Skyscraper (1996)
It’s Die Hard…
in a Skyscraper, just like the original.
Is the main character an average Joe?
Only when Playboy Models are considered average. Anna Nicole is a simple helicopter pilot for a company that provides a sort of air-taxi-service. She is also in possession of very big breasts and knows how to fight apparently. They must teach self-defense in the Playboy Mansion I guess.
Average she is not, but she doesn’t have a background in the military or something like that. Her husband did taught her how to shoot though.
Sidekick?
Yup, two in the form of her breasts who both get their fair share of screen time.
Any personal problems?
She wants a baby while her husband, an LAPD officer, does not.
Is the lead character there by coincidence?
Yes, she just happens to be the person to drop off the lead villain by helicopter at the skyscraper in the title and even though she was ordered to wait for him to come back she goes inside the skyscraper to use a phone and becomes part of the action.
Are there any friends or family in danger?
Her husband at one point also is in the building but he’s never in as much trouble as she is. She almost gets raped at one point giving us an image of a nude woman shooting someone.
What’s at stake and why aren’t the authorities doing anything?
Fairfax is intent on collecting a series of four interlocking electronic devices that can somehow “shift the balance of power in the world.” He has already acquired three of the devices and is going for the fourth device, which is in the Zitex building, an 86-floor skyscraper. The authorities can’t enter the building because the building is built to withstand civilian riots and paramilitary attacks.
Any charismatic villains?
Fairfax (Charles M. Huber) loves to quote Shakespeare and Henry the 4th. His henchmen all are plucked right out of the gym.
Is it any good?
Quite the opposite of good, as this direct-to-video movie is more of a soft-porn version of Die Hard. That does mean we get to treated to lots of extended nude scenes featuring Anna Nicole, scenes that normally you would expect in a Playboy movie. The acting is atrocious, especially in scenes in which Anna Nicole has dialogue.
They are planning a remake, I would go for Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Joe Manganiello, Milo Ventimiglia, Tom Welling, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Runner, Derek Theler, or D.J. Cotrona as Gabe Walker; and Billy Zane, Kevin Spacey, Dominic Pace, Alec Baldwin, Gil Banks, Hugo Weaving, Robert Knepper, Brian Van Holt, Travis Fine, Skeet Ulrich, or Dash Mihok as Qualen.
I think there is a way to improve The Taking of Beverly Hills, like instead an undercover Fed helped crippled a militia group and imprisoned many members including their leader. But the leader’s brother and a few members of the group plant bombs all over Beverly Hills, and threaten to set them off if the leader is not released, and the undercover fed seeks out the bombs while his partners buy him time.
Blast is good, but it would be worthwhile to note that, Agent Lisa Reed (Vivica A. Fox) finds out that Michael Kittridge (Vinnie Jones) is actually a mercenary named Skyler Talbot and had killed the real Kittridge and stole his identity to throw off authorities.
I would like to see Christmas Rush. Anyone know where to find it?
There are some sites that list it as streamable, but I don’t know how legit they are. If you own an XBMC player I would advise you to look on that network.
What is an XBMC Player? I have never heard of one.
In most cases they are mediaplayers running Android. Because they run Android they can download an app named XBMC from Google’s Play Store. XBMC allows you to search and stream movies
Don’t forget the other scenarios like Terminal Rush, Interceptor, Crash Dive, Counter Measures, 12 Rounds: Reloaded, 12 Rounds: Lockdown, Project: Shadow Chaser, Command Performance, Demolition University, Cyberjack/Virtual Assassin, Final Voyage, and Air Rage.
For Speed 2: Cruise Control, it should have been Direct to Video, and not a sequel to Speed. The lead villain should have been a pirate instead of soft ware designer turned mad bomber trying to blow up a ship.
Every time I see “Air Force One” I remember that in the Tom Clancy novels, the character of Jack Ryan becomes president. This film could have been part of the saga starring Harrison Ford, if he had continued it.