Highly Overrated But Still Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

High Seas Hijack is the american bastardization of this average toho explosion bonanza. As a film, its entertaining. The special effects (namely pyrotechnics)by Teruyoshi Nakano are first rate and some footage of exploding buildings would be used again as of 2002 in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (before that in 1991's Godzilla vs King Ghidora). My main complaint was the big oil tanker explosion scene. It's all a big "what if" as officials discuss the outcome of what if the terrorists detonate a bomb on board an oil tanker. Sure the footage is amazing, but its also a cop out, this big "What if" scene is 30 minutes into the movie. So as you can imagine, there is no big explosive climax. Another thing that puzzled me, was lead star Hiroshi Fujioka's flashbacks of his love interest. All they do is have sex and argue and none of it figures into the story even if you dont speak Japanese (this version I have has no subs and isn't dubbed). But the film is violent and the Terrorists motivation for doing this is spoken in english.