Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Scott LeBrun 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.

James Hitchcock The end of the Cold War in the late eighties and early nineties did not cause as many changes to the thriller genre as one might have imagined. Ever since the late forties had Hollywood got used to the idea of casting Russians as villains, and the habit proved hard to break. If the villains were no longer KGB agents they could now be Russian gangsters or political extremists. There were a number of films of this nature in the nineties ("Crimson Tide", "Air Force One", "The Peacemaker" and "Fair Game"), and the tendency has continued into the twenty-first century with the likes of "The Sum of All Fears", "Salt" and "Transsiberian". "Terminal Velocity", dating from 1994, is an early example of this phenomenon. Richard "Ditch" Brodie is a former elite gymnast turned skydiving instructor. Brodie's operation is already under investigation by the FAA because of his laissez-faire attitude to their regulations, and it seems that he is in serious trouble when Chris Morrow, one of his pupils, is killed during a dive. And then something unusual happens. Unusual, that is, by the standards of real life. Less unusual by the standards of the action thriller, in which the sudden return to life of a character whom both the hero and the audience believe to be dead is a familiar (indeed, over-familiar) plot twist.Chris (that's Chris as in Christine, not as in Christopher) turns up alive and well with a semi-plausible explanation for her supposed "death". (That shouldn't come as a surprise. Did anyone think the producers were going to cast Nastassja Kinski as their leading lady and then kill her off after only one scene?) Moreover, she also turns up with a new identity. It turns out that she is actually Krista Moldova, a former KGB spy who has been redundant since the fall of the Soviet Union. The rest of the film tells the story of how Ditch and Krista join forces to thwart a gang of her former KGB comrades, now members of the Russian Mafia, who are out to steal a cargo of gold. It appears that the gold is needed to finance a coup which will return the Communist Party to power in Moscow. (Despite her former allegiance, Krista regards such a prospect with horror). Cue the standard explosions, chase sequences, suspense sequences and a finale, cribbed straight from one of the Roger Moore Bond adventures, in which Charlie Sheen performs several completely impossible feats in as many minutes.I fell in love with the lovely Nastassja when I first saw her in "Tess", when she seemed like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, our love was not to last; Polanski's masterpiece was a tough act to follow and none of her later films, including this one, seemed to be in anything like the same class. It didn't help that the second film I saw her in was "Harem", which must by any standards count one as one of the worst movies of the eighties.The film may borrow from the Bond franchise, but it doesn't really bear comparison. Even at their worst, the Bond films had a lightness of touch which "Terminal Velocity" lacks. With her Slavic looks- she may officially hold a German passport but her family are of Polish descent- Nastassja might have made a decent Bond Girl, but there is little in the film to inspire her. The villains are a nondescript lot and if Sheen drew any inspiration from the Bond series it must have been from the wooden George Lazenby. "Terminal Velocity" is the sort of dull, derivative thriller that we have seen too many of over the last quarter of a century. 4/10

FlashCallahan Ditch Brodie is a maverick skydiving instructor.One day, a beautiful girl comes in, wanting to take her first jump. Up in the air, Ditch takes his eyes off her momentarily, then looks back to find out that she has fallen out, dying on impact.Ditch is suspicious that all is not as it seems, because he distinctly remembers hooking her static line on...Charlie Sheen continued his run of nineties movies that should have made him a big star without tiger blood and other men, with this ridiculous, over the top, but fun movie.it's best not to take this film seriously at all, else you will find many flaws.Instead, just enjoy the very well choreographed action and jump scenes, the excellent story written by Twohy, and some brilliant one liners.This has to be sheens best film from the nineties that isn't Hot Shots! and proved he could handle action pretty well. of course, it's a mile from films like Wall Street and Platoon, but when the trailer features a car free falling and makes you smile, it's clear you're not looking for an intelligent night at the movies.This was unfairly overlooked at the cinema, maybe this was due to the fact that a similar movie 'Drop Zone' was released first (which was good, but far too serious.It's forgettable stuff for sure, but it's fun, breezy and entertaining all the way through.One of the nineties guiltiest pleasures.

Elswet Charlie Sheen was NOT a genius in this work. This was pretty lame, actually, in both substance and execution, however, it does bear some fun elements, and delivers a moderate amount of entertainment.I can't say that I'm surprised that Sheen's work is horribly lacking; it seems his fire went out right after Young Guns. This film is not much of anything, in the great scheme of cinematic wonders, however, it manages to deliver a bit of enjoyment, I think in SPITE of itself, rather than because of the work itself.Many think this was great fun, so as usual, I'm in the minority when I say that I found this film dated, puerile, and under-dramatized while it was also boring, uneventful, and anticlimactic drivel. It does manage a small amount of enjoyment/entertainment quality, if only mildly.It rates a 3.8/10 from...the Fiend :.