Drop Zone
                             
Director: John Badham
Year: 1994
Rating: 6.0
Made back in 1994 when Wesley Snipes was still making real movies and paying his taxes, when Gary Busey wasn't completely nuts and when director John Badham was making good films. This is basically a well-budgeted B film with some great airborne stunt work. Having a phobia about heights - I can't even watch mountain climbing films - it just astonishes me that people just jump out of airplanes voluntarily and float for what seems like an eternity. Are they crazy? Yes. I read that none of the actors were allowed to do their own stunt work because of insurance costs - but there are plenty of real folks doing crazy shit while in the air and they do a nice job of making it look like it is the actors doing that stuff. There isn't a lot of action but what there is is well-executed.


 
Snipes and his brother are US Marshals and have to transport a prisoner (Michael Jeter) to another location. Jeter is a computer genius and is a target of killers. They transport him on a passenger jet at 30,000 feet but a group of criminals blow out the door, drag Jeter with them and jump out into the wild blue horizon. But not to kill him - to use him in some criminal activities. When Snipes tells his bosses what happened, they don't believe him and suspend him. This is Wesley Snipes. He isn't going to stay home and watch TV. He figures out that they have to be expert parachuters and he is given only two names. One being Yancy Butler who just finished Hard Target. Her ex-boyfriend might be involved. Busey is of course running the criminals and is a psychotic. Isn't he always? Moves along quickly, thankfully no stop-over for feigned romance and a good slightly over the top finale.