Con Air (1997)
Directed by Simon West
Newly-paroled former US Army ranger Cameron Poe is headed back to his wife, but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" taking the “worst of the worst” prisoners, a group described as “pure predators”, to a new super-prison. Poe faces impossible odds when the transport plane is skyjacked mid-flight by the most vicious criminals in the country led by the mastermind — genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, and backed by black militant Diamond Dog and psychopath Billy Bedlam.
8 connections found
View:
8 connections, in both directions
What critics compared Con Air to
His unlikely action star status is also continually referenced, especially the holy trilogy of The Rock , Con Air and Face/Off .
It opens with a clip from Con Air , contains tongue-in-cheek nods to The Croods 2 , Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Guarding Tess , and features a scene packed with Cage-flavoured props, from Mandy ’s chainsaw to the twin gold guns from Face/Off .
It’s a fitting tribute to the over-the-top action flicks that its star was known for in the 1990s; it’s no “Con Air,” but it absolutely took notes from “Con Air.”
From opening with a scene from “Con Air” to countless references to the majority of his oeuvre, “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is an undeniable love letter to Cage, warts and all.
But before cutting bait and chancing it with the sharks, know that what lies ahead on “Death Race’s” Terminal Island is the most epically loaded triple-cheeseburger action movie since “Con Air.”
Though the “Death Race” story has a different book cover, Jason Statham’s character as Jensen Ames and then the masked Frankenstein can be directly correlated to (as just one example) Nicolas Cage’s character in 1997’s “Con Air”.
A charming tête-à-tête unfolds detailing Muerrto’s informant arrangements with the feds thus setting the stage for an all out brawl between the two, but not before other slimy personalities, notably Toby Huss’ Anthony Lamb, a serial killer who rivals Steve Buscemi from “Con Air,” enters the scene looking for his piece of the pie.
1) The Con Air introduction to our hero.
Advertisement
Instead of the grandiose villainy of Dennis Hopper in "Speed," John Malkovich in "Con Air," or Nicolas Cage/John Travolta in "Face/Off," we have pillar of bigotry Mel Gibson going through the motions.
This is the first period film attempted by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, best known for special-effects extravaganzas such as "The Rock" (1996) and "Con Air" (1997).
One of the very few producer-auteurs, Bruckheimer makes grand, spectacular movies ("Con Air," "The Rock") that, at their best, have a certain gut-level appeal.
This is the kind of movie that you or I could have directed, and it would have turned out the same way, which is why it was the perfect directorial debut for Simon West, who has done nothing, and I mean nothing, of merit since (“The General’s Daughter,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” and that god-awful remake of “ When a Stranger Calls ”).
Featuring expectedly grandiose directorial choices from filmmaker Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, etc), When a Stranger Calls has the feel of an expensive, super-slick Hollywood production right from the get-go.
This film, directed by Simon West (Con Air), is like watching a novice (like me) fumble about while playing a video game.
West is a serious contender for the Worst Living Film Director, with credits like Con Air, and The General's Daughter under his belt.
With 1995's "Mortal Kombat" being the only feature film I can think of to break the video-game-to-movie curse, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," drearily directed by Simon West (1997's "Con Air"), has no such luck.
When I heard that Simon West was directing this adaptation of the hit video game, I figured it could go both ways, the way of his "Con Air", one of the best mindless summer blockbusters of the last decade, or like his "General's Daughter", one of the most despicable ones.
While it's obvious that neither element is particularly novel, the way in which director Frears ("Dangerous Liaisons," an Oscar nominee for "The Grifters") and co-screenwriters Cusack, Scott Rosenberg ("Con Air," "Beautiful Girls") and D.V. DeVincentis & Steve Pink ("Grosse Pointe Blank") interweave them into the story works rather well.
Here's an actor who's generally well-regarded by most viewers, and yet over the course of his lengthy career, he's only appeared in two movies that have grossed over $100 million — and both of them were ensemble-driven action flicks (Con Air and 2012).
"The Journey of Natty Gann," "Eight Men Out," "The Grifters," "Money for Nothing," "City Hall," "Con Air," "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," "Pushing Tin."
Suite au succès du fort divertissant Grosse Pointe Blank de 1997, les hauts dignitaires des studios Disney décidèrent de refaire confiance à l’équipe de scénaristes formée de John Cusack, Steve Pink et D.V. DeVincentis - à laquelle s’ajouta Scott Rosenberg (Con Air) - pour rédiger l’adaptation du populaire roman de Nick Hornby.
Scott Rosenberg, whose resume ranges from " High Fidelity " to "Spider-Man", provides a punchy script, and Brit-doing-well-over-there, Simon " Tomb Raider " West approaches the spectacle (and all that goes in-between) with an eye that betrays his history in advertising.