Review of Drop Zone

Introduction

Drop Zone – no not the sign hanging outside my toilet but a 1994 action movie starring Wesley “fights like a girl’s blouse” Snipes :). Snipes plays the part of Federal Marshall Pete Nessip. When a mid air kidnapping goes wrong his brother is killed so Snipes sets out to catch the sky diving team of crooks responsible. Bringing them in isn’t going to be easy, the team (led by Gary Busey as Ty Moncrief, an ex-DEA officer) have covered their tracks perfectly so Snipes is on his own.

It’s branded as Die Hard meets Passenger 57 meets Cliffhanger. I`d say it had some elements borrowed from Point Break as well. That’s not to say it lives up to all the afore mentioned movies because it doesn’t however it`s your standard no-brain action flick, ideal for watching with a few mates and a fridge full of beers.

Video

The transfer is anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1 and looks ok . . . in parts. Many scenes show graining or an almost mist like marking on top of the picture. To start with I was convinced that it was dirt on my screen so stopped it and gave it a damn good clean, only to find the picture was the same. Some scenes are ok but there were far too many poor scenes for me to say that transfer was anything other than passable.

Audio

The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 and is pretty impressive. Being an action movie there are allot of chances for some outstanding sound moments and overall the disc handles them well. It’s a very lively soundstage with excellent use of the surround speaker. As more and more movies are released with great soundtracks it gets harder and harder to pick any outstanding moments to be honest but over all I was impressed with the use of sound and the sense of involvement it imparted.

Features

Don’t get me started. Maybe if I shout this loud enough eventually movie studios might hear . . . INTERACTIVE MENUS AND SCENE SELECTION DO NOT PASS AS EXTRAS!!!!!!!!

Conclusion

The movie itself has a very impressive and powerful start, somewhat too powerful as the rest of the movie has a hard time living up to it. In a similar way I was more impressed by the aerial heist at the start of Cliffhanger than I was with the rest of the Cliffhanger movie itslef, the exact same is true here. The movie itself isn’t bad, not by a long shot, it’s simply that the best bits happen first is all.

Acting? Don’t make me laugh, it’s an action film. What acting there is in the movie only servers the action anyway so there’s little point in trying to appraise Wesley Snipe’s talent, or lack there off, to carry emotions :). Wesley Snips is simply Wesley Snipes, but would you want him any other way in an action movie? A mention to Gary Busey who, as always, eats up the roll of the bad guy.

The action scenes are handled very well but there’s something about sky diving that doesn’t quite grip you in a way that other action movies do. I think maybe it’s my total lack of exposure to the suicidal practice of throwing oneself out of a plane, I suppoes it’s more interesting to watch activities that you can personally relate to. Take driving/chase scenes for example, endlessly more watchable than people throwing themselves out of planes.

That said it’s still a good action movie but don’t expect it to live up to the build up it gets given. It’s not another Die Hard by any stretch of the imagination but as long as you watch it without that expectation you’ll enjoy it for what it is.

They could have done a whole lot better with the disc overall though so only buy this if you really loved the film.