Review of Drop Zone (1994) by Hugh T — 15 May 2004

Blimey it's been ages since my last entry - not like me to go so long minus movies. I did watch this film on video a week or two back though. The words "routine thriller" could have been made for Drop Zone, a standard thriller with the mildly unusual twist of a parachute jumping theme.

Having done three parachute jumps myself I don't think this movie conveys the terror involved in making even a conventional static-line jump for the first time, let alone the terror that should have been felt by a parachute-less person being dumped out of an aeroplane - which is what happens to Mr Snipes in this at one point.

I'm not usually one to notice the quality of acting, but it becomes painfully plain in the course of Drop Zone that Mr Snipes just isn't very good at it - the scene when he's supposedly mourning his recently offed brother being a case in point.

Seem to remember there was some minor press splash about this film when it came out - can't quite recall why but I think it might have been that Mr Snipes was refusing to make any real parachute jumps.

Can't blame him for that though. HT.