James Glickenhaus worked so hard through the 80's to become an established action director. He burst onto the scene with his derivative, but highly engaging scummy revenge movie THE EXTERMINATOR. Two years later he followed up with another gritty action movie (with a horrible script) called THE SOLDIER which showed he had a good handle on the action sequences (one standout is the downhill ski chase).
Then in 85 he mis-fired with Jackie Chan's first American film, and then made in 88 his only "good" film with a half-decent script THE SHAKEDOWN with Peter Weller and Sam Elliot. He was riding high, and could have done the quintessential 80's action film at that point... but instead chose to completely unravel his career with this total dud which sealed the fate of the 80's action film.
I love the cast though... and some scenes are so hopelessly idiotic that they're funny (the shooting down the F1 with a pistol)... and there are a few quality kills (like the guy getting shot out the window, falling onto the car, then bums steal his wallet and shoes! Rare diamonds in this otherwise rough movie.
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legnadibrom (5697)
a year ago
nothing cooler than Walken staring out the jet window with his awesome aviator shades on,
casually aiming his pistol at the other pilot and with a single shot killing the man, sending the million dollar jetfighter careening to the earth where it explodes without any debris, metal, or indication that a plane had just crashed
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