After a prisoner he is escorting is kidnapped and his brother murdered, US Marshall Peter Nessip (Wesley Snipes) wants answers.
Following the villains’ unusual MO, Nessip is led to believe that the clue to the mystery is in the Skydiving community.
Enlisting the help of pro-skydiver Jessie Crossman (Yancy Butler), Nessip is soon on the trial of a ruthless gang of criminals led by a corrupt DEA officer (Gary Busey)...
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One of 1994’s dueling sky-diving action films, Drop Zone has never been on my radar.
Terminal Velocity is a lot of fun - I rewatch it every year or so. I had heard bad things about Drop Zone, and dismissed it out of hand.
Having now watched Drop Zone, I will happily eat crow.
Drop Zone may not be as good as Terminal Velocity but it is a hell of a good time.
For one, as a showcase for skydiving stunts, Drop Zone blows the Charlie Sheen vehicle out of the… sky.
While the inserts of the principal cast are a bit ropey, they are few and far between.
Most of the jump sequences are shot live with stunt doubles, and it is a testament to the filmmakers that I do not think the close-ups of Snipes and his co-stars were necessary.
There are a lot of action scenes where the camera is close to the performer and the doubles, in costume, look enough like the actors they are doubling that the effect is seamless.
A late recast for Steven Seagal, Wesley Snipes is fine as the lead, although he feels under-served by the script.
He is not granted that much to work with - most of his dialogue is expositional. He is introduced with some questionable interactions about women, and later punches out the female lead.
He has a few scenes where he gets to breathe - he has a good rapport with Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who plays his brother; and he gets to show some charisma (and his martial arts skills) when he rescues fellow jumper Swoop (Kyle Secor) from an ambush by the villains.
Considering his prior form in Passenger 57, one wishes the role could have been revised to play more to Snipes’ strengths. Sadly, the character of Pete Nessip is a rote investigator who is meant to tie the various stunt scenes together - there is nothing to match John Cutter or Blade.
I am not familiar with her other work but I was really impressed with Yancy Butler - she brings a swagger and authority to her role.
A romantic subplot between the two main characters was exorcized after Snipes’ casting due to Hollywood racism, and there is something missing from their dynamic - they leave the film on friendly terms, but if this movie is meant to be about friendship, they forgot to edit it in.
While Snipes gets most of the action, the third act makes satisfying use of the ensemble - there is a focus on Butler’s team supporting our hero to beat the various henchmen so Snipes can chase down the big bad.
Speaking of Gary Busey, he is on familiar but enjoyable form as the corrupt DSA agent Ty Moncrief - he does not have as many quotable lines or scenes as in Lethal Weapon or Under Siege, but he does get one great scene where he assassinates a fellow skydiver/fellow bad guy by guiding his parachute into a power grid.
The movie’s technical qualities, especially the setpieces, are the movie’s strength
The script is a bit undercooked.
Nessop’s investigation feels weirdly unsatisfying - in its favor, the movie also does not waste too much time on it. These scenes are meant to set up various aerial shenanigans, and on that level, they are fine.
Comparing the movie with Terminal Velocity, the plot in that movie is pretty simple.
And whereas Drop Zone brings the sport and culture of skydiving into its narrative, Terminal Velocity ignores that and focuses on a single skydiver in the middle of a familiar ‘man on the run’ action thriller.
That film’s protagonist, Ditch Brodie, also gets a clear emotional arc and a relationship with another character to bounce off of.
On its own terms, Drop Zone is still a lot of fun - the aerial sequences are spectacular, and the film knows it.
The best compliment I can give the movie is that I left it wishing there were more skydiving action movies out there. I will definitely be adding it to the rotation along with Terminal Velocity.
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