Con Air (1997)
It’s Die Hard…
on a plane, once more.
Is the main character an average Joe?
He is a US Ranger who was sent to prison for involuntary manslaughter, meaning he tried to defend himself but accidentally killed a person.
Sidekick?
Cameron Poe does all the hard work on his own.
Any personal problems?
He has been locked up for seven years and only knows his daughter from cards sent to him. He has just been released and is on his way home to see her for the first time in real life.
Is the lead character there by coincidence?
He was just hitching a ride, and if his family picked him up from prison he wouldn’t even be there. So yes, he is.
Are there any friends or family in danger?
No, his family is safe. There is a fellow inmate who needs insulin and Cameron does everything he can to get it.
What’s at stake and why aren’t the authorities doing anything?
Runaway prisoners, the most nasty ones around. The takeover is a means for the prisoners to escape from their confined surroundings and they will do anything to reach that goal. The authorities are doing something, they want to blow the plane up and accept the deaths of a couple of guards and Cameron as collateral damage. Cameron has to look for a way to make clear that his working from the inside to sabotage the plans of the prisoners.
Any charismatic villains?
Lots. The lead villain is Cyrus “the Virus” Grissom played by Academy Award winner John Malkovich. His team consists of people like Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, M.C. Gainey. Quite an impressive cast of bad asses.
Is it any good?
It’s a guilty pleasure and it is the movie that cemented Nicolas Cage as an action star after “The Rock”.
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.