Sadly Over-hyped

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This film is bad. Theres almost nothing good about it. The 5 is for its watchability and the fact that it is almost trting to be bad in a funny way. However, the acting is awful. The main hijacker is particulay bad. It isnt funmy either and the special effects are poor even if they are 25 years old. Also I think it would work better without the fairground scene and instead keeping the entire film on the airplane to help create a more claustrophobic atmosphere. The black and white flashback is also unnesseccary as well as very cheesy. This film is neither original nor exciting. Best avoided.

John Cutter (Snipes) is an airline security specialist. An expert in his field, he knows all the proper procedures should there be a terrorism incident on board an airplane. It just so happens Cutter is going to get to put his expertise to the test when he finds himself on a flight to L.A. with arch-terrorist and super-evil bad guy Charles Rane (Payne). Rane has a team of co-conspirators working with him, and he's taken everyone on the plane hostage. He thinks he's in control of the situation, but he didn't count on one thing: Cutter, of course! With the death of his beloved wife still haunting his mind, Cutter also feels especially responsible for protecting stewardess Marti Slayton (Datcher). While Cutter has compatriots on the ground such as Sly Delvecchio (Sizemore), Rane has quality baddie-ess support in the form of Sabrina Ritchie (Hurley). What follows is a battle of wits and fists as Cutter takes on the so-called "Rane of Terror". Rane thinks he's going to pull off his crime, and he just might, except for the presence of…PASSENGER 57. (Which is Snipes, not the little boy named Norman, just so we're clear).As roulette instructional videos go, Passenger 57 comes up aces. Hey, don't tell us we can't mix some metaphors around here. It's "Snipes on a Plane" as a young and dynamic Wesley entertains us all with everything an action hero should have: witty one-liners and snappy dialogue, an ability to get out of sticky situations, and some quality Snipes-Fu. That's right, all action heroes should engage in Snipes-Fu. Especially when it's mano-a-mano combat with Bruce Payne-Fu. Importantly, these are two of the main ingredients that make Passenger 57 work: a strong hero and a central, nefarious baddie. You'd be surprised how often action movie-makers leave out these seemingly-essential ingredients. Thankfully, they're present and accounted for here, and it's all wrapped up in a classic-90's framework.At 80 minutes, Passenger 57 is everything you want and very little of what you don't. We applaud director Kevin Hooks and the writers – more movies should be 80 minutes. You can pack in plenty of great stuff, and P-57 is certainly never boring. The soundtrack is popping' bass and/or smooth jazz by turns, which you would expect when Stanley Clarke is providing the music. The opening credits montage is an assemblage of various objects, including cassette tapes, and there's almost non-stop product placement for Pepsi. Rane has a classic "evil nerd" in his motley crew of evildoers, and, as you might expect, John Cutter is called "the best" at what he does. Transportation-based action was hot in the 90's, as evidenced by this, Speed (1994), and…others. Interestingly, Speed was released the same year as Drop Zone (1994), a movie in which they decided to push Wesley Snipes out of the plane. Apparently the Hollywood suits wanted to see what would happen.Co-star Alex Datcher was no stranger to action at this point in her career; we remember her from Rage and Honor (1992) – also notable as the same year as P-57 - and Jeff Speakman classic (?) The Expert (1995). It was also nice to see Liz Hurley in an atypical role, and fan-favorite Tom Sizemore is on board (the movie, not the plane) as Sly. It has been said he was named Sly because Stallone was originally supposed to play the Cutter role. Maybe John Cutter is related to Chuck Norris. This lame joke will make more sense if you click on the link. Also noteworthy, we think, is the usage of the name Charles Rane for the baddie. Fans of the great classic Rolling Thunder (1977) should remember that that is the name of William Devane's character, as exemplified in the memorable tagline, "Major Charles Rane is coming home to war!" – presumably the writers were aware of this? Well, apparently not. We're just big Rolling Thunder fans, that's all.P-57 may even have some nostalgic value to you if you remember seeing it at your local video store. Because it's fast-paced and fun, we feel it has aged quite well. If you're looking for classic 90's action in a nutshell, watch Passenger 57.

The following review will contain some spoilers. Do not continue reading if you have not seen the film.As a huge 80s and 90s fan of the action genre, Passenger 57 is one of those smaller films that made a big impression on me as I was growing up. Going back after a couple years to watch it again, I can honestly say this film is still so much fun. With amazing one liners and a fantastic bad guy, this is an action movie hardcore genre fans must see. This is my review of Passenger 57.The film was written by Stewart Raffill, Dan Gordon, and David Lougherty. Raffill is widely known for directing the 1984 hit, The Philadelphia Experiment. Gordon actually was a pretty big writer having also written the Kevin Costner western, Wyatt Earp. Lougherty is still around to this day having recently wrote Lakeview Terrace in 2008 and Nurse 3D in 2013. The story for this film is very simple and follows the 80s/90s action genre to the letter. The story follows Charles Rane(played by Bruce Payne) who is a major terrorist that the FBI is tracking down. Having tracked him down at his plastic surgeon's office right before he is going to change his face once again they are able to force him out. This is where some crazy stuff happens as Rane literally jumps out of a very taller building, from fairly high up, with no damage at all. You have to love that stuff. The FBI later catches up to him while in foot pursuit and arrested him. Later in the film John Cutter(played by Wesley Snipes) is on his way to California for a new job opportunity. Little does he know at the time that Rane is also being transported on the same flight. If you are a genre fan you already know where this is going. While there is nothing award winning in this film, it is filled with great one liners and amazingly written characters for the type of film. Raffill, Gordon, and Lougherty deserve much credit for delivering a great script.The film was directed by Kevin Hooks. While Hooks mainly directed direct to video movies and now TV shows for most of his career, he has a couple movies like Passenger 57 under his belt. While the action scenes are nothing too explosive like other genre films, the heavier scenes look fantastic, never looking too zoomed in or moving too much with the camera. As I mentioned above the film has some hilarious moments like the moment when Rane jumps out of that building with no harm done at all, getting right up and continuing his attempt at running away from the FBI. I just love moments like that. Later in the film Cutter fights one of the bad guys on the plane with a gulf club. This stuff is too funny. There are also a couple very nice hand to hand combat fights that I really enjoyed. As for the acting, it is top notch for this type of film. With actors like Wesley Snipes and Bruce Payne, you cannot go wrong. With secondary actors playing bad guys like Marc Macaulay and Michael Horse, this really sets the tone for a great action film. Even the great Tom Sizemore has a smaller role in this film with a great character name of Sly Delvecchio. That cheesiness fits this film so much. Overall, Hooks does a very good job of giving us one of the better 90s action films with fun characters and even better action. Hooks gets a big thumbs up in my book.The film was composed by Stanley Clarke who is known for his scores of films like The Transporter and Boyz n the Hood. I really love his score on Passenger 57. It has that amazing feel to it that many smaller action movies brought during the 80s and even 90s. While this film is much bigger into the 90s scene, there is a nice hint of 80s score to it as well. Clarke delivers a fantastic score for us fans to enjoy as we are watching this amazing film. Big thumps up.In closing, this is a must watch for fans who love action movies, who love cheesy action movies, and fans who love a good Wesley Snipes film. With a fantastic 90s score, and an amazing bad guy, this film will keep you very interested for the entire course of the film. The film is likely fairly cheap to buy on Blu-Ray as well as DVD these days, so getting a copy wouldn't be hard at all. Do not waste any time if you haven't seen this classic action film yet. It is a must see for sure.8/10

This movie is the absolute worst airplane movie I have ever seen! It's a mix between comedy, Miami Vice, Karate Kid, and black power all condensed into 80 minutes. They use Karate moves WAY too much in unnecessary situations, there is major discrimination towards Southerners and British, and the decisions made by the made character could have been thought up better by a preschooler. Seriously. The acting sucks, it is entirely cheesy and their punchlines sound like a self-centered fifth grader wrote this for his class play. I have no idea what the screenwriters were thinking when they filmed this. Just look at all the goofs for this movie and I can assure you this is longer than a low-budget 90's flunk. Do NOT watch this movie!!!