Drop Zone

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Dom Robinson reviews

Drop Zone
Distributed by

Paramount

    Cover

  • Cert:
  • Cat.no: PHE 8006
  • Running time: 97 minutes
  • Year: 1994
  • Pressing: 2000
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Chapters: 19 plus extras
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: 4 languages available
  • Subtitles: 8 languages available
  • Widescreen: 2.35:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: Yes
  • Disc Format: DVD 9
  • Price: £19.99
  • Extras : Scene index, Theatrical Trailer

    Director:

      John Badham

    (American Flyers, Another Stakeout, The Assassin, Bird on a Wire, Drop Zone, The Hard Way, Incognito, Nick of Time, Stakeout, Wargames)

Producers:

    D.J. Caruso, Wallis Nicita and Lauren Lloyd

Screenplay:

    Peter Barsocchini and John Bishop

Music:

    Hans Zimmer

Cast:

    Pete Nessip: Wesley Snipes (Blade, Demolition Man, Drop Zone, The Fan, Jungle Fever, King of New York, Mo’ Better Blues, Money Train, Murder At 1600,New Jack City, One Night Stand, Passenger 57, Rising Sun, Sugar Hill, To Wong Foo, U.S. Marshalls, White Men Can’t Jump)
    Ty Moncrief: Gary Busey (Big Wednesday, Chasers, Drop Zone, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Lethal Weapon, Lost Highway, Point Break, Predator 2, Rookie of the Year, Soldier, Surviving The Game, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot,Under Siege, Universal Soldier II, Warriors)
    Jessie Crossman: Yancy Butler (Drop Zone, The Ex, Fast Money, Hard Target, The Hit List)

Drop Zoneis a parachuting term and that’s what this film centres around when it comes to dealing withthe bad guys, perhaps trying to replicate the success of 1991’s other Gary Busey-starrer,Point Break.

While on a plane with his brother Terry (The Cosby Show‘s Malcolm Jamal-Warner,who gets about two minutes of screen time), FBI guy Pete Nessip (Wesley Snipes) knows somethingis wrong when he’s called to the cockpit to be told of the terrorist presence onboard. D’oh!They’re there to collect witness Earl Leedy (Michael Jeter, most recently seen asDeath Row prisoner Eduard Delacroix, the mouse befriender, inThe Green Mile), who the Nessipbrothers are meant to be guarding, but before you know it, Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey,playing a bad guy whose name is worth at least a double word score in Scrabble) and hiscronies blow a hole in the side of the plane and make their escape, also causing lots ofpassengers to disappear with them, Alive-style.

What follows is a standard plot-by-numbers film as Nessip wants to get revenge for hisbrother’s death, albeit a rather entertaining one. Given that the enemies are all skydivinggeniuses, he has to learn too and is treated to a few lessons from Denise Richards-wannabeYancy Butler as Jessie Crossman, an actress who looked like she might stay around afterthis and Hard Target), butquickly faded back into obscurity.

There are, however, some cool action sequences and plenty of one-liners, the best of whichare delivered by the ever-impressive Busey.

One of the things that’s always irked me about this film is that during the early scenewhere the plane has problems, Snipes is seen to be holding onto chair legs while tryingto stop his brother from slipping outside. As soon as he go “bye bye”, Snipes lets go andsobs uncontrollably, hammering the floor of the plane as he boo-hoos. Of course, he’s notholding onto anything else in the plane, for some time, right by the open door, so howcome he’s not sucked out too?

One thing that has to be noted here is that this is the first time Drop Zone hasever been available in the correct 2.35:1 widescreen ratio in the UK, as the PAL Laserdiscwas cropped to about 2.1:1, in similar fashion to the NTSC laserdisc. It’s also anamorphic,free of artifacts and has a stunning quality to it that will make your jaw drop during thedaylight skydiving sequences. The average bitrate is a high 8.10Mb/s, often hovering justabove that.

The sound is first rate too. I don’t have a Dolby Digital 5.1 setup at home, more’s thepity, but I have good recollection of this film in the cinema soundwise. Impressive effectsincluded a moment when a plane simply flies past the screen – takes a second and that’s it- doesn’t sound impressive to describe it like that, BUT, what we saw was the moment as itwas halfway doing a circle round the audience. I wanted to turn my head as it left thescreen, it was that impressive, knowing that I’d feel a right idiot if I did because therewould be nothing there… and sure enough, I turned my head and saw a cinema wall. Ahem.

Another great moment comes when Snipes is tricked into diving from the plane as Yancydrops him out on purpose just when he doesn’t realise it. It was a deafening sound.

Behind me there was also two boneheads who professed to have got in without paying. However,at one point during the film, Snipes is sitting at his desk and a knock on the door is heardon the extreme right of the auditorium. Bonehead 1 turned to Bonehead 2 and said,“Hear that? That NICAM sound that is!” Doofus!

Extras : Chapters :19 chapters for the 97-minute running time which is just about enough, although I neversay no to more. Languages/Subtitles :Dolby Digital 5.1 in English and German; surround for Czechs, whilst those of Polishorigin only get a mono option. Subtitles are available inEnglish (and hard of hearing), German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish,Dutch and Icelandic. And there’s more… :Well, a two-minute Theatrical Trailer and that’s it. Menu :A basic static and silent menu with a shot of the front cover and the usualoptions.

Overall, it’s formulaic but entertaining. Whether it will stand up to repeated viewingsis another matter, plus the fact that it’s been cut by the BBFC for about 10 seconds worthof non-15-cert-friendly material.

In the short time that Paramount have entered the DVD market, they’ve shown they’re perfectlycapable of producing a perfect-looking picture with sound to match – and how many companiescan honestly say that? – but all we need now are the extras.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALL
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

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