Comeuppance Reviews 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.

jasonisageek Passenger 57 came out at the crux of the "Die Hard on a..." boom in the 90's. Speed, Die Hard 2, Skyscraper, Under Siege and it's sequel, No Contest and Passenger 57; all films that capitalized on the huge success of a single film that literally created a new sub-genre of action film. And though there were countless "terrorist" themed action movies before such as The Delta Force or Invasion USA for example, it really wasn't until Die Hard in 1988 that really turned the action genre on it's head. What soon followed was a barrage of copy-cat's that offered the same premise, just in different locations such as a boat (Under Siege), bus (Speed) and plane (Turbulence, Air Force One) rather than an office building. And then there were the flat-out shameless ripoffs like Skyscraper and No Contest. I have to admit though, I do still love those two quite a bit, but for completely different reasons other than being an action film.While some of these types of films are better than others, Passenger 57 is one of the better ones. It's a serviceable terrorist/action film that takes all the standard tropes associated with this new genre and doesn't bring anything new to the table, but puts it all together rather well and effortlessly. As you can estimate by it's title, Passenger 57 takes place on a plane. Well, about a third of it actually takes place on a plane to be more accurate. But that's okay, because the change of scenery does wonders for the overall structure, in that it never gets boring or feels stale. The constant shift in location (hospital, plane, carnival, landing strip, then plane again) keeps the film visually and narratively interesting while keeping you, the viewer, on your toes.This was Wesley Snipes first starring role in an action picture. While he had been a star in his own right well before this film in comedies, dramas and thrillers, this was the first time he was the main star of any film, let alone an action one. So it's safe to say Passenger 57 kickstarted his long and lustrous action career. Though he would continue to dip into more dramas, thrillers and a few comedies, it was really in the action genre where he flourished, even more so when he took on the role of Blade, the immortal vampire in 1998. But really, what better way to begin your action career than with this fairly by- numbers, yet highly entertaining exercise.What kind of surprised me was how good this ended up being, and how for some reason it never received the type of status or hype as other "Die Hard style" action films did, like Under Siege for example. It has everything you'd want; action, fights, explosions, an excellent English villain, a killer roster of character actors (Tom Sizemore!), and a hip, fun vibe with plenty of style to burn. That's another area I found surprising. Passenger 57 is directed by Kevin Hooks, who up until this point had previously only worked in television, with the exception of the urban comedy Strictly Business the year before, yet did such a fantastic job handling a big budget action film his first time out. In fact, he does a much better job than most current action directors working today, which surprises me that Hooks didn't really make it big as an action director. Sure he did Fled and Black Dog later, but they just didn't seem really up to par with what he could do as a solid director in this genre. Yet at the same time, it seems to be a trend with these directors. They knock it out of the park with a solid film, but then sort of fade into obscurity. It happens to nearly all of them; Jan De Bont, Renny Harlin, Andrew Davis, Dwight H. Little, Geoff Murphy and most certainly Kevin Hooks.You won't find anything groundbreaking in here, but it sure was a helluva good time from start to finish. Wesley Snipes shines, even impressing us with some killer stuntwork, while resident bad guy Bruce Payne again delivers yet another fantastic villain. Seriously, the guy is underrated as hell. For me personally, if I see his name in the credits, it's almost a guarantee I'll have a good time. The films constantly shifting locations keep the film moving along at a breakneck pace, while simultaneously ramping up the tension, suspense and thrills as the film progresses to a satisfying climax. Really, you just can't go wrong with Passenger 57. More people need to be aware of this little gem.For more Cult Cinema fun, please visit www.robotGEEKSCultCinema.com

sol- 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.

marcus davis Don't know what some of these folks are moaning about,i thought this movie was great for what it is a very Funky entertaining action movie.Not original by any means but like I said if you see it for what it is which is a decent action movie you won,t be disappointed.It has a good guy and a bad guy plus a great music sound track by Stanley Clarke and and the Stevie Wonder track at the end of the movie.What more more could you possibly want? Wesley Snipes and Bruce Payne are both very good in this.Every time I hear the music on this it puts a smile on my face.I have this in my DVD collection.