Review of Drop Zone

Drop Zone (1994)
"Skydivers" with a big budget
2 January 2001
<*sigh!*> Am I the only one this entire sad, weary world who notices that all these action films use the exact (and I mean exact!) same plot? Or am I just the only one who cares?

As action movies go, this one is OK, I guess. (But that's a little bit like saying "As cases of diarrhea go, this one was OK.") On the plus side, the aerial photography depicting the skydiving scenes was spectacular. There were the requisite number of explosions, chase scenes, and witty banter on the part of both the hero (Wesley Snipes) and the villain (Gary Busey), delivered archly in the expectation that one of their ripostes might become a popular catchphrase. And Yancy Butler is not too hard to look at, either.

However, if I pay $8 or $9$ to watch a film, I expect a little more than something made from a cookie cutter. Hollywood spends a great deal of time, effort and money putting together movies with extraordinary special effects, and they've become quite good at it. OK, so I'm impressed! Can't a few more of them work a little bit on story, characterization and dialogue? Is that really too much to ask?

As I watched this movie (and to be fair, I stumbled across it on television rather than paying an exorbitant ticket price at the theater; this probably made me more disposed to be tolerant) All I could think was that this is what Coleman Francis might have made had he had a bigger budget. Maybe he would have thrown in more coffee, cigarettes, booze and bad tempered swearing as well.
16 out of 23 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed