big thing it had going for it: it should keep everyone's interest all the way. It certainly did with me. This is an unknown movie, a real "sleeper." You can kind of guess that since there are only two of us who have reviewed it, as of this writing.

The opening scene is real attention-grabber: six minutes of almost no dialog and a wild action. That about sums up the film: pretty wild. The lead actor, Terrence Knox, is not someone I was familiar with, but he was okay. I was sorry David Warner didn't have more lines as he's usually interesting and I was surprised Yaphet Kotto's character kept his cool. I kept waiting for him to blow up.

Note: the cover on the VHS box is misleading. They show the hero being dragged by a truck. In the film, that happens to the bad guy, not him.

Okay action pic about terrorism

[lor_ · 11 May 2023]

My review was written in March 1990 after watching the film on RCA/Columbia video cassette.

A bland lead performance sinks "Tripwire", an unpretentious Cinetel action pic briefly released theatrically in January by New Line ahead of home video.

Terence Knox plays an FBI man who interferes with terrorists, led by David Warner, who are sabotaging a train. He kills Warner's son, starting a vendetta. Warner kills Knox' wife Meg Foster and kidnaps his son.

When Knox is bounced from the federal payroll for not obeying orders he embarks on his one-man campaign to get Warner, aided from the inside by romantic FBI co-worker Isabella Hoffman. Film each in smug, far too pat fashion.

Biggest problem here is casting of Knox, who's simply too stolid, dead-on as a colorless FBI guy. Casting against type might have worked.

Supporting cast is arresting, including the always dependable Foster. Charlotte Lewis as a very sympathetic terrorist and Yaphet Kotto once again essaying his "Midnight Run" persona as Knox' FBI boss. Tommy Chong and his wife pop up in pointless cameos.

Surprisingly likeable and interesting movie

[amadeuseisenberg · 8/10 · 13 January 2022]

The main character kills a terrorist's son. Then, as revenge, his son and the mother get taken. What follows is a plot that is actually quite interesting and entertaining.

Action scenes are also quite well done and the gunfights are surprisingly satisfying and really clicked with me. Besides, nothing like seeing a man walk into a building with a SPAS12 in broad daylight in a highly populated area. I imagine the people in charge of the action scenes could make a really solid action movie if given a good budget. The action here is about as good as the trailer will lead you to think.

Anyway, you might think movies like this are bottom of the barrel titles, but the thing is, this type of pile also contains lots of diamonds in the rough. I have been surprised more than once. Huge, heavily promoted movies can also be absolute disasters and, on the other hand, smaller movies like this can be hidden gems. It's still a matter of opinion and you have to have some taste, but this is without a doubt an entertaining watch. There are way worse movies than this out there, that's for sure. Hell, we just crawled away from what is potentially the worst decade in film history, the 2010s, but bringing in that as an example would be too easy and it's just unnecessary.