Review of Passenger 57 (1992) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012

Directed by Kevin Hooks, (Fled (1996) and Black Dog (1998)), this is a very silly action film done on a low budget, but it made a bankable action star from it's lead, and it had a very silly comedy English baddie as well.

It should fail on every conceivable level, but heaven knows, it does and it's got some good action along the way. After his wife was killed in a hold up, former police officer John Cutter (Wesley Snipes) has taken a job training flight crew on how to handle hostage situations, his boss Sly Delvecchio (Tom Sizemore) offers him a top job at Atlantic International Airlines, so John catches the next available flight to Los Angeles from Miami, but also on the same flight is international terrorist Charles Rane (Bruce Payne), who has been captured and is being sent to Los Angeles by the FBI for trial.

However, there's some passengers on the plane, including flight attendant Sabrina Ritchie (Elizabeth Hurley), who kill the FBI agents and hijack the plane, and that means John has to take action and put a stop to Rane's activities, meaning a premature landing in a rural airport as well.

It is a very silly film, but it's actually quite enjoyable and it has it's moments, it was done for quite a low budget, and this was one of Hurley's earliest film roles as well. Snipes manages to handle the wisecracks ("Always bet on black!") and the action well too.