Drop Zone (1994)

Chances are if that you were watching some action thriller in the '90's featuring an airplane being hijacked, there was a strong likelihood that it starred Wesley Snipes....as this would be one of three (the others being U.S. Marshalls and Passenger 57) released during that time period with such a sequence.  And amazingly of all three, this would be the one to feature him most up in the air as Snipes stars as U.S. Marshall Pete Nessip who after suffering a tragedy on one such hijacking early in the movie decides to track down said hijackers whom he believes were able to escape via parachutes?? :o Yup it's a crazy theory but it turns out to be true as these hijackers are actually professional sky-divers lead by the nefarious Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey) who has plans to use the convicted master-hacker Earl Leady (Michael Jeter) to utilize his hacking skills for nefarious purposes.  So what does our hero decide to do to apprehend these guys?  Why to infiltrate the insular world of sky-divers of course! ;) And his most important ally/mentor turns happens to be master-skydiver Jessie Crossman played by Yancy Butler (Hard Target, Witchblade).  So yes we get to see SNIPES Up In The SKY during his '90's peak....and directed by John Badham (WarGames, Saturday Night Fever, Bird On A Wire), one of the more underappreciated genre filmmakers of the era. 

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

DROP ZONE - 1994

Directed by John Badham

Starring Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey, Yancy Butler, Michael Jeter, Corin Nemec, Kyle Secor, Luca Bercovici, Rex Linn, Grace Zabriskie, Andy Romano, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Genre: Action Thriller (Audio clip)

At this point, '90's Action Snipes is just pure comfort food for me. At his peak, he was just that rare combination of an actor who could believably kick ass while being charismatic, funny, and engaging. And we see him SKYDIVE....well I'm sure we at least see good stuntmen skydive in some impressively filmed arial sequences. Well that and we see a couple of non-too-subtle riffs on Die Hard including Snipes' Pete Nessip not only doing the McClane-rolling-stairs-neck-break move on a bad guy but THEN propping up the dude's corpse in an elevator in the next scene. 😆 Hey if you're gonna borrow, borrow from the best....

Snipes certainly does his part to help make a pretty ridiculous plot work with not only his hyper-fast action chops but also plenty of self-deprecating charm and humor as his US Marshall also has to infiltrate the quirky, insular world of professional skydivers to track down an escaped hacker in a plot not too dissimilar from Point Break. 🤔 What also helps this elaborate deception is Snipes' wardrobe....pastel suits which have him looking like Sonny Crocket. 

And speaking of Point Break, our star gets great help from a fun supporting cast including the boisterous Yancy Butler as Snipes' own Lori Petty-like skydive instructor (who he DOESN'T get to hook up with....come on '90's Hollywood!), Michael Jeter as the smarmy aforementioned hacker, the reliably prickly Rex Linn....as....some prickly dude who skydives, and a suitably bug-eyed Gary Busey as the main villain! Busey's Ty Moncrief not only talks and sounds like a coked-up maniac but has this quirky habit of always aggressively just GRABBING people by the shoulders whenever he is speaking to them. It's a choice for sure!

Throw in a melodramatic guitar-infused score by the 'Zimm, loads of dated hacking....stuff, and of course.....slick direction from Big Bad John Badham who was riding a nice streak of fun high-concept action movies around this time and what do you have?  A solid good time at the movies, mid’90’s style!

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

Now I DID mention the ‘Zimm who composed this score…I’m referring to HANS ZIMMER of course and it’s right in the middle of a string of bombastic action scores which he delivered throughout the ‘90’s….TONS of electric guitar mixed with a healthy amount of synth….it’s not QUITE on the inspired level of his BEST scores from this ear including Broken Arrow, True Romance, and previous episodes Days of Thunder and Crimson Tide but it’s pretty solid and nicely compliments the high altitude action. (Audio clip) 

There is ONE standout track which plays during a pretty harrowing sequence late in the movie as the YOUNGEST member of Nessip’s new group of skydiving friends – Selkirk played by Corin Nemec – has a malfunctioning chute while falling…or was it SABOTAGED?? Well regardless he’s in free-fall and fellow sky-diver Swoop (Kyle Secor) is diving down to try to save him….the score REALLY kicks it up with clanging cymbols, pretty exciting stuff to the point where this particular piece of music had been used in several action trailers since then….including The Mask of Zorro and the first ‘Pirates movie, the track is fittingly called “Symphony of Skydiving.” (Audio clip) 

However when it comes to the use of pop music….there was ONE original song produced and performed for the film’s soundtrack and from one of the more omnipresent new wave rock bands of the ‘80’s…..Sydney, Australia’s OWN INXS.  They started back in ’77 with bassist Garry Gary Beers, lead singer/lyricist Michael Hutchence, and the Farris brothers….Andrew on keyboard, Jon on the drums, and Tim playing lead guitar.  Back in the day, I LOVED these guys….especially their breakout album in ’85…KICK…which I completely wore out on both vinyl and cassette. (Audio clip) 

The song they provided for this movie would sadly be one of the last singles produced by the band before charismatic lead singer Michael Hutchence died under questionable circumstances in ’97.  It’s not considered one of their best and certainly cheesy….but I have always found it SUPER-catchy – we first hear it about halfway through as Snipes’ Pete pulls up to a massive outdoor conclave of skydivers riding a scooter…..and then we hear it in its full glory over the closing credits…playing over fun footage of various ‘divers floating in the air.  It’s fast-paced, propulsive, featuring sexy vocals from Hutchence and kicks off with a GREAT opening hook….the song is “The Strangest Party.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film): 

If like myself, you grew up in the ‘80’s as an AVID fan of the sitcom comedy smash hit, “The Cosby Show”….when first seeing this in theaters, your eyes might have perked up seeing a certain name pop up during the opening credits…..the very appealing young actor who played THEO Huxtable, Emmy-nominated actor Malcolm Jamal Warner.  I was just a big Theo fan and I remember even whispering to my friend sitting next to me, “Hey…THEO’S in this!” On that show and in roles since then, he has always just such a warm, engaging presence. (Audio clip) 

You see this was just over a year removed when that show first went off the air and this was probably his FIRST time appearing on the big screen afterwards….a las, it would also be one of his last as Warner has been mostly a TV guy carving out a pretty solid career as both an actor AND director.  As far as I can tell form his IMDB, he has appeared in at most eight or nine feature films since then….but hey cool at least THIS time around, we see early on that he’s playing Snipe’s BROTHER and fellow US Marshall Terry Nessup, they have some fun back-and-forth….and he’s RIGHT in the action during that opening hijacking sequence. (Audio clip) 

Of course that’s before his character DIES during that same sequence…and in a pretty terrifying manner to the point where this pretty much becomes the inciting incident to thrust our main protagonist into this story….he just lost his brother after all and now he wants to clear his name.  Oh well…..Malcolm Jamal-Warner served his purpose for this movie….but would I have liked MORE?  You bet… (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Despite several well-orchestrated skydiving set-pieces occurring throughout the movie, my personal favorite sequence occurs about 65 minutes into the movie and doesn’t involve ANY sky-diving…but it DOES feature Snipes being Snipes.  His new sorta-friend Swoop has managed to piss off some ‘divers from a rival gang and two of them have now cornered him in a bathroom just outside of a local bar….they start beating him up….it’s pretty brutal.  But then comes Snipes to the rescue…..(Audio clip) 

Of course I’m referring to the Wesley Snipes who’s not only a charismatic movie star but also an accomplished martial artist.  Snipes had been training in various martial arts since he was twelve and eventually earned black belts in both Shotokan karate and Hapkido, also mastering other disciplines including Kung Fu and Brazilian Ju Jitsu.  Apparently around this time during his peak, Snipes was SO fast with his movements than when filming fight sequences just the year prior with Sylvester Stallone in previous episode Demolition Man, the director realized that he had to actually SLOW DOWN some footage of the actor performing his moves just to ensure that audiences could actually SEE them.  And he brings that SAME fast ferocity to this brief but undoubtedly thrilling sequence as he dispenses all three bad guys in this bathroom with aplomb using his feet, fists….and even a fluorescent fixture hanging above them. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person most responsible for the success of this film):

This is kind of a tough call in that it’s hard to discount just how well directed so much of the action is in this film.  But at the end of the day, the most interesting figure on screen here is it star….while this is certainly not his best film nor even close to his best performance, he still holds the screen and helps nudge us through what is admittedly a VERY cliched storyline.  And it’s more than just his action chops….just take a moment to watch just how relaxed and ingratiating his character is acting during those early scenes when Nessip is first visiting the local skydiving haunt.  He’s smiling, bopping to the music…you just can’t help but root for the guy and be drawn to him.  For doing what movie stars are supposed to do and making it look easy too, Wesley Snipes in the MVP.  

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

I’m not completely sure why but this just become one of my regular “rewatchables” as I find myself popping this on at least once a year….if you haven’t already, check it out!

Streaming on Prime Video and hoopla

And that ends another BLUE SKIES….BLACK DEATH review!