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Terminal Velocity
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // R // August 28, 2001
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Charlie Sheen has never been the most engaging, successful or entertaining actor. Although the early pictures of his career had some definite highlights, especially when he was working with Oliver Stone, his selection of jobs started to go South. Although there were a few mildly entertaining comedic efforts ("Hot Shots"), he started to do cliched action pictures. Eventually, they started going directly-to-video. Things were not helped either by the star's infamous actions, which received news coverage. A comeback never really went that well; "Money Talks" had him overshadowed by Chris Tucker and even a funny little cameo in "Being John Malkovich" went largely unnoticed. He's now settled into a TV gig on "Spin City" where he's actually pretty good in the role.
"Terminal Velocity" pairs the actor with a screenplay from David Twohy. It's certainly not Twohy's finest hour, but the ironic thing is that the re-teaming of actor and writer was actually one of Sheen's best works - 1995's "The Arrival", where Twohy served as director. Sheen plays skydiver Richard "Ditch" Brody, a jumper with a rather high tolerance of risky situations. He's gotten in trouble before and he gets in even bigger trouble when he meets up with newest skydiving student. Chris (Nastassja Kinski) takes an unscheduled leap out of the plane during their journey into the sky. Although it seems like Brody is at fault, he actually does some investigating and finds out that Chris is still alive.
Not only is Chris still alive, she's actually a member of the KGB (who'd have thought?). The two are forced to pair up to save the world or some such nonsense, but the real objective during the movie is to be able to present some impressive stunt work. The plot is absolutely absurd, but I will give it credit for obviously knowing how silly it is - it doesn't seem to take itself all that seriously. Yet, although I do appreciate that sense of self that the movie has, it doesn't keep it from being predictable and formulaic.
After the event previously mentioned happens in the early portion of the film, there's simply too much space between that scene and when the action finally starts. Sheen is supposed to carry the picture, but he doesn't have much charm or presence - Kinski isn't a great deal better, as she takes things a little too seriously. Christopher McDonald of "Happy Gimore" also makes an unexpected appearance as a villian; an early appearance of James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") also is a highlight.
Technically, the film is fine. Oliver Wood (U-571)'s cinematography is strong and although I wasn't too interested by Joel McNeely's loud score, it manages to work okay. "Terminal Velocity" isn't the worst formula action thriller that I've seen in a while (in fact, John Badham's skydiving thriller "Drop Zone" is less entertaining), but it's certainly still nothing very memorable.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Terminal Velocity" is presented in 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen; it's one of the releases from Disney's earlier period before they were doing anamorphic presentations. As non-anamorphic transfers go, this is a fairly good one - although some problems are occasionally noticable, the presentation looks solid overall. Sharpness and detail are solid, with a few minor exceptions; some night and dimly lit scenes do look a little murky and undefined, but not terribly so.
Colors appeared superb throughout the movie, looking crisp, bright and vibrant throughout the picture, with no problems in the way of smearing or other such flaws. There were some problems otherwise, though. Some slight traces of pixelation are visible now and then during the picture as well as a couple of hints of edge enhancement. Overall, this is above-average for one of the studio's early efforts, but it's not without some blemishes.
SOUND: "Terminal Velocity" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The 1994 picture is fairly agressive when it comes to the action sequences, but often folds up completely during the dialogue-driven sequences. Surrounds do offer up the score during many scenes in the film and although sound effects are placed in the surrounds during the most intense sequences, there are moments where the sound use could have been more immersive and more enveloping. Audio quality came through fine, as both the score and sound effects came across crisply and full-sounding and dialogue was clear.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus livened by pictures of Belluci.
EXTRAS:: Trailer.
Final Thoughts: "Terminal Velocity" is still, in my opinion, a fairly mediocre action picture. The DVD - one of Buena Vista's early titles, doesn't exactly make a case for the film, either. Maybe a rental if you've got nothing else to do. Repriced by Buena Vista to $19.99 with a re-release date of 8/28/01.
Charlie Sheen has never been the most engaging, successful or entertaining actor. Although the early pictures of his career had some definite highlights, especially when he was working with Oliver Stone, his selection of jobs started to go South. Although there were a few mildly entertaining comedic efforts ("Hot Shots"), he started to do cliched action pictures. Eventually, they started going directly-to-video. Things were not helped either by the star's infamous actions, which received news coverage. A comeback never really went that well; "Money Talks" had him overshadowed by Chris Tucker and even a funny little cameo in "Being John Malkovich" went largely unnoticed. He's now settled into a TV gig on "Spin City" where he's actually pretty good in the role.
"Terminal Velocity" pairs the actor with a screenplay from David Twohy. It's certainly not Twohy's finest hour, but the ironic thing is that the re-teaming of actor and writer was actually one of Sheen's best works - 1995's "The Arrival", where Twohy served as director. Sheen plays skydiver Richard "Ditch" Brody, a jumper with a rather high tolerance of risky situations. He's gotten in trouble before and he gets in even bigger trouble when he meets up with newest skydiving student. Chris (Nastassja Kinski) takes an unscheduled leap out of the plane during their journey into the sky. Although it seems like Brody is at fault, he actually does some investigating and finds out that Chris is still alive.
Not only is Chris still alive, she's actually a member of the KGB (who'd have thought?). The two are forced to pair up to save the world or some such nonsense, but the real objective during the movie is to be able to present some impressive stunt work. The plot is absolutely absurd, but I will give it credit for obviously knowing how silly it is - it doesn't seem to take itself all that seriously. Yet, although I do appreciate that sense of self that the movie has, it doesn't keep it from being predictable and formulaic.
After the event previously mentioned happens in the early portion of the film, there's simply too much space between that scene and when the action finally starts. Sheen is supposed to carry the picture, but he doesn't have much charm or presence - Kinski isn't a great deal better, as she takes things a little too seriously. Christopher McDonald of "Happy Gimore" also makes an unexpected appearance as a villian; an early appearance of James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") also is a highlight.
Technically, the film is fine. Oliver Wood (U-571)'s cinematography is strong and although I wasn't too interested by Joel McNeely's loud score, it manages to work okay. "Terminal Velocity" isn't the worst formula action thriller that I've seen in a while (in fact, John Badham's skydiving thriller "Drop Zone" is less entertaining), but it's certainly still nothing very memorable.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Terminal Velocity" is presented in 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen; it's one of the releases from Disney's earlier period before they were doing anamorphic presentations. As non-anamorphic transfers go, this is a fairly good one - although some problems are occasionally noticable, the presentation looks solid overall. Sharpness and detail are solid, with a few minor exceptions; some night and dimly lit scenes do look a little murky and undefined, but not terribly so.
Colors appeared superb throughout the movie, looking crisp, bright and vibrant throughout the picture, with no problems in the way of smearing or other such flaws. There were some problems otherwise, though. Some slight traces of pixelation are visible now and then during the picture as well as a couple of hints of edge enhancement. Overall, this is above-average for one of the studio's early efforts, but it's not without some blemishes.
SOUND: "Terminal Velocity" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The 1994 picture is fairly agressive when it comes to the action sequences, but often folds up completely during the dialogue-driven sequences. Surrounds do offer up the score during many scenes in the film and although sound effects are placed in the surrounds during the most intense sequences, there are moments where the sound use could have been more immersive and more enveloping. Audio quality came through fine, as both the score and sound effects came across crisply and full-sounding and dialogue was clear.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus livened by pictures of Belluci.
EXTRAS:: Trailer.
Final Thoughts: "Terminal Velocity" is still, in my opinion, a fairly mediocre action picture. The DVD - one of Buena Vista's early titles, doesn't exactly make a case for the film, either. Maybe a rental if you've got nothing else to do. Repriced by Buena Vista to $19.99 with a re-release date of 8/28/01.
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