Sorry, this movie sucks

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Charlie Sheen stars as "Ditch" Brodie, a daredevil and skydiving instructor whose latest student is the eager Chris Morrow (Nastassja Kinski). He's horrified when she seems to perish on her very first jump, and he's soon plunged into international intrigue. Proving that he wasn't neglectful and that he didn't let her die will not be his main worry. He will have to dodge attempts on his life by crazed goons who are former members of the KGB.The screenplay by David Twohy (future director of such things as the "Riddick" film series) is patently ridiculous. You have to shake your head and laugh, but the good thing is that Twohy and director Deran Sarafian ("Death Warrant") are clearly never taking themselves 100% seriously to begin with. It's too bad that Sarafian, the son of cult filmmaker Richard Sarafian ("Vanishing Point"), didn't enjoy more commercial success in Hollywood, because here he proved that he had the chops to handle a mainstream action thriller. The airborne stunts and various set pieces are quite fun, and there's always plenty of gunfire and explosions to ensure that attention spans are maintained.Sheen is decent enough as our hero, a more or less average Joe obliged to help save the day. Part of whatever strength the movie has, though, rests on Kinskis' capable shoulders. She really gives it her all. (And, of course, looks very sexy throughout.) James Gandolfini has an early role here, showing off that screen presence that helped the late actor to become a star a few years later. Christopher McDonald is fun as a psycho villain, although he does admittedly look rather silly with that bleached blonde hair. It's also nice to see Melvin Van Peebles and Rance Howard in small roles. Margaret Colin appears unbilled as Jo.This is the kind of thing that does entertain the viewer provided they don't want to think about it too much. It's basically B fare with an A level budget.Seven out of 10.

This is one of the memorable flicks of the 1990s. Of course not in the same shelf that has (Con Air), (The Rock), (Face Off), but you may find it at the lower one, and when you check it out you'll be surprised. The Action is super but not that totally crazy as some likes from the same era. True that the ultimate tagline of all of this kind of movies is "don't you ever think" but here even if you did, you'd see how it got a little bit of inner logic. You've got to love and respect that script, it did it well. The climax's sequence was so tough a' la James Bond grand style. Thanks to director (Deran Sarafian) who presented also (Gunmen - 1994) another good Action. The only problem, a big one too, is (Charlie Sheen) ! Actually with a movie like that you'd think young (Clint Eastwood), or (Willis), or even (Sly), but not Mr. shining black hair who can't act well. His charisma is weaker than the role. He's funny for sometimes but silly frigid for most of the time. Still good noise though, and definitely the most amusing among the series of the unfortunate events that (Sheen) did it during the 1990s (The Arrival, Postmortem, Free Money, No Code of Conduct, ..etc) before his merciful retirement from cinema (temporarily or eternally I think the cinema retired from him !) to establish a TV career with (2 Men & Half) which's another flop if you asked me. So (Terminal Velocity) compared to (Sheen)'s original disasters is like paradise, but he still in it. I said once that the main defect, sometimes the only defect, with movies by (Tom Cruise), (Ben Affleck) or (Charlie Sheen) is that they're their leads !

It's impossible to deny that Terminal Velocity is a terrible, clichéd mess impersonating an action film; but then again, it's very difficult not to have a great laugh watching it. In the right conditions, this frankly rather dull action thriller becomes a hilarious comedy, and I'm glad to say that I saw the film under the right conditions. The plot is reminiscent of just about any other 'some guy gets pulled into a dodgy situation' action film ever made, and scriptwriter David Twohy clearly delights in throwing in cliché after cliché between and during several explosion infested action sequences. The film is held together by it's leading man; the laughably silly Charlie Sheen, who is just great in the role of Richard 'Ditch' Brodie, a skydiving instructor who is drawn into the 'world of espionage' after a young girl that he'd like to have sex with apparently falls to her death. It's obvious that the plot is just an excuse for lots of stunts because the object at the centre of the tale - some gold disk or something - never really figures properly in the story.The thing that makes this film so hilarious is the fact that you're never entirely sure whether or not the comedy is intentional. Certain one-liners clearly are, but then there's scenes such as the one that sees Charlie Sheen casually mutter 'goddamnit', just as he's about to plummet down a coal burning tower that ensure the doubt still lingers. Charlie Sheen's persona perfectly fits the very silly role given to him in this film. Seeing him swan around with a barrage of 'manly' gestures and a complete lack of modesty ensures that there's always something to laugh at during Terminal Velocity. The ending is about as original as saying that you've packed everything but the kitchen sink, and sees all three of the textbook action film conclusions appear on screen one after another. First we have the high-octane action stunt sequence, which isn't too bad despite being rather hard to buy, even in this sort of film. This is followed by the Mano a Mano dual between lead good guy and lead bad guy, but best of all is the cheesy sentimental final climax, which really had me in stitches. I hope the comedy in this film wasn't intentional.

Skydiver Ditch Brodie (Charlie Sheen) is asked for a lesson. The beautiful lady (Nastassja Kinski) he takes on the plane seems to fall to her death as the parachute doesn't open. Brodie quickly finds out that she is alive and well, and gets into the middle of a conspiracy. Soon he is chased by secret agents, gangsters, Russians... everyone, really, and he doesn't know what for. What matters most to this movie is that it is moving fast, as its title suggested. And "Terminal Velocity" does well as an action movie with its stunts and explosions, if you compare it to others of the genre. Also it has a certain sense of humor because of the unusual situation that the pretty lady perfectly knows the espionage business, while the hero just follows her footsteps and even has to ask her how he can fire a gun. It's not a Bond, but Sheen and Kinski both have much less exciting films in their biography, so most watchers won't be disappointed.