Terminal Velocity (1994)

"Genuine dead people!" - Charlie Sheen

QUIZ SHOW's Christopher McDonald in a blond wig as a bad-guy!?  That's
just one of the guilty pleasures of TERMINAL VELOCITY, a harmless
thriller starring Charlie Sheen as a thinks-with-his-ahem skydiving
instructor who gets wind of a conspiracy after his student (Nastassja
Kinski) plays Wiley Coyote and lives.  Though slower than SPEED, the
last action sleeper, TERMINAL VELOCITY enough falling bodies and semi-
spectacular stunts to make this trip (almost) worth taking.

The story is the weakest link, a silly mix of international intrigue and
airborne action.  David Twohy's script has more liabilities than U.S.
Air, but that doesn't deter director Deran Sarafain.  He thinks he's
Renny Harlin and pulls out all the stops, from a gonzo mother-of-all-
jumps jump to a gag stolen from DIE HARD 2.

The scowling Sheen is always easy to watch, but his female costar could
use some practice in self-parody.  The Arizona locales are good, too.
Complementing the mise en scene are a windmill farm and a nifty jet
junkyard.  Too bad the plot poops so soon.  And what's with that awful
music direction?  Imitation Herrman and heavy-metal don't mix.  (Rated
"PG-13"/~100 min.)

Next up:  Wesley Snipes in DROP ZONE.

BOTTOM LINE:  Better than THE CHASE, but still several thousand feet
below the skyjacking sequence in CLIFFHANGER.

Grade: C+

Copyright 1994 by Michael J. Legeros