Passager 57

I tried to watch this movie without thinking at all and to just relax but it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do.

A few things made this movie really great: Wesley Snipes, the music, some of the lines, the action.

Other than those, the movie could have been much better.

Wesley Snipes plays John Cutter, a former airline security expert who is flying on a plane when terrorists happen to take over. Bruce Payne plays Charles Rane AKA "Rane of Terror", a terrorist who leads the attack on the plane. Tom Sizemore plays Sly Delvecchio, Cutter's buddy. Thats all I care to mention actor-wise.

I think Snipes could have used a lot more screen-time or at least more back-story. I barely got to know him.

The movie was in ten places at once, which made it extremely difficult to follow along. However, I still enjoyed the film.

Not a bad mindless movie, but try not to think too much.

6/10.

The tag; "Die Hard" on a plane is pretty much true when describing this uninspired Wesley Snipes action vehicle of the early nineties. A captive terrorist being transported on an aircraft by the FBI is violently freed by his associates and they take the plane hostage. However on board happens to be an airline security specialist who goes about making their life's hell. Durable direction along with Mark Irwin's crisp photography and exhilarating stunt-work (the opening chase sequence). While it might be systematic in its execution (exciting combat where characters get caught, escape, get caught and escape again), but a confident Snipes makes light work of the slight and clichéd material (where we get the usual character/s with a brooding past) to deliver cracking blows taking out the terrorists one-by-one and sharp-one liners ("Always bet on black"). Around this time Snipes had become somewhat of a household name and a Hollywood banker with movie fans. Churning out films like "White Men Can't Jump", "Boiling Point", "Rising Sun", "Demolition Man" and "Drop Zone". This entry might not make much of the dent in Snipes' portfolio, but for the undemanding just wanting some simple action moving at a brisk pace with some venomously psychotic villain performances (led by the exceptional Bruce Payne and an early part for Elizabeth Hurley) and fine support (Tom Sizemore and Ernie Lively). You can't go wrong with the consistently entertaining "Passenger 57".

"I never live in the past"

When terrorists take over a passenger plane while he is in the bathroom, it is up to an airline security specialist to thwart them in this action thriller clearly modeled on 'Die Hard'. Given the familiarity of the basic scenario, 'Passenger 57' is a surprisingly entertaining affair with Bruce Payne making for a memorable charismatic chief villain, plus there are several well coordinated action scenes that take into account the inherent claustrophobia of being in a plane. With this in mind, it seems quite uncanny how much of the action takes place outside the plane with several minutes spent on a chase through a fairground before the characters find themselves in the air once again. The dialogue is also hardly first rate with the film sorely missing the wit that Bruce Willis brought to the 'Die Hard' movies. Something interesting though is that the film is set up to be a redemption movie with protagonist Wesley Snipes haunted by the death of his wife at the hands of a criminal, and yet the film avoids setting up a near-identical scene to give him a chance to act differently, with Snipes instead having to find an alternative path to redemption. The ending feels more than a little rushed though with limited time spent on Snipes and Payne going head to head. This is an extraordinary short movie too, clocking in at just over 80 minutes, but at least it never outstays its welcome.

Passenger 57 (1992)

*** (out of 4)

An airline security adviser (Wesley Snipes) finds himself on board a plane that gets taken over by a notorious hijacker (Bruce Payne). PASSENGER 57 isn't going to go down in history as one of the greatest action movies ever made but I think it has a limited charm to it. There's no question that this thing shouldn't be confused for an "A" picture but if you go into this expecting a little "B" movie then you might find yourself entertained. This is the type of action film that really dumbs everything down because everything that happens just comes across so easy that you'd think being able to hijack a plane, jump off a plane and then get back on it would be something that anyone could do. If you put too much thought into this picture then you're going to see countless flaws and we won't even go into detail about how the terrorist, no matter what's going on, always gets the final say in what happens. The performances certainly help keep the film moving with Snipes perfectly being able to handle the action scenes, the laid back nature of his character as well as the silly one-liners that all action movies have. Snipes makes for a good lead who works well with the supporting cast around him. This includes Tom Sizemore in his small role, which the actor at least brings some laughs with. Elizabeth Hurley is also extremely good in her limited part as is Alex Datcher. Payne easily steals the picture as the sadistic bad guy who eats up every scene that he's in. You can tell the actor is having a good time playing this villain and we in return have fun watching and rooting against him. Again, if you're looking for a big-budget, lots of stunts action film then you're going to be letdown. This is a pretty small movie but I think for what it is the film works well.

John Cutter (Wesley Snipes) is an expert security agent who's still mourning the death his wife . He embarks a large plane , L1011-500 "Tristar , assisted by beautiful air hostesses (two gorgeous flight attendants : Alex Datcher and Elizabeth Hurley , one of the earliest film roles). Then , he finds himself accidentally trapped into the middle of an airline Jumbo hijacking executed by an arch-villain terrorist (Bruce Payne) who previously committed numerous terrorists acts . He hijacks the crew and seizes control of it . Cutter must take action confronting the nasty criminal , developing a battle of wits between two charismatic opponents . Meanwhile , Cutter contacts with his airline chiefs (Tom Sizemore and Bruce Greenwood) who want to hide the events .

The film packs nonstop action , suspense , tension , lots of violence when the murders and fighting happen , being quite entertaining . It's a run-of-the-mill action film in which from the beginning to the ending the thriller and emotion is continuous . This film Passenger 57 (1992) was scheduled to air on a Starz Entertainment Group channel the night of 9/11 , what with the themes of terrorism on an airplane, the broadcast was obviously cancelled . Wesley Snipes is top-notch as an action hero , turning into tough action man in films of big budget , just like ¨Murder at 1600¨ , ¨Money train¨ , ¨US Marshall¨ and ¨Blade¨ trilogy ; however , nowadays , he only makes low/medium budget films as ¨Unstoppable¨ , ¨The detonator¨, ¨7 seconds¨ , ¨Chaos¨, ¨The marksman¨ , among others . While on the plane Wesley Snipes reads the book 'The Art of War' ; Snipes later starred in the film ¨The art of war¨ (2000) that was loosely based on the book . Bruce Payne is excellent as the ruthless and extremely intelligent villainous , he plays -as always- magnificently a megalomaniac nasty .

Spectacular musical score by Stanley Clarke , being appropriately adjusted to action . The motion picture was well directed by Kevin Hooks -an usual TV movies director- . Robert Hooks, who plays FBI agent Dwight Henderson in the film , is the father of director Kevin Hooks . The film will appeal to action genre enthusiasts . It's a must see for Wesley Snipes fans .