There are so many stupid action movies out there -- mind-numbing, explosion-filled, cartoonish, slow-motion-bodies-falling, gore, ugly guns, special f/x, mismatched heroic couple of mixed sex, wisecracking villain -- and I've SEEN so many that I'm beginning to be able to tell the difference between them.
This is one of the better ones. The plot has John Travolta as the smiling treacherous heavy, and Christian Slater as the true-blue captain in the USAF out to spoil Travolta's plot to blow up Denver with a kidnapped nuclear device. There is a cute red head thrown fortuitously together with Slater. She has nice plump lips, big blue eyes, and the tightly tailored slacks of a Park Ranger. Very nice. We watch her from below as she climbs the ladder on the side of a boxcar. There's no reason for her to be IN the movie except to have her climb boxcars, roll down sandy hills, and so on.
But then there's no particular reason for ANYTHING to be in the movie. What I mean is that if you found it necessary to leave the room for a minute or two -- a knock on the door, a tug on the trigonal, whatever -- you would find that you hand't missed much when you returned. None of the characters changes in any way. There is no dialogue worth remembering. There are some unusual special effects but if you've missed one example it's okay because another is right around the corner. I particularly enjoy the scene in which the exploding bomb takes out the helicopter.
I've sat through this thing three times and I am now convinced it has turned the higher reasoning centers of my brain into tofu. That's why I genuinely like it. I like it for Travolta's toothy reptilian grin, for Slater's imitation of Jack Nicholson, for the ripoffs from "Indiana Jones," for the gorgeous Utah scenery, for the rocketing diesel train, Lake Powell, the redhead climbing the ladder, the fist fights, the bouncing Humvees, the civilian who proudly announces he used to be a lieutenant in the ROTC at Yale, the redhead climbing the ladder, the bodies of people who tumble in slow motion towards the camera as a fireball explodes behind them (three times), the redhead climbing the ladder.
I just like it, that's all. Anybody up for some sesame oil?
This is one of the better ones. The plot has John Travolta as the smiling treacherous heavy, and Christian Slater as the true-blue captain in the USAF out to spoil Travolta's plot to blow up Denver with a kidnapped nuclear device. There is a cute red head thrown fortuitously together with Slater. She has nice plump lips, big blue eyes, and the tightly tailored slacks of a Park Ranger. Very nice. We watch her from below as she climbs the ladder on the side of a boxcar. There's no reason for her to be IN the movie except to have her climb boxcars, roll down sandy hills, and so on.
But then there's no particular reason for ANYTHING to be in the movie. What I mean is that if you found it necessary to leave the room for a minute or two -- a knock on the door, a tug on the trigonal, whatever -- you would find that you hand't missed much when you returned. None of the characters changes in any way. There is no dialogue worth remembering. There are some unusual special effects but if you've missed one example it's okay because another is right around the corner. I particularly enjoy the scene in which the exploding bomb takes out the helicopter.
I've sat through this thing three times and I am now convinced it has turned the higher reasoning centers of my brain into tofu. That's why I genuinely like it. I like it for Travolta's toothy reptilian grin, for Slater's imitation of Jack Nicholson, for the ripoffs from "Indiana Jones," for the gorgeous Utah scenery, for the rocketing diesel train, Lake Powell, the redhead climbing the ladder, the fist fights, the bouncing Humvees, the civilian who proudly announces he used to be a lieutenant in the ROTC at Yale, the redhead climbing the ladder, the bodies of people who tumble in slow motion towards the camera as a fireball explodes behind them (three times), the redhead climbing the ladder.
I just like it, that's all. Anybody up for some sesame oil?