Explosive
Summary
Drop Zone is a bit of an underrated gem in Wesley Snipes film career as it has some great aerial photography, an incredible score from Hans Zimmer and plenty of kick ass action. The 4K is packaged beautifully but underneath the shiny surface the special features aren’t all that exciting and I would have loved some input from Snipes himself. Either way the film looks and sounds great and is worth picking up.
Plot: Pete and Terry Nessip (Wesley Snipes, Passenger 57; Malcolm-Jamal Warner, TV’s Malcolm & Eddie) are two U.S. Marshals escorting Earl Leedy (Michael Jeter, Miller’s Crossing), a computer criminal being transferred to a maximum security prison, when the plane they’re traveling on is hijacked by terrorists, resulting in the death of Terry and Earl’s daring escape from the law at 30,000 feet. The hijacking turns out to be the plot of ex-DEA agent turned skydiver Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey, Point Break) who plans to break into the DEA mainframe in Washington DC, with the help of Leedy, to get back at the government that failed him. Pete Nessip, looking to avenge his brother’s death and get back his prisoner, teams up with skydiving instructor Jessie Crossmann (Yancy Butler, Hard Target) to chase down Ty’s crew from the Florida Keys to Washington DC, before the fireworks go off on the 4th of July.
An inspired late-career entry in the unpredictable oeuvre of British born, but American based, New Hollywood iconoclast John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, Blue Thunder), DROP ZONE meshes Badham’s penchant for strong character work with impressive practical stunts and hand-to-hand combat, resulting in one of the better, and oft-overlooked, studio action films of the 1990s. Executive produced by Badham himself and featuring production design by Joe Alves (Escape from New York, Jaws), a thunderous score by Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer (Interstellar) and kinetic photography by Badham collaborator Roy H. Wagner (Nick of Time). Cinématographe is proud to present the world 4K UHD debut of the most action packed film in John Badham’s career, newly restored from its original camera negative.
Review: I’ve been having a bit of a Wesley Snipes phase lately and finally pulled the trigger on buying this rather snazzy 4K from Vinegar Syndrome. They really are one of my favourite boutique labels as the packaging is always fantastic. Drop Zone is one of their best yet giving it a very prestigious look including a booklet discussing Wesley Snipes and a piece called “In Defence of Drop Zone”.
The film itself is a lot of fun and one of my favourite Snipes movies; it has Gary Busey at his batshit, finger biting best and Yancy Butler as the ballsy skydiver who helps train Snipes to catch a group of skydiving criminals who killed his brother.
It’s well paced with impressive aerial photography, although there are some unconvincing bluescreen moments, especially for Gary Busey’s epic death scene. On the action front we get several fight scenes and shoot-outs, so it’s never dull.
Snipes himself is great here where his character Pete is far from indestructible, clearly showing fear before skydiving and the film has a few nice touches of humour. I love the security guards talking about Star Trek which was a nice little addition as it felt like the kind of bland conversation they would have doing that kind of job.
The real highlight for me is Hans Zimmer’s pulse pounding score which to this day is one of my personal favourites. Using epic electric guitars and his signature synth sound it’s one of the most exciting scores of the 90’s; you’ll recognize it from the trailer to The Mask of Zorro. There is an enjoyable interview with Daniel Schweiger who talks about the score so it’s nice to see it get the recognition it deserves.
Bonus Features:
1. 2-Disc Set: 4K Ultra HD + Region A Blu-ray
2. 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
3. New audio commentary with director and executive producer John Badham and cinematographer Roy H. Wagner, moderated by Cinématographe’s Justin LaLiberty
4. New audio commentary with film journalist Max Evry
5. “Surfers In the Sky” – a new video interview with producer Wallis Nicita
6. “A Symphony of Skydiving: Scoring Drop Zone” – A new interview with film music historian Daniel Schweiger about Hans Zimmer’s score
7. “Whose Films Are These Anyway? John Badham, from Filmmaker to Moviemaker” – a new video essay by Daniel Kremer
8. English SDH subtitles
Aside from A Symphony of Skydiving: Scoring Drop Zone and Surfers In the Sky, the features really aren’t all that exciting. I love cast and crew interviews but they are sadly missing here although there are a few Zoom recordings with director John Badham in Whose Films Are These Anyway? John Badham, from Filmmaker to Moviemaker.
Movies from the 90’s just looked better than most modern movies with all their shitty colour grading; Drop Zone is bright and vibrant and the colours pop on the 4K. Hans’ score also sounds phenomenal, so that alone makes this worth picking up.
Overall, Drop Zone is an entertaining Wesley Snipes vehicle with some awesome aerial photography and plenty of action. Hans Zimmer’s score is the clear highlight, and it all looks and sounds near perfect maintaining the film grain and not making things look waxy. The features included aren’t the most exciting ever and I would have loved to see Snipes interviewed but what we get is enjoyable enough. The packaging is gorgeous (if you can get the slipcover edition) making this well worth adding to your collection.