Air Panic a.k.a Panic
Nu Image, Millennium Films, USA, India, 2001.
Nu Image, Millennium Films, USA, India, 2001.
Terrorist hackers remote control airplanes and cause deadly crashes. This time the culprit is not an Islamistic fanatic but a crazy computer genius Cain (Alexander Enberg). Federal Aviation Administration analyst Neil (Rodney Rowland) tries to tell that the new Oxceelis-computer chip is easy to hack, but do his superiors believe him. Oh no they don't.
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| Neil |
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| Cain |
Air hostess Josie (Kristanna Loken, before her role in "Terminator 3") has a last day at work. She plans to open a company selling hippity-hoppity clothes. Neil tracks the next possible target for the terrorist attack, and gets on board the plane. Unluckily for Josie it is her plane. And so Cain hijacks the plane and plans to strike Washington DC. The pilot is injured and Cain is listening every discussion in the cockpit, so how to cut the remote control is the million dollar question.
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| Josie |
Along the passengers are annoying besserwisser Ray (Billy 'Sly' Williams), mysterious woman Bernadette (Barbara Carrera) and workaholic Doctor Philip (Gulshan Grover) with his family. Somehow all of them become important for the survival of the passengers. Although Ray's importance vas vague to me, i must have blinked at the wrong moment.
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| Ray |
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| Bernadette |
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| Doctor Philip |
Direct-to-video Terrorsploitation was filmed in 2001 but apparently it was unreleased until 2003 in USA after 9/11 strikes. Understandably so as the airplanes striking buildings feel unnervingly prophetic. The movie is not as bad I was hoping but not nearly good enough to be memorable. Basic thriller repeats the usual tricks of airplane disaster films. Airplanes crash and some passengers are given more screentime to make them sympathetic. If there was something going in the direction of real drama, it was Captain O'Kelly (Ted Shackelford) and Bernadette getting acquainted. Kristanna Loken is pleasant to watch and Alexander Enberg boasts entertainingly as a psycho, while the other actors feel average at best.
Rating: 
Average
Starring: Rodney Rowland, Kristanna Loken, Alexander Enberg, Ted Shackelford, Barbara Carrera, Scott Michael Campbell, Tucker Smallwood, Billy 'Sly' Williams, David Bowe, John Bishop, Boti Bliss, Tereza Rizzardi, Gulshan Grover, Duke Stroud, Sanyogetta, Armaan Kandhari, Bob Misiorowski, Stephen David, Scott Putman, Roly Jansen, Rashmi Sharma, Brian O'Sullivan, Shaun White, Lalith Sharma, Grant Hulley, Tiger Ali Razavi, Samsher Pawer, Lucky Louie
Director: Bob Misiorowski
AverageStarring: Rodney Rowland, Kristanna Loken, Alexander Enberg, Ted Shackelford, Barbara Carrera, Scott Michael Campbell, Tucker Smallwood, Billy 'Sly' Williams, David Bowe, John Bishop, Boti Bliss, Tereza Rizzardi, Gulshan Grover, Duke Stroud, Sanyogetta, Armaan Kandhari, Bob Misiorowski, Stephen David, Scott Putman, Roly Jansen, Rashmi Sharma, Brian O'Sullivan, Shaun White, Lalith Sharma, Grant Hulley, Tiger Ali Razavi, Samsher Pawer, Lucky Louie
Director: Bob Misiorowski
Minusta tämä oli riemastuttavan huono elokuva, mutta tulipa tuosta 9/11-maininnastasi mieleen, että kuinkahan moni elokuva jäi kesken, valmistui mutta hyllytettiin tai jonka tekoa ei edes aloitettu tragedian vuoksi? Muistan ainakin, että Schwarzeneggerin Collateral Damage lykättiin terrorismiaiheen vuoksi eteenpäin, Cameron heitti omien sanojensa mukaan roskiin True Lies kakkosen käsikirjoitushahmotelmansa ja Spider-Manin traileri hyllytettiin sen vuoksi, että siinä oli kohtaus jossa helikopteri pysäytettiin kaksoistornien väliseen verkkoon. Mutta varmaan varsinkin indieteosten kohdalla suuremman kaupallisen riskin (ts. omat rahat kyseessä) saattoi useampikin tulevaisuuden klassikko tai ei-klassikko pysähtyä kokonaan. Muistettakoon, että tapahtuman vuoksihan useat radioasemat poistivat muun muassa kaikki Rage Against the Machinen ja hämmentävää kyllä, osan Bruce Springsteenin kappaleista soittolistoiltaan, joten selkeästikin varmuuden vuoksi kaikki pistettiin pannaan.
ReplyDeleteMoneen asiaan vaikutti tuo tragedia.
DeleteTrue Lies 2:kin olisi mielellään katsellut jos sellainen olisi joskus tehty.
Olihan tämä vaan melkolailla pöljä pätkä.
ReplyDeleteOlihan tässä rutkasti varsin reikäpäistä toimintaa.
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