User Reviews

While channel surfing, we found this movie with its promising synopsis. We were dismayed at the flat acting, and formulaic storyline. We found amusing the exploding car scenes, unbelievable shoot outs, and sets that crash down with the weight of tyro-foam and cardboard. What was even more hilarious was seeing all the recycled scenes from "Dante's Peak", where the church front falls on the school bus, the store fronts break away from the main street, the overpass collapsing, and the red truck speeding down the alley way as the bricks fall down on it. It was a good laugh although unintended, and leaves the viewer wondering if it was not originally intended as a low budget spoof of disaster films.

My one line summary should explain it all, but I'll have a go at it.

From the get-go, this movie seemed like an overdone soap opera, and that's about all I can comment on. There were a few interesting scenes, such as the "Big one" that hit during the middle of the movie, but, wait, what's that? The earthquake *gasp*, wait a minute! That's Dante's Peak! Well, parts of it butchered and slapped in. I can't believe how poorly this movie was done, "borrowing" scenes from other, much better films. One wonders what director thought that viewers are dumb enough to believe large wooded mountain-esque backdrops exist in downtown LA, ala Dante's Peak.

My advise, forget the Bond Wanna-be, Nash, in this film and go for the real thing (again, someone from Dante's Peak coincidentally.)

Think of a no-budget version of China Syndrome being directed by a film student who idolizes John Woo and you'll get 'Power Play.' The idea was good, but the execution, acting, and dialog absolutely killed it, not to mention ridiculous amounts of violence and disaster sequences that was used to compensate for lack of substance and development of the more interesting parts of the movie.

This is the story of a reporter investigating the disappearance of three members of a guerrilla activist group who mysteriously went missing after they broke into the offices of a power plant that is suspected to be causing a frenzy of earthquake. The rather cavalier reporter, going up against what should've been a more ruthless bunch of company execs, is chased around town (along with anyone he speaks to) in order to "clean" whatever conclusive evidence might remain of the plant's faults.

Unfortunately, there is no real sense of emergency because the characters interact with much hesitancy, coupled with idiotic dialog and a lot of horrible acting. Not to mention, the viewer, who may only be attracted to the movie for it's action genre appeal, is forced to endure a mounting body count and ridiculous amounts of violent shoot em-ups plus earthquake disaster scenes. All of the focus was put in the wrong place to apologetically compensate for the lack of direction and more interesting sequence of events that should've propelled the story. It might've been much better had the filmmakers focused more on a thriller, and paid greater attention to developing the corruption aspects of this story. Creepy villains, a naive reporter, and those who attempt to alert the reporter of the wrong-doing afoot. It is formulaic, but at least it would've been entertaining.

I thought this was a spoof of old 1970s disaster-movies for the first 10 or so minutes I was watching it ... the script seemed to be pretty much as cliche-ridden as "Scary Movie" or even "Police Squad", so I was settling down waiting for the comedy parts to start .... they just never started.

Then it became like having a loose tooth that you can't leave alone with your tongue and just have to keep playing with - I became obsessed with watching it to the bitter end, no matter what the cost to my psyche or my HMO for Therapy afterward. I HAD to find out if there was anything remotely redeeming about this film, but I was sadly disappointed.

The main characters were insipid and disappointing, with Dylan Walsh looking like he was on Quaaludes most of the time, and Alison Eastwood appearing uncomfortable delivering hackneyed lines to their uncaring cast-members on sets that must have cost all of $9 (Nine Dollars) to build.

In future years, this film may achieve cult-status alongside the likes of "Plan 9 From Outer-Space" or "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians", but all-in-all, your time may be better spent laying under a bright light having root-canal.

"Power Play" starts off interesting but it goes down hill fast. The only good actor is Tobin Bell and he has a very small part. Beyond Bell, "Power Play" has no redeeming value or interest. "Power Play" has more earthquakes in a few days than California has in a year. The earthquake scene in the mall is so contrived and completely unbelievable. And all the action scenes look like a bunch of third graders putting on a play. It's awful, simply awful.

Bottom line, if "Power Play" was made in the 60's or 70's it would be considered a poor "B" class movie. The fact that "Power Play" was made in 2001 is really sad. Is there such a thing as a "D" class movie? If so, "Power Play" casts the mold.

Two days after seeing this thing, I'm still in agony over HAVING seen it. It's so bad, you have to wonder how anyone could write this tripe, much less allow it to be loose on the general public. Stilted acting, a leading man who looks like he's sleepwalking, and Alison Eastwood embarrassing herself. The action is indicative of low budget movie making, which means it is painfully bad. The plot? Well, if you were 6 years old, then you could have written this movie. Simplistic, idealistic, and just plain lame.

I have to finish watching a movie once I start, regardless of how bad it is. This movie was agonizing to sit through. The "sparkling" bullets, the reporter with "ninja" like moves, the way the bad guys shoot hundreds and hundreds of bullets and only seem to hit innocent bystanders, the predictable outcome and all the bad acting was just horrible. Like the girl who finds the reporter in her friends apartment and goes from "what the heck are you doing in here (holding a bat)" to "hey, you're cute, wanna @#$%!???" in like 1.2 seconds.... Just bad.... Save yourself an hour and forty minutes and go play with your kids (or dog)!

I think if they made ANY MONEY make a complete turd bomb like this one. The I need to get into the movie industry. I wiped my ass on a piece of toilet paper and made a better script once. Watch when the guy is running through the tunnel, they used the same 30 feet of tunnel OVER and OVER and OVER again and never even changed the location of the stupid HANGING light.

I think if i get the THRILL of meeting the director of this GEM of a MOVIE, I think i will pick a fight with him and start it by deficating on his LOAFERS

I think I need to puke now

The contexturalization and plot of this movie are nuanced, non-clichéd and real worldly ambivalent. It weaves sci-fi, ecology, spy and corporate drama into a plausible mesh; in direct contrast to the implementation which is car chases, reflexive gunfights and a "just a scratch" hero. For a change the unbelievability isn't in the whole worldview but only in the the personal charm and invulnerability of the hero. In a novel twist; as bullets fly and bodies hit the pavement our hero never carries a gun, only a camera that keeps getting broken, and doesn't kill anyone; though handy with his fists. A realistic approach would have made it very heavy weather. As it is, it's good fun and better politics than usual.

Can only be described as awful. It is bad to start with and then gets even more bad. When you start you really have to watch it through because it is impossible to believe that it can get worse - but fear not because it does. Another poorly written script for a donkey director for no-talent offspring of past movie stars. It's hard to decide if the script is worse than the acting or whether the directing is worse than both. As for the hero - well he belts up everyone including one scene where he beats the living daylights out of the tough by swinging open the wardrobe door and smashing him against the window with it. And in another scene he gets thrown through a window and crashes 20ft onto concrete - doesn't even blink - then gets up immediately and gets stuck into the baddies. This is a really ridiculous movie. Lucky it only cost me $1 to hire.

i saw this film and couldn't not tell you what it was about. It is very poor.

Dylan Walsh (who played Nash) appeared to me wooden and showed no sign of emotion whatsoever. He looked like he found himself on the film set but did not know why he was there nor what he had to do. He was supposed to play a journalist who was also a heart-throb (I DON'T THINK SO!!! - NO WAY) and having woman fall at his feet. What a joke!

Alison Eastwood looked bemused and no wonder (Dean Cain (who is a heart-throb) was set to play 'Nash' but for some reason he did not take the part - a very wise guy indeed) finding herself faced with a completely different co-star to Dean, who wouldn't look bemused.

My main concern with this film was that Nash (Walsh) spent most of his time spying on various people and getting caught. He was then in a fight and every time he seemed to be beaten pretty badly BUT SHOWED NO SIGNS WHATSOEVER OF ANY INJURIES (THIS INCLUDED FALLING ABOUT 20 FEET AND STILL GETTING UP WITH NO SIGNS OF INJURY) doesn't this send the wrong message to people, in that you won't be hurt whether you fall 20 feet or are beaten pretty badly.

My advice watch something else.

(2002) Power Play ACTION

The title of the movie may appear to look like a sports movie about hockey, but as you are watching it, it's really a low budget equivalent copy of "Live Free Die Hard" about eco-terrorists led by Clemens (Tobin Bell) and Travis Gentry (Brixton Karnes) going after America's electrical resources. Based on the action sequences alone, I've seen made for TV shows that showcases convincing action than this. A lot of poorly staged unconvincing fights and uninspired gun battles starring Dylan Walsh of Nip/Tuck as a news reporter collaborating with Gabriella St. John (Allison Eastwood). Bomb.

It's just breathtaking in it's awfulness-- you really must see it!

Depending on your perspective, Dylan Walsh is either the savior or the problem here: since he's the only one on screen that can actually get his lines out with something akin to natural cadences and inflection, he either ruins the movie by pointing up everyone else's flaws, or he saves it by providing some context for their awfulness.

I'm inclined to the later view-- thanks to him, it works as high comedy. He's the 7 footer in a game of dwarf basketball, his skill set just doesn't apply in this context, and his discombobulation is delicious.

The real treat though is Ms. Eastwood, whose inability to speak in plain English is so pervasive I actually googled her, expecting to learn that she was a Russian beauty who pronounced her lines phonetically, with no understanding of their meaning. But no: she's just a talent free American who will leave you laughing with every line she drops. Whether she knew what the lines meant must remain an open question.

Very exciting action film. Dylan Walsh and Alison (daughter of Clint) Eastwood are dynamite together. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys action flicks but also wants a good story and good acting. A+

A major energy conglomerate is experimenting with new power sources and in the process is triggering major earthquakes in the L.A area when excess heat causes new fault lines. An investigative journalist is hot on the trail ,as are some ecological warriors and the company strikes back with assassins and bombs. Fortunately for the good guys the killers are stupendously bad shots mowing down innocent bystanders in plenty but proving wholly unable to hit the real target . Its pretty poor with a cast consisting entirely of somnambulists ;some weak special effects and a plot for whom illogical would be too good a word

Avoid !

This is one cool movie. Set in Mexico and U.S. it's about evil "power guys" who cause earthquakes and havoc...lot's of fun, sometimes funny, very exciting, great flick. Oh, yeah, Alison Eastwood is hot!

The blurb on the DVD box made this sound very promising.

From the first scene, one had to wonder just what sort of production this was going to be. Thank goodness the bad guys shot that hysterical shrieking greenie - her acting was just too much to bear. I think we were all wanting to do that ourselves.

The earthquake scenes were so drawn out and repetitive, and the props so fake.

As for the first car chase, since when has every car involved in every car smash burst into flames?? (I think the German APCs did in Eagles Dare). The second car chase, when every car in LA was immobilized by the quake our second shrieker was able to talk on her mobile, avoid all the wrecks, and the pursuer was equally immune from the chaos. Like the first scene, it was a mercy when the poor girl perished.

Now, the ultimate destruction of the power plant was about as awful as the earthquake scenes.

Overall, perhaps the worst movie I have ever seen.

I loved this film. It is very exciting and has a lot of great action scenes (many earthquakes, chases, etc.) It moves really fast--never boring for a moment. Dylan Walsh is very cute and very good in the film. Clint Eastwood's daughter, Alison Eastwood is the love interest. She's > O.K. but not as good as the other actors in the film. I would highly recommend this film if you enjoy fast paced action movies.

I am so surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. The story was intriguing, realistic and completely relevant to the ecological issues we are dealing with today. The special effects and action sequences were exceptional for a low budget film. I loved the destruction of the LA freeways-Amazing! The acting was impressive. Tobin Bell and Brixton Karnes performances were brilliant, cunning and slimy. The supporting cast definitely made the film fun and enjoyable especially in contrast to the expressionless Dylan Walsh and Allison Eastwood's bland acting styles and total lack of chemistry. Overall, well written, great story, Fantastic Ending and a Fun movie to watch.

I saw this film at an AFM screening and fell in love with it. It has tons of great action and earthquake sequences that would rival any $100 million production. Mr. Zito is in fine form here as director. He takes us on a journey like no other, with high ideals and real characters. And hats off to Dylan Walsh who does a fine job

Power Play is a gripping action thriller that made me feel like I was right in the middle of Los Angeles during a mega-earthquake. Dylan Walsh is great as the reporter. Alison Eastwood is hot. Super special effects!