Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Drop Zone (1994)
27 Plays10 days ago
This week on the Everything Actioncast, Zach and Chris pull the ripcord on 1994's Drop Zone, starring Wesley Snipes, which just released on 4K.
Snipes plays US Marshal Pete Nessip, who is escorting a computer hacker, Leedy (Michael Jeter), on a plane with his brother and fellow Marshal, Terry (Malcolm Jamal Warner). The aircraft is hijacked, with the hijackers kidnapping Leedy and skydiving out of a blown hatch from the plane. Terry and several other passengers are killed, and Pete is determined to track down the skydiving crew who pulled off the hijacking and get justice for his brother. Yancy Butler co-stars as Jesse Crossman, who introduces Pete into the world of skydiving. Zach and Chris discuss how Pete can instantly perform solo skydives, Gary Busey's overly complicated villain scheme, how world champion skydivers wrote the movie, how the film evolves into a classic slobs vs. snobs 80s sports movie, and more.
You can watch Drop Zone via the new 4K release or on digital platforms like Prime Video, AppleTV, or Fandango at Home. Next week, we're heading to Pacific Tech to discuss Real Genius for its 40th anniversary.
We want to hear your comments and feedback. Send them all to contact@everythingaction.com. Also, let us know your suggestions for movies for us to discuss.
Please subscribe, rate, and review us on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. You can also find the podcast on YouTube.
Check us out on Twitter (@evaction), Facebook (www.facebook.com/everything.action), and Instagram (@everything.action).
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and 'Drop Zone' Overview
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the official podcast of EverythingAction.com.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Everything Action Cast, the podcast week of July 28th, 2025. I'm your host, Zach. And my co-host, Chris.
4K Release of 'Drop Zone' by Cinematograph
00:00:27
Speaker
And this week we are pulling the ripcord on Drop Zone, the 1994 Wesley Snipes skydiving action movie, because it just came out this week on 4K. Although, a weird label, like normally you'd think it'd just be like a Vinegar Syndrome or a Severin or an Arrow, but this this was like Cinematograph or something. It's a company I've never heard of that put out the 4K, but you know it's it's out there, so you can watch this movie in the highest quality story I've ever met in.
00:00:55
Speaker
Well, you don't want to watch it on original VCD?
00:01:00
Speaker
LaserDisc.
00:01:03
Speaker
And ah one of two Skydive movies that came out 1994, we had a twin movie situation where you had Drop Zone and you also had Terminal Velocity with Charlie Sheen. ah They both came out the same year 1994.
'Drop Zone' Plot and Character Dynamics
00:01:16
Speaker
Which I think Drop Zone probably is the one that came on top because don't like Drop Zone is, like it's still, like, obscure, slightly obscure like, Wesley Snipes movie, but Terminal Velocity, I think, is, like, no one remembers that movie.
00:01:30
Speaker
I think that's, like, not the same plot, but I think they do the same thing, where it's, like, everything always leads to them skydiving. Yeah, both plots revolve on skydiving. I think, yeah, Terminal Velocity was more like, don't know if it was, like, espionage or something, or I don't think it was, like, this one's, like, all about, like, heists and these, like,
00:01:49
Speaker
very very point break where it's like this crew of like skydivers are trying to pull like pull off these like ah elaborate heists by parachuting into buildings.
00:02:03
Speaker
And Wesley Snipes is ah Pete Nessip, who is a U.S. Marshal. And then he and his brother, who's played by the late Malcolm Jamal Warner, um are ah escorting a hacker who's in... What's weird is he's been in prison, but he's only been in prison because he's like he's going to testify, but he's like... You have to stay in prison?
00:02:27
Speaker
We don't have a safe house or witness protection? You're like, no, you're you're in jail.
Hacker's Role and Prison Setting
00:02:33
Speaker
Well, okay, because it's like really quickly explained, but his... the The guy was a hacker for like the Chinese triad, and then... He hid their money, and yeah But he realized, like,
00:02:47
Speaker
he was gonna get, like, caught, so he turned himself in, but instead of, like, yeah like I said, a safe house or anything, they put him in jail. General Pop, like, Gen Pop, like, he's gonna get shanked.
00:03:01
Speaker
Like, he almost gets killed in, like, the ah warden, or someone who's like, oh you guys gotta get him to different prison. Like, yeah you gotta get him on a plane and him to, like, a different prison upstate. Well, I'm thinking also, like,
00:03:14
Speaker
He probably didn't get booked under his real name. Maybe that's what happened. And then they found out he was the same person. Yeah, some about some of the the triads or whoever he was working for i found out about that where he was. And they really they that got that guy to pull out a was it's like you a radio antenna they turned into a shank.
00:03:32
Speaker
Yeah. ktan Really interesting because ah the it happened so quick from the opening. The opening is just like, I wrote down that said like, it was just the prison full of like 80s muscle heads.
00:03:45
Speaker
Yes. ah Like every every like background villain you've ever seen in like Lethal Weapon up until now, like it's just in this prison.
00:03:57
Speaker
Also, they're not wearing like standard outfits. Like I could, you know i mean Like it just looks like random dudes.
Portrayal of Hacking and Skydiving Heists
00:04:02
Speaker
They just pulled out like of a gold gym, like in Miami. And they're just like hey, we're making this movie.
00:04:10
Speaker
does anyone want to be in it? And like, okay. We all went to that set that morning and filmed the scene.
00:04:19
Speaker
But, ah yeah, the the thing is revolves around a hacker who is not as good as a remote hacker. like He has to be in the location of places, which is weird. Because sometimes he he can remote hack, but then other times, like in this movie, his skill only applies to being in the like ah main computer of the building.
00:04:40
Speaker
Yeah, it's like certain times he needs to be there, but other times he's either rigged it or he's like actively stopping people from like looking up information about him or ah the villains or like because like people are like on their computer and all of sudden it starts going staticky and like, oh, what's going what's on? What's on this computer?
00:04:58
Speaker
it's like, people I'm thinking like some of those computers probably aren't online. So like, how's this working? No, it's like it's a yes like it's 1994. They're like, they have to be on a modem.
00:05:09
Speaker
Yeah, it was like the ah crazy like hacking... ah like In the post-WarGames hacking, but a lot of that still required social phishing.
00:05:23
Speaker
like That guy had to call the company and be like, hey, I'm your IT guy. like Give me your password, is what he said. And then he's like, okay, cool, I've got the password. And then, you know, plant it a file somewhere. But...
00:05:37
Speaker
ah it It was like the gimmicky thing. There's like two gimmicks for this heist. It's like skydiving in order to get the hacker in there, which crazy because they don't tell you that until like after the first half hour of the movie.
00:05:56
Speaker
It's not obvious of like what the the like why the hacker is very important yet.
00:06:03
Speaker
Because in the opening act, you just see him that he does not belong in this like prison. Or like he he's very like gentle, I guess. Because they do the whole... His cats.
00:06:14
Speaker
Yeah. But normally, the cat guy um is the like later on redemption. Or he's secretly a very good guy, but just keeps getting in trouble for some reason. The movie just stops that.
00:06:27
Speaker
Oh, well, he's like he's like a little bit like freaked out initially. but he's just like he's like fully on board. Oh yeah, that's the thing. like Oh, he this guy is just secretly still kind of like an asshole.
00:06:39
Speaker
mean, that's so secretly once he gets opportunity, but it it goes from what you think of, okay, maybe he's actually just like, he'll help anyone who will help him like survive.
Wesley Snipes' Career and Character Relationships
00:06:50
Speaker
And then you realize, oh, like that that's not quite the case. But did you get the vibe that this movie almost has that pre-Bad Boys vibe to it from the opening act?
00:07:04
Speaker
ah Yeah, of like you the brothers would be like the bad boys. Yeah. They have a good dynamic. They were just like riffing on each other. they're They're doing their mission together. They're bad boys for life. Does the actual like US Marshals like any like agency allow siblings to be partners?
00:07:22
Speaker
I think not for this reason. case Yeah, because it's like, well, if you if you both got killed, or one of you got killed, it's just like... Oh, you're going to go... on um Doubly traumatic. Yeah. That ends like you compromise the whole, like, integrity.
00:07:34
Speaker
Like, you just... They do that for this reason. Normally, it's like, yeah, like, we you probably could work in the same department, but you can't go on the same, like, you can't be partners. it's It's like the Saving Private Ryan scenario, where it's like, well, yeah yeah like we can't wipe out your whole family when something like horrible happens. And it's like, you you're like the the only two brothers in your family, now you're both dead.
00:07:57
Speaker
Like, your family's done.
00:08:00
Speaker
your family bloodline's done. I don't think it's that serious in the, like, U.S. Marshal Department. No. But still, like, yeah, like like, I mean, you see, like, with, like, la like like like like, the trauma of, like, he's not your partner, like, partner is, like, he's your brother. Like, that's just, like,
00:08:18
Speaker
doubly traumatic to you. And the way he, like, Buckleman Jim Warren gets killed, too, is like he gets sucked on an airplane. Oh, yeah. He's, like, bleeding out. Trying to gra like hold him in this plane. You know, it's a couple of things. This is a dramatic death.
00:08:32
Speaker
He's bleeding out after being shot. The plane's hull is compromised. People are being sucked out. There's a little girl that it's like he can choose to save himself or save her.
00:08:44
Speaker
And then, yeah, like, being... hold out of an airplane while your brother's screaming for you is like super goddamn dark in the beginning and that's like only the first 20 minutes of the movie do you think they do you think like finalist nation people that made that like watch this was like oh that's a good idea people can suck that airplane No, man, if you know anything about like horrible F.E.A. plane things, that's just like a thing that happened a lot.
00:09:10
Speaker
and Yeah, Wesley Snipes should never go on a plane. that's like Bad things always happen to him when he's on a plane. That's true, it's like about a year after? I like ah yeah and think it was like like a couple years before this was Patches of 57.
00:09:24
Speaker
or this was passenger 57 yeah that was like that was like 92 wow so i'm thinking he did major league 57 and then he did major league 2 he did um passenger 57 boiling point rising sun demolition man and sugar hill before drop zone that was like the kind of run I ah definitely saw Demolition Man in theaters.
00:09:54
Speaker
What year is Major League? always forget that he's eighty nine Yeah. That one of his first ones. Ah, I see.
00:10:05
Speaker
What's crazy is if you look at his like filmography, like he had... like this is like Drop Zone was his only movie in 1994, but, like, Wesley Snipes had, like like, four movies in 1993, like, three in 1992, like, three in 1995. So this is, like, just so kind of like an odd, like, single
Skydiving Stunts and Filming Logistics
00:10:23
Speaker
year for him.
00:10:23
Speaker
yeah
00:10:27
Speaker
I guess a lot of skydiving took up a lot of time. Yeah, yeah. um I'm also thinking, like, he probably was in a lot of pre-production stuff in 1994, and then it didn't get released until 1995.
00:10:40
Speaker
five Well, Dropsham was like late 94. It was like December. That makes sense. Yeah, you're right. like It just started after the amazing run of 1989, let's be generous, and then all the way to 1994. It was just like every few months you see a new Wizzy Snyder flick.
00:11:01
Speaker
And after, too. I mean, like 95, he's got three movies. He's got...
00:11:05
Speaker
96, like, he's at Blade 98. I mean, he's, like... Or, right, right. a Blade was definitely, like, key. Because after that, I think Art of War, and then maybe Blade... Blade 2.
00:11:16
Speaker
Blade 2. No, but I'm saying, like, when does he stop being the, like, the the typical action star? Where it's like, this was, like, a crazy... I think... Yeah, think, like, Art of War 2.
00:11:30
Speaker
After that, it was just basically... I think probably Blade Trinity when he was like such a like a problem on set, and then he just started going to direct-to-video stuff. Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense.
00:11:42
Speaker
because and You know what's funny? like The more I think about it, I haven't seen him do and another movie where he doesn't play like a badass, where he just plays a person. Not like, like was he a snipe, secret martial artist, or even a cop?
00:12:00
Speaker
yeah it's pretty Yeah, it's pretty much like, especially like recently too, it's just been like, yeah, just all like, X-Men 3 and coming back for Deadpool Wolverine.
00:12:13
Speaker
Armed response.
00:12:18
Speaker
But yeah, this was like what you use him for. he was He's a pretty good role in this where basically it allows it, it explains why he's like jumpy and then He also, like, most of the time, he doesn't want trouble.
00:12:35
Speaker
He's not seeking it out for a guy who wants revenge for a dead brother. You know, he's very calm for good amount this movie.
00:12:43
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Like, his boss shows up like, hey, you're suspended. theyre like Give me your badge or your gun He's like, well, I'm going to investigate anyway. And his boss is like, all right. without you Go for it. Yeah. Then he just yeah and he goes and like, I got to find these skydivers. I got to find this like skydiving crew.
00:13:01
Speaker
It's crazy to think that like the FBI in this movie aren't good at this. like It takes a U.S. Marshal to do basically the investigative work of like two different departments of like yes im like justice.
00:13:16
Speaker
Well, because well Gary Busey and his crew are so clever because they said that it looked like it was ah like terrorists. and And then they but they bite off Michael Jeter's finger so that it's like, oh, well, we found...
00:13:28
Speaker
you know, Lee's finger, the hacker's finger in the plane. So he's dead, obviously. ah and allt All the terrorists are dead, because theyre but these slaves like yeah there's like five burned bodies, and it's the terrorists, and then there's their prisoner.
00:13:44
Speaker
it like Conveniently, the the only like five people that got burned got recognition. And yeah, like he says that out loud. And again, we don't see that. You know, it's sort of like just told. And everyone's like, yeah, that makes sense. They totally are burnt bodies. it's like, where were those bodies? Where did you find those bodies?
00:14:03
Speaker
And they're blaming. That opening part happened so quick that I'm trying to count how many people died. They said that 14 people died. So I'm like, okay, so they're counting. They also counting like the hacker team or like the the hijack team.
00:14:17
Speaker
Probably, yeah. So that leaves them like nine people. And that's like the stewardess they shot. Yep. A couple that flew out the plane. That's three. There was another guy that got shot.
00:14:29
Speaker
Like another guy got shot. Right. And then ah the partner. Yep. And then like five. I think two other people, got a couple of other people got sucked out. I would say like generously, maybe like four or five people got sucked out of the plane that we saw.
00:14:43
Speaker
But then it's like, oh, yeah, only the hijackers are exploded. it's like. and then you found their body? It's like, yeah, okay, what about, like, the hacker? No. It's like, we found his finger. We found his finger, and also, this body's missing a finger, so that's it's obviously him.
00:14:57
Speaker
So that's the thing, it's like, and do they have, like, a pre-burnt body with a missing finger? Maybe. They're just terrible forensics. Or they just assumed, yeah, they just assumed, like, an explosion, like, just blew off that that one finger, and then burned the rest of his body by recognition.
00:15:15
Speaker
but That's kind like their like Gary Busey's crew, their kind of thing is like they make it look like other things so they don't get, there's no suspicion on them. It's like later on when they like robbed the police station, it's like, oh, well this, it was a criminals that were hiding out for weeks and then they busted out and stole cocaine.
00:15:38
Speaker
Who knows how they got in the building? Definitely not parachutes. Yeah.
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's funny that like they just said, oh no, they they couldn't have parachutes. No one, they would have not. like In the like how far they investigated, it seemed like the FBI had, even US Marshals, and maybe the FAA, they didn't understand like how parachuting works or any kind of tricks to get around things.
00:16:05
Speaker
Like, oh no. Like, no one's ever dropped a plane that high. It's possible, yeah. It's too fast. It's too high, it's too fast. You can't do it. And it's like, oh, if you did, you'd need a special harness. It's like, well, does a happy man have a medal? like, no. Like, that was such a hinging point in the movie, because they they may they tell you, it's like, at least Wesley investigates. He wants to kind of find out for himself.
00:16:27
Speaker
And this is it before the internet. And apparently, maybe the US Marshals don't have like a an aerospace person or some sort of like escape artist on hand at their department to explain how they would do things like this?
00:16:42
Speaker
Well, he goes like, Wesley Snipes goes to like the, like the art like the army guy or the army base and they're like, ah he's like, well, there's two people who probably could do it. Like if if someone actually did like,
00:16:56
Speaker
Because they did like a they did like a training mission at like 3,000 feet or something, and then it's like, well, they're they're even higher and faster. as' like It's possible. But if if someone could do it's these two. One is Yancey Butler, and then one is Carrie Busey's guy, a Jagger.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yeah. And so wascycl close that he goes to Yancey Butler first, and then sees like her like ramshackle skydiving school. I mean, there's no way. If you had a bet money on a ragtag team of heisters, it would have been Yancy Butler's team.
00:17:29
Speaker
Like, just because they look like they would need the money. Yeah, it's like a back backwater swamp skydiving school with like a plane that barely flies. Right, which is like, how is this place not shut down next?
00:17:43
Speaker
Mm-hmm. or how sort business like People are still like paying them to like, yeah, we'll we'll go in this ricky-looking plane. That's fine. I think they don't file the paperwork correctly because I think you just go there drunk or whatever. yeah Or maybe that like they just have a... Maybe because me and you aren't skydivers.
00:18:03
Speaker
maybe No, we're not in the world of skydiving. We don't know what the culture is like. like These people pay them to... they're they're like I don't know how crazy the fees are to maintain a business for to jump out like five people every weekend or whatever.
00:18:20
Speaker
And then the weird thing too is also that the plane has like a trap door it built into it. Like a Bombay door they drop Wesley Slaps out of. ah person A man who's never skydived in his life is dropping off a plane with no parachute. Oh, you know what's crazy too? Like...
00:18:37
Speaker
the movie really explains how hard and there's like, it is the skydive and how the pseudoscience it is and like how you need to like ride the wind and do all things. Right. Uh, there's a good chance they could have messed up on that initial scare and just been a murder.
00:18:57
Speaker
Yeah, like he like falls hits his head in the back wheel or something. Or like like just like... Or doesn't... Yeah. Like, you look the wrong way. you Your neck, you look up instead of down. Like, you don't you don't breathe correctly.
00:19:10
Speaker
Or like, his clothes are too... like You know what I mean? Like, you have to... Your body is being pushed by wind from like almost all direction. And... Like, because... I say this because the movie points it out later.
00:19:22
Speaker
Where... they explain how do you balance your body so you don't just like keep spinning in circles or upside down. Like you have to flatten yourself and kind of arc yeah yeah mark yourself body and put your arms out. And so like that matters, you know, your clothing, how you present yourself, that, that all adds like, like numbers to how you can fly.
00:19:47
Speaker
um Again, not an expert, but this only makes sense when you're skydiving instead of parachuting, where you're trying to go for, like, I guess, um style and flair.
00:20:00
Speaker
Yeah. Mm-hmm. But I guess like you can still parachute wearing whatever clothes and you'll just do just as well. I don't know. See, like now I'm thinking about it. Maybe you see Skydives in a tank top and Zubaz later on. It's like, yeah, I'm just going to go with you guys. Let's go.
00:20:15
Speaker
what I mean? like i See, this movie be shows you that you can either it's either really important that you have the right equipment and at least the right technique, or you can just be Garibuski and just jump out on whatever you're wearing and still be just as good as the pros.
00:20:33
Speaker
so movie but then or at least they show wesney snipes gets better at skydiving within his like two-week training regiment
00:20:42
Speaker
well yeah yeah cause because luckily like the anti-butler is able to catch him before he like dies from having no parachute um and then ah Wait, wait, wait.
00:20:55
Speaker
Before that, was the punch to the face. where That was after the first jump, yeah. That was pretty good because you don't really see that. You don't really see... You see that when, like, i two men do it to each other, but never when it's, like, the woman and man. That was very unique to me.
00:21:11
Speaker
Well, guess because initially, can't see Butler's character was written as it like as a man, then they can't see any Butler. And then they went, alright. Well, then she was like, yeah, just keep keep the punch to her, that's fine. and It's a good shot.
00:21:23
Speaker
I like It's realistic. I could see when he sniped Snap. yeah If he got dropped out a Bombay door of a plane with no parachute. Mind you, he's on a hunt to avenge his brother.
00:21:35
Speaker
So it's like, he's just being fucked with even more. Yeah.
00:21:41
Speaker
And she knows that, right? Like, he tells her that. He's like, oh, like that was my brother that died. That they blame him for, like, exploding the door because... I mean, to go back a little bit, they blamed that a maintenance worker packed C4 in the door, and then because of the brother's shooting, it set it off.
00:22:01
Speaker
There were so many witnesses to say that didn't happen like that. Well, someone definitely packed, like, guns in, like, the like the seatback chairs. Unless, Gary, have you seen his crew put those there? and this like like like it's like No, I think the maintenance worker did that.
00:22:19
Speaker
Yeah, because they were concealed in like the chair. So like those were ready for them but to go for them. So, because that that was another thing they just told you about, where it's like, oh, there was a maintenance worker that they killed in a shootout from running from the cops.
00:22:33
Speaker
Who, I think Gary Busey had dirt on him that explained why like he was forced to do this, but then was just conveniently killed, which I think also Gary Busey kind of did. Like, he wanted to clean up the loose end.
00:22:47
Speaker
Yeah. But you don't really see that.
Gary Busey's Heist Plan and Character Roles
00:22:50
Speaker
I think you just have to hear it through context and then kind of piece it together that like it was all part of the plan. It's a very Joker-esque plan that character he has. So his is his overall scheme, though, is they are going to ah therere parachute, they're going to skydive onto the roof of like the DEA headquarters and get LeeDee the hacker into there.
00:23:16
Speaker
And then He is going to, I think, plant like plant like, hack the current list of undercover DEA agents, but then I think also, like, leave a way for them like, constantly check it. so And then they're going to basically sell, like, ah as like ah basically, be like, tech service or, like, tech support or, like, like and information for, like, this drug cartel.
00:23:41
Speaker
And basically be like, hey, and you pay us $2 million dollars every month and we'll tell you who the DEA is putting in as like undercover agents.
00:23:50
Speaker
Gary Busey could have done this without a hacker. He could have just done this himself, right? Yeah, because he's a retired DEA agent, like a veteran DEA agent who just retired. and yeah if he if he wanted to be a corrupt DEA agent, he probably could like he probably had the access to find out who the undercover agents were.
00:24:09
Speaker
and just like print it out or get it out, and then just like, here you go. And just stay like undercover like as like an actual DEA agent, but like secretly he's now working for like the big cartel.
00:24:25
Speaker
But yeah, he yeah it's way over... It's just so overly complicated of, gotta get a crew of skydivers, I gotta break this like hacker out of this mid-air... plane and we gotta get into like the Washington D.C. 4th of July fireworks show.
00:24:41
Speaker
Yeah, it was like a crazy coincidence that it all worked together. Also, he has to make sure that his team was good enough to qualify to be in that fireworks show.
00:24:58
Speaker
Also, the fireworks show team would be okay for what happens later where like five people won't be in that show. who Yeah, who didn't jump with the the rest of the group and just flew their plane somewhere else.
00:25:11
Speaker
Yeah, right? like That's weird. It's oh, what why is why is Ty's team like flying? is their plane like going nowhere near the drop zone? and Yeah,
00:25:27
Speaker
they're going off course when they're playing flight path.
00:25:32
Speaker
And then Wesley Snipes and Yancey Butler, like, their deal is if Wesley Snipes can, um you know, talk to Yancey Butler's ah parole officer because she's basically, like, trapped in Florida because she got arrested for, think, was it was like a drug skydiving? They were, like, smoking drugs in?
00:25:53
Speaker
They got arrested or something? I think it was because... It's her and Jagger. Jagger, like... Jagger did the deal with UC and then they went to jail. So I'm assuming, like, Yeah, you had no choice.
00:26:04
Speaker
Because Jagger and Yancey Butler, Jesse, were like together... Well, they were the two best skydivers that can jump out of giant planes. Yes. And then... Wait, wait, wait. Did it not look that scary to jump out of that high? Maybe because we don't skydive, but 30,000 feet by today's standard, I think people do. They can.
00:26:32
Speaker
It's in high altitude jump, but i mean it's not like impossible.
00:26:38
Speaker
Yeah, I'm trying to think... um you know, like, we're, well we're are like, halo jumps. Like, what is that? I think that's 50,000. And like, then ah Tom Cruise did like, God knows how many of those.
00:26:50
Speaker
So I'm thinking like, because the certain points, you like, almost at the, like, the space, you know, like, yeah, I think it's, so I guess the speed to the speed is like probably worse than like the height because um the like the speed, you just like rip, you just like leave that plane. you're just like ripped out, like, and just like, you know, it could like carry to pieces.
00:27:11
Speaker
If you're going like, you know, 500 miles an hour, or fast, like a commercial airliner is going 300 miles an hour.
00:27:23
Speaker
But, um... yeah but yeah But the other part of like the deal is Wesley Snipes talks to the parole officer and so the Jesse can like assemble a team and go to the Washington, D.C. ah like jump events.
00:27:36
Speaker
And then she'll train Wesley Snipes to be be able to like skydive well well enough to kind of be undercover as a skydiver and try to figure out who they like who the actual skydiving crew is.
00:27:51
Speaker
But it's weird because we don't see... There's not really a montage of Wesley Snipes actually getting better. It's just like, they get to DC and he's like, well, I can jump solo now. like does it You have to have like a certain amount of jumps, right? to be Before you go solo.
00:28:06
Speaker
Yeah, you need like... Hours of was it skydiving. And then I think each jump has to be like certified based on how high... yeah um I just googled it real quick. like A high altitude jump is like 15,000 feet, right?
00:28:22
Speaker
Once you get to like 35, you need a breathing apparatus. like You can't have your mouth open because like the wind is going to just go down your throat and you're going choke. Which Bucy and team, to have they had like masks and goggles and everything. so But like Did no one point that out that they had goggles and masks in and the and the the like witness recount? like The only witness is that traumatized little girl that one of these types goes to like talk to.
00:28:51
Speaker
and then but then she got hit in the head or something. She has like these like really... It makes it seem like she has like really fuzzy memories of what happened and then she gets terrified of the picture of Jagger. And their mom's like, get out here! I'm going to call the real police.
00:29:06
Speaker
And it turns out the real police is also corrupt. One of them, at least, yeah. Yeah, there's, like, a whole... but big like It makes sense. like The movie, at some points, doesn't have so few plot holes about, like, why they can't... Like, why Wazzy Slimes has to do, like, it his way because, like, all these conventional means are just shut.
00:29:28
Speaker
But no one else questions that. Like... You know, it's like, oh, did the FBI also invent interview the girls? Like, no, just the local cops. Like, what what do the local cops care? butre They're not doing their job well.
00:29:41
Speaker
know what's crazy is that, like, Busey causes, like, his own downfall, basically, because if he didn't kill Jagger, they wouldn't have his parachute in the, like, storage room.
00:29:52
Speaker
And then but they would have had Jagger, though.
00:29:57
Speaker
like they then they would have had Jagger. like yeah Either way, it didn't cause his downfall, it just was like the
Skydiving Competition and Character Interactions
00:30:03
Speaker
problem. His loose end was Jagger was there. but ah I'm just saying but then that caused when he was able to get the parachute fibers and he was like, oh, this is the brig that was on the plane. Whoever Jagger's crew was is the crew that did the heist, kidnapping.
00:30:22
Speaker
Yeah, but, like, that's that just proves that the pack was there. It doesn't yeah prove that, like, But but but it's but it's like the it's, like, the first big clue that, like, Wazzy Snipes gets to, like, oh, this, like, whatever crew Jagger was in is, like, that's who I need to, like, focus on.
00:30:42
Speaker
Right, right, but, like, in terms of, like, the connection, like, they do make a leap later to explain that, but It really is just like, what can you prove?
00:30:54
Speaker
So much that like this makes sense to say, oh, this was there, so you must have been there too. like Because it's like, okay, Jagger, whoever was with Jagger killed him, but then Jagger's dead, so when they enter this competition, they're not with Jagger.
00:31:07
Speaker
Yeah. So it's like, that's just a tied end.
00:31:13
Speaker
I get what do you mean. like it it does start the downfall, but like there's not enough for... be like so like get a warrant.
00:31:24
Speaker
Jagger was there. It's like, alright, who else? I like i don't know. We gotta keep going. I think we need more clues. definitely feel like we could use at least another beat in the middle of like an like an action investigation beat for all these snipes, not just constant skydiving. like no no see yeah so what you see What you said is exactly what i'm to I felt too.
00:31:43
Speaker
cause it's like Right after that, then it's more training montage. and he's like we We did like a car chase or like him to like figure out one of the members and chase him down or something. It should have been part two to the pack.
00:31:57
Speaker
okay so They have the pack. They know that, okay... hey, they can only tie it this far, but just to really make sure, we should burn the pack or like burn the building down or something.
00:32:09
Speaker
You've got to keep going with it. Or like, or have, or if Wesley Slapes, like, like, he, like, tries to question, like, if Jagger's still alive, like, he's supposed to question him, then he runs off, and they have, like, car chase or a foot chase or something, but then Jagger gets away, and then that's when Busey kills him.
00:32:24
Speaker
Could be. oh That makes sense, too. Oh, he he found you. I gotta kill you. Yeah, yeah, because then Jagger's death would have made sense, where it's like, oh, he's getting too close to Jagger. That was lead. Now don't have leads. Yep. Yep. See, that's I think that's what it was missing.
00:32:37
Speaker
Like, it should have been done privately where they were still training and getting ready for like the competition or even like during the competition. Like, Wazzy Snipes should have gotten closer to Jagger and then try to interrogate him.
00:32:52
Speaker
And then he's like, we need to kill Jagger. <unk>s He's the one thing that ties everybody together. Because there's like ah there's like a huge chunk of this movie where it's not really an action movie. It just turns into like an eighty s like like and like a competition like ah a sports competition movie. It becomes a sports movie.
00:33:10
Speaker
Where it's like it's like we had see Butler and her team are misfits ah versus the 80s douchebag like corporate team. A rich yeah the corporate team that has definitely way more money and sponsorship, but not enough skills. Yeah.
00:33:23
Speaker
Swoop, yeah. alone like who soup yeah Yeah, Swoop, who basically is a hobo. Yep. But is somehow, like, just as good as Yancey Butler.
00:33:36
Speaker
Or better. We don't know. Like, we... It's so crazy to think, because, like, Swoop on his own merit is, like, his whole... is another whole movie.
00:33:47
Speaker
there's nothing like a story about him that we never get. Like, for such a skilled parachuter, why is he, like, homeless? And then for a man of, like, you so regard it within the skydiving community.
00:34:00
Speaker
Like, what happened?
00:34:03
Speaker
and he won't you And he won't talk to you unless you do, like, an actual, like, jump with him.
00:34:09
Speaker
And also, i don't think even, uh, Wesley Snipes and and Swoop, like, they bond, right? They don't even really have that moment where it's like, oh, at the end, like... When he, when Snipes, like, helps him, like, beats all the guys up in the bathroom.
00:34:23
Speaker
Like, he saves it from, like, being, like, getting a shit kicked out of him. But does he even say, like, thanks? And, like, now we're friends? or like i i'll tell just he He tells the NCAA, like, hey he's just like, hey, tell, tell like, the the new guy thanks.
00:34:34
Speaker
Oh, oh. But he doesn't really do it directly, where it's like the, like, Top Gun thing, where it's like, I'll fly with you, you can be my wig man. He does it at the very end. Like, he, yeah he like, directly addresses, what, he snipes. He's like, hey, he's like, hey, Pete, tell, like, these like paramedics that my my leg's broken. Ah.
00:34:53
Speaker
I guess that's the closest we get to a friendship bond.
00:34:59
Speaker
And then they have yeah so they have Swoop, who's like yeah this like crazy, like super talented but homeless skydiver. They've got Sally, the young kid, aka Parker Lewis from Parker Lewis Can't Lose.
00:35:15
Speaker
That's really him? Yep. who looks like He looks like like ah like ah a young like Till Schweiger or something. Oh, I was going to think that too. i was like, wow, did Till Schweiger grow up American and we all just been like yeah not knowing that? and then I'm shocked. i shock Given that it was like the 90s, I'm shocked it wasn't Flea or something.
00:35:35
Speaker
Flea and Anthony Kiedis were like in everything for a while. They were were in... Point Break. so Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:47
Speaker
And then Rex Lynn, they got this who's like always... like Even though it's like, what, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, like he still looks like the same... He's like an old man. and he's He's like the youngest old man.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah. I think at this point, it's before Cliffhanger.
00:36:06
Speaker
And then... Like, that man is probably in that time, like, in his mid-30s. But he looks like he's 50. Yeah, he's one of those guys, yeah, he just looks the same age, no matter, like, what decade it is.
00:36:19
Speaker
Well, I mean, until, like, recently, now he looks like an older man. then you find out he's, like, 70. seventy Like, what the hell? He was, like, pi probably in his, like, Like, Drop Zone out. like mid forty s when tra don't give out
00:36:35
Speaker
I mean, granted, like, so he is he's not even, like, the leader of the group, but it makes it seem like he was? No, Jesse's definitely the leader, and then she just, like, finds all these other guys, because he's just she goes to him and he's just like, hey, Rexalyn, you want to be on our group? He's like, yeah, sure.
00:36:50
Speaker
he just wandered there without, like, a group? He's just gonna, like, you hope to be recruited?
00:36:56
Speaker
It's a full-on, like... It's like the Bad News Bears or, like, Mighty Ducks, which is, like, we gotta assemble, like... We gotta get our all these, like, wacky misfits to join, like, the... Jesse's team. and also we have this... We have this, like, Pete guy who just, like... Don't ask questions about him.
00:37:13
Speaker
ah he's not part of the team, but he's part of the team. He's an alternate, even though he's go he's gonna make every jump. But it's funny, because, like, when he introduces him to Rex, it's like, okay, he knows...
00:37:26
Speaker
who they are but then like they don't tell him that he's secretly like a u.s. marshal until the very end no yeah it's just like it's just like oh this is just some guy i met who has no experience he's gonna be on our team so we're gonna go and practice with him and hopefully he doesn't mess up our practice sessions yeah we're also those crazy like the roll like the roller carts that's how you practice like your maneuvers i guess Yeah, yeah. So, because he wasn't part of those.
00:37:57
Speaker
Like, but none of that, their training that they did was actually gonna be in the, like, the thing they all do, it wasn't. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it didn't pay back where they have to do synchronized skydiving tricks to, like, save the day.
00:38:17
Speaker
Yeah, and then also, like like, the scoring for, like, the, like, preliminary events is also kind of just, like, weird, because it just it just seems like if you do a good jump and kind like, some tricks, you get 10 points, and it's like, it's like, you gotta score 10 points to be in the ah the big fireworks display.
00:38:32
Speaker
And then, like, Jesse and the team just do, like, a kind of, like, grab each other's arms and do, like, a couple things. It's like, oh, 10 points for them. they're Yep. And then, like, ah Gary Beast's team is doing, like like like, a crazy, fancy circle thing, and...
00:38:46
Speaker
a guy s spinning in the middle and they're like, 10 points for them too, they they're they're just as good. like, what is the scoring system? Yeah, I don't know if like, if it's balanced, you know i mean? just I feel like if that's the case, do the circle thing. Don't do any crazy stunts because it's not worth it and then it's like, no matter what, you just get 10.
00:39:06
Speaker
it It just seems like if someone doesn't die, you get 10 points. Also, the team should have been disqualified. like Yancey's team should have been disqualified when one of their members gets injured.
00:39:18
Speaker
That was after they got in. That was that was like ah that was like dress rehearsal jumps for like the Washington, D.C. jump. They were like, well, everyone's in now, so we're going to do practice jumps so wait for like the big fireworks display.
00:39:30
Speaker
so Okay, that that even confuses me even more because all right so now they're down a person in their jump, and then later on, they're down like a few people in the jump.
00:39:41
Speaker
Like two teams at least.
00:39:44
Speaker
Yeah, because Gary Busey does a jump and then Wesley Snipes commandeers his team and they foul Gary Busey. It's like two planes full of people that didn't jump in the 4th of July. I mean, is it convenient that maybe whatever section they were part of were like just not important?
00:40:01
Speaker
Maybe. like there's There's some outer edges. Yeah. though, it's just incomplete. No one complains about it. Like, even, you know what mean? Like, no you don't hear the radio. There's no character mentioning. like, hey, I'm missing two teams in the roster.
00:40:14
Speaker
Or a pilot calls in and goes like hey, where are they going? Like, you know, like, something's not right about this jump. Mm-hmm.
00:40:25
Speaker
We don't get any of that. I'm also, I'm still confused, like, how, like, that rig that got sabotaged, like, how they got, like, into use. Like, Jessie didn't check. She didn't notice, like, a just like a ah cut cord like on her pack.
00:40:41
Speaker
That is, like, her lucky pack that she, like, uses every jump. She wouldn't notice, like, like this, like like, cut cord on it. But it was the other guy. Yeah, but like, so like when did you like, because you have to like, you know, safety checks, you have to make sure like, but like your parachutes are all intact.
00:40:57
Speaker
Well, that's why they said like, you pack your own bag. I think the guy is so like, clumsy, and that he just doesn't know better.
00:41:06
Speaker
and And also, I don't get like how like, the like you you cut that core on the outside, then that caused like, both parachutes like, not open properly? i don't know. That one is parachute mysteries.
00:41:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:23
Speaker
But it's funny because, like, the movie does the typical we injure the young person of the group. A classic story element. It's like, win it for me.
00:41:36
Speaker
Like, yeah he's in the hospital, it's like, yeah, do make the big jump for me. i mean, do they even, like, see him at the end? or No, he's just out of the movie. He's like, how was the fireworks jump? It's like, well, we didn't really we didn do the fireworks jump. We had to stop this crazy crime from happening.
00:41:54
Speaker
Do we get money or something? Or pay? No, we didn't. We did it for the thrill of the jump. Hmm. We need to save undercover DEA agents.
Realism of Skydiving Portrayal
00:42:03
Speaker
To get revenge for his brother, which he stopped mentioning.
00:42:07
Speaker
And also, also your new friend Pete is a ah a cop. He's a U.S. s Marshal. All the times you did drugs in front of Yeah, luckily luckyily he landed in water.
00:42:22
Speaker
and then so he only got like, i don't know. Probably broke his legs. Broke something instead of slamming into the ground. Yeah.
00:42:33
Speaker
And also, luckily, Soup is so good that he caught he caught him and was able to kind of like, least slow him down a tiny bit. oh yeah, but not enough to fully not make him die.
00:42:49
Speaker
ah But then, after that, Jesse, like, figures out that, like, Ty or someone was the one that, like, killed yeah jagger and rig like sabotage her shoot so that she stows away on their plane with a gun which what was the pilot doing on that like she stowed away in like the pilot like or was she in like the bathroom i don't know like she sort just runs out with a gun and i'm like i think she pops out of the back so think she's like in like oh like ah like
00:43:21
Speaker
the The plane was probably big enough to have a bathroom in there. So she pops and is like, Hey! got a gun! You you guys guys killed Jagger and I'm stopping you.
00:43:32
Speaker
Yeah, she does more of the cop stuff than Wesley Snipes does.
00:43:37
Speaker
But, okay, I i was going to say, like by the halfway point of the movie, we've seen so many skydiving sequences that you get kind of sick of it. That's what I'm saying. yeah we did We needed some other action...
00:43:48
Speaker
thing to break it up a little bit. Like, yeah, a foot chase or a car chase or an explosion or a gun shootout or something.
00:43:58
Speaker
But yeah, they're just like... That's why you needed the like some moment of growth where basically Wesley Snipes is like, you know, I'm actually afraid of like flying or afraid of heights, but he does it because like his his like anger outweighs like this his fright.
00:44:16
Speaker
Well, he's freaked out by the first jump, obviously, because he has no parachute. That makes sense. The second jump, he's like, I fucking love this shit! Yeah! Skydiving! Yeah, here comes the skydive bro.
00:44:28
Speaker
but yeah I feel like that shouldn't have happened. He should have been faking it. or Or just sort of like, he's always been very bad at it. But then he had to be good at it for like this one moment.
00:44:39
Speaker
you know yeah We don't get that.
00:44:46
Speaker
Well, so he has to... So they've pushed Yancy Butler out of the plane, but then she's hanging on the one rung... So when that happened, it's like they don't look down by their feet. They just look across. And like, oh...
00:45:05
Speaker
she must be dead. Like, don't close the door. Don't, like, just, like, hey, just to double check. Let me look. Let me lean down to check. I mean, you don't want to stick your head completely out the door in a moving plane, but... and did Did they jump, like, right right over top of her? like, they should have jumped into her. it's like, oh hey, you're still there. Bye.
00:45:27
Speaker
She'll fall off. It's fine. and
00:45:32
Speaker
And then Wesley Snipes has to do the... Catch her the way that basically that she caught him in the but first jump. like But I feel like that still requires skill to catch move. Oh, a lot of skill, yes. I don't i don't think Wesley Snipes has enough skill. like However many jumps he's made in a week or two it's been, don't think he can do a tandem rescue jump.
00:45:54
Speaker
Yeah, that's why I'm like, what? He just went from like, okay, I'm getting okay at this to like now he's doing expert moves that... like even in real life, the odds of doing that are really hard.
00:46:05
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I thought as a kid, that's just something you can do until you figure out the science behind it and then how insanely difficult it is to grab a moving object. And you gotta dive so that you're moving faster than them so you can get to them sooner and then you gotta pull out of it and yeah grab them and you gotta make sure you pull the chute in time. And then also the weight of the chute is usually not for two people.
00:46:30
Speaker
Yeah, because there's is there like specially rigged like tandem parachutes that bigger, so they can hold like the more weight of two people. The chute itself has to have so much more air. so yeah I think like because of that, you have to pull it earlier so you can descend without the ripping the rope.
00:46:48
Speaker
but The scary thing about like at least civilian parachutes is that like They're not meant to hold. They're not military-grade rope and material. you know like they They're supposed to just be fun.
00:47:01
Speaker
yeah like They're just fun compared to the military-grade, which is like always way more denser. and then They're meant for not combat, but tougher situations, I guess. Yeah, because in military, you have all your ammo and guns and other backpacks. It's like 30 pounds of weight already. Yeah.
00:47:24
Speaker
So it makes sense if they had like a military grade pack and then they could do that and they could hold like her. Unless she weighs like 40 pounds and this was nothing. and don't know. Again, I'm just shitting on skydiving rules, but this movie and a whole bunch of things in the 90s gave us a false sense of how easy it is
Cultural Impact of 'Drop Zone'
00:47:42
Speaker
to skydive.
00:47:42
Speaker
Yeah. And then later on in life, if you ever had friends who skydive, it's like, oh, like, do you skydive alone? It's like, no, I'd be strapped to a grown person. And then I have to jump at least, like, nine more times.
00:47:56
Speaker
and but And I can qualify to jump by myself at this height. This is a crazy expensive sport. Yeah, this movie made it seem like... Because when these types dropped out of that plane the first time, it's like... I guess it's because Yancy Butler's school is just so shitty. She's like, well, you can solo. It's fine. don't care. You know what I mean?
00:48:16
Speaker
I think that makes sense. where it's like you don't It's like she can write off the hours and jump and say, oh, he's solo dropped. Yeah. this height. think it's like...
00:48:28
Speaker
5,000 feet, which is like... you know, like, that that's like... It's so high, but it's not crazy high. Because that's one of those heights where, like, you get to a certain point, you have to pull as soon as you jump.
00:48:41
Speaker
Yeah. Because, like, you're gonna hit the earth. And, like, whatever. But... um Because i other times, like you have to pull late, but otherwise ah chance of like the wind is stronger above, so you get blown off course. Or I think your chute just rips because it can't handle that much like pressure.
00:48:59
Speaker
Well, yeah, you need time to make sure your parachute fully deploys, and you need enough time when it's deployed to slow you down. that's why you pull up above a certain like altitude, or else second ah you're be going too fast even if your parachute's open.
00:49:14
Speaker
I think that they explain that in terminal velocity better. Yeah, what that's that's that that's what terminal velocity is. Right, right. i think because like I learned from that movie about like, oh, like you can still go too fast. or Even if you deploy a parachute, it makes no sense. Like it's just going to blow away, which I think it happens in terminal velocity.
00:49:35
Speaker
But then this movie doesn't have that. Like they don't really get into that in the heisting. they they should have like They kind of do one... ah like ah No, twice. They do like two aerial tricks that are like deadly moves, which is like sitting on someone else's chute. Steering with your feet. yeah you can seaer that like They have no control. they like You can move them where you want them to. which That has seemed very easy to do.
00:50:02
Speaker
Yeah, because he's so casual about it. Just like flying in. Hey, Jagger. hey hey jagger I'm just going to steer these power lines. And Jagger's like a veteran. Doesn't he just know to cut his chute and then just get another one? His emergency chute?
00:50:17
Speaker
Yeah, you gotta cut away. so which is the entire other movie of skydiving called Cutaway. Made by the same guy. Is it? Yep. Guy Manos.
00:50:29
Speaker
So I want to get into that. So before we get ranting, the reason why I'm so like, what is going on about skydiving is that the co-producer and screenwriter of Drop Zone, he has like three other projects that is all about skydiving
Final Action Sequences and Conclusion
00:50:46
Speaker
again.
00:50:46
Speaker
And he's also like a champion world skydiver. Yeah. Mm hmm. So that just told me like, oh, this guy like already saw like Point Break. It was like, I could do that.
00:50:57
Speaker
And then he wrote, he kept writing movies about skydiving. Oh, he wrote, okay. He he yeah he wrote a directed cutaway. Like he only, he only wrote Drop Zone. Then he's like, well, I could do this. I could direct it too. Well, he was like an action unit director.
00:51:10
Speaker
Yeah. and I guess a lot of times they have like ah directions about skydiving. he He was the go-to guy. And then eventually was like, I can make a whole movie about like getting into the plane now.
00:51:24
Speaker
I saw i saw he's ah he's on a racer, which obviously that but had that huge like ah yo mid-air sequence. Yeah, which, again, he just knew how to coordinate skydiving. He's like, alright, you to make it look cool?
00:51:36
Speaker
This is how you do it. Does it make sense? No, but it looks cool. Oh, and he was Gary Busey's skydiving double, too. because it is like Because I doubt Busey has the hours of skydiving to do this. Oh, well, I think none none only none of the like actors could actually skydive.
00:51:55
Speaker
Like, they had like the like insurance policies on them was like, you can't skydive. But then Michael Jeter, who played Leedy, he actually did do a like a potato jump. They were like, I think the producers were super pissed off at him. He was like, our insurance policies, like, when something happens.
00:52:10
Speaker
There's a lot of scenes with him in it already. He, like, breaks his foot, like. or hit like his arm or something. got to explain it in the plot. Yeah, I think he only did like one like one one of the tandem jumps.
00:52:22
Speaker
But like he actually did it. like um Everyone else was in the front of a green screen, or it was like a a double or something. That makes sense. but most Most movies don't let the actor really skydive.
00:52:33
Speaker
If we learn anything from the Power Rangers movie, we know they don't skydive. They're probably on that like ah the the big fan thing that is in the movie, too. Where you just like jump into it, and like you're looking you're on the ground skydiving.
00:52:46
Speaker
Right. And it's just like, re-screened that.
00:52:55
Speaker
But yeah, the ah the big the big the big final action sequence, though, where they're in like, DEA headquarters, and you get, you get, you get see Butler versus, what is it, Clara, I think? Kara?
00:53:09
Speaker
Like, Carrie Busey's like, main henchwoman.
00:53:14
Speaker
think so yeah i don't know her name like it was funny because she is she dating jagger and gary buzzy she was dating jagger and then jagger gets killed and then she doesn't seem like sad about it at all she's like all right well oh well
00:53:33
Speaker
i think it's also a flaw like none of gary buzzy's team like we besides jagger because they say his name a million times like you don't know any other names And it was just like, they all kind of just blend together.
00:53:46
Speaker
like i don't Like, I don't know, like, who, like, it's like, there's like Torski and like Deuce and like, Deputy Dog. it's like But they never like, say their names or like, make them memorable. Well, I think Deuce is the blonde hair guy.
00:54:00
Speaker
I think so, yeah.
00:54:07
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah, it's just like... It's not like Die Hard or something where you know everyone's names. Well, there's not a lot of call signs where they check in with each other and then they they like repeat their names aloud so at the time the audience are just they know who they are.
00:54:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:30
Speaker
but yeah but but But there's a Yeti Butler Kara fight where Yeti Butler slams her head into like the copy machine and you get to like the funny like ninety s bit of the copies start coming out. It's like her mangled face.
00:54:45
Speaker
Which is pretty cool. like that that's a If you have a fight in an office, someone's getting their face photocopied.
00:54:53
Speaker
And then what everyone's waiting for, Gary Busey versus Willie Snipes. Although, it's it's so clearly like a stunt double Gary Busey. like There's like a shot from behind, it's like you can obviously tell it's like it's like a shorter guy in a wig. Like a blonde wig.
00:55:11
Speaker
But they yeah, I do love like the kind of like John Woo moment where they're literally like with inches from each other behind a desk and they both are like trying to shoot each other and they have like the Mexican standoff. Yeah, that's a rip-off. That definitely was from the Killers.
00:55:26
Speaker
Well, did would the Face-Off come out before this? No, Face-Off came out it after. 1996, think. Well, Hard Target had come out because Yancy Butler was in that the year before movie. John was in America, so that clearly a John Woo rip-off. but what year was Target? 1993? 1993.
00:55:40
Speaker
in america so i clearly was like a john wu like rip off yeah but but year was hard target ninety three
00:55:58
Speaker
Yeah, because Nancy Butler did, like, Heart Target, and then there's a movie called The Hit List, and then Drop Zone.
00:56:06
Speaker
And then I feel like she kind didn't do anything until Witchblade, because there's, like, a lot of like, just, like, weird, random movies that she was in. yeah I actually like Nancy Butler. It's, like, unfortunate she become, like, a superstar, but she was good. She was different.
00:56:23
Speaker
I gotta watch that Witchblade series again and see it still holds up.
00:56:30
Speaker
I can't actually hear and another thing besides Witchblade. Because I grew up watching Witchblade more, so I'm just like, Witchblade! And there was it was just like, randomly after Witchblade, was like, oh, she's the mama kickass! Okay! That was surprising! She just wanted it onto set and was like, can I be in this movie?
00:56:49
Speaker
And then it looks like she got caught in like a lot of like ah like sci-fi movies, or like, asylum movies. like She was in like Lake Placid, the final chapter. and like Lake Placid vs. Anaconda.
00:57:08
Speaker
But, uh, yeah, the Gary Busey-Wazzy Slaype, I love how it ends, where, like, Wazzy Slaype just throws them both out a window, and then he pulls, like, Wazzy Slaype pulls his reserve chute, and then Gary Busey flies into the the front of the truck, like, at the getaway truck, like a missile.
00:57:26
Speaker
It's funny, because, like, that's not how, like, like that works, because he falls from an and into the truck, where, like, yeah he was free-falling, so that should just be down.
00:57:39
Speaker
And the truck's on a, the truck is on a street, like, parallel to the building, so i don't know how he, like, like, his body got, like, curved around and, like, flew, like, straight head-on into the truck. And also, like, he didn't land in the truck.
00:57:52
Speaker
Like, he somehow got in the driver cabinet, which is, flew the windshield, yeah, like, into, like, and then smashed to the front, and then, like, it back killed him. But see, that makes sense if, like,
00:58:04
Speaker
he pulled his ripcord halfway through and the wind, like, carried him into the truck. You know, that makes sense. Where it's like, he pulled it too soon. Or he pulled it too late or whatever. didn't even have a parachute. But this type had a parachute and then, like, he just dumps him. Like, just dumps him. That's a crazy thing. Yeah. Like, how did that happen?
00:58:28
Speaker
Oh, and they yeah they also beat, for like the one, the other guy, um whatever his name is, i don't um mean we're thinking that's Deuce maybe or something? Like, the before Air Force One, they do like the like choke, like parachute open choking death that Gary Oldman dies from in Air Force One. They do that to like Deuce.
00:58:49
Speaker
They wrap the corner on his neck and pull his parachute.
00:58:57
Speaker
Which, yeah, like, like like yeah, Swoop soup and Rex Lynn, like, uh, killed Deuce, which, they're they're not, yeah like you know, cops, they're just, like, normal skydiving dudes. They've murdered a man.
00:59:13
Speaker
And they they seem, like, perfectly fine with it, too. Like, everyone's just like, alright, stopped them. Yeah, we did it. We solved this crime. It's like, there is so much corruption between these, like, enforcement departments, and then it's just the movie's over.
00:59:28
Speaker
Yeah, the corrupt cop is still out there. Like, a bunch of DEA agents got murdered. Like, they didn't stop that from happening. There's a newspaper with, like, it's like, third DEA agent murdered.
00:59:42
Speaker
That cartel didn't get any justice. No, there yeah, there's that guy's still on his yacht, just, like, driving around. and
00:59:49
Speaker
If anything, he's just like, well, that took care of that, but at least I got my free sample. I don't know if Gary Buse got paid before they did the job, or is he going to get paid after they delivered, but, man, it might have saved the cartel, like, $2 million. dollars
01:00:05
Speaker
It's good that we didn't get paid in advance. Yeah.
01:00:11
Speaker
And they also like to like, yeah, like, like, Leidy's trying to like, he like, puts on a DEA, DEA coat, and he's like, walking off. But then, suit comes in, off but off the roof, and catches him, and knocks him down, and they say, catch Leidy, he doesn't get away. Which, I think the movie would have been funnier if actually Leidy got away.
01:00:29
Speaker
would have been like, this but this whole thing was for naught. Your brother died for nothing because the guy you were escorting got away. Yeah. Sad ending.
01:00:45
Speaker
But can we talk about how many times they mentioned Drop Zone?
01:00:50
Speaker
Which, it's weird that's that like that's like an actual like event. like it's like Because it's like, Drop Zone, Florida Keys, Key Largo, Drop Zone, in Washington, D.C. that how it's normally named? The thing that is like the term is also the event name?
01:01:10
Speaker
I'm sure there's, like, skydiving events. i don't know if they're like this. But... I got i got real, like like, Race Wars vibe. Like, Fast and Furious. Like, this is their Race Wars, yeah
01:01:26
Speaker
yeah. It's like, all the best skydivers in, in like, the country are here. All the best teams. It should have been as dumb as called, like, Dive-O-Rama or something. Dive-O-Rama, yeah.
01:01:41
Speaker
i mean yeah I mean, drop zone makes sense. I mean, it's the you're you're you're dropping into a drop zone.
01:01:51
Speaker
But I feel like it should have been called, like... I don't know like, sky heist? or Or, like... Uh... Some other skydiving like slang.
01:02:04
Speaker
i don't know, like, record? report Record's pretty good. Record. Or, um...
01:02:14
Speaker
I know, US air marshals or something. It's like... well That was couple ah a couple years later for Wuzzy Snipes. I know, but like, really layer into lean into the air marshalling thing, where it's like, he was a US marshal, but now he's taking the law to the sky.
01:02:36
Speaker
Just go with, like, like this the dumbest, like, slang. Like, like like I don't know, shredding the gnar or something. Like, skateboarding or surfing. it's Like, you know, like, leaving the cube.
01:02:47
Speaker
Oh, like, uh... Something like, blowing the wind or something. Yeah. Blowing the wind would have been a crazier title. i bet I bet you there's a weird term like that in skydiver, like, lingo, and it's just like, yeah, we can't make a movie based on that.
Film Legacy and Wesley Snipes' Body of Work
01:03:03
Speaker
What was that? When, um, when Supe, like, like popped his like ah his main shoe on the guy like the deuce whatever and then it was like was it gift wrapping or something?
01:03:14
Speaker
yeah
01:03:16
Speaker
so so i'm I'm assuming there's weird terms like that. Or it's like what do you call when you like a legal like base jump? You know it's like smuggler rig because that's what their like fabric packs are called.
01:03:33
Speaker
Or even just like pulling the cord. But
01:03:41
Speaker
anyway, yeah, like this movie definitely overloads you with skydiving things that you either want to skydive or you just want to you're just completely done with the idea of seeing skydive in entertainment for a while.
01:03:57
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's definitely one those movies where it's just like totally immersed into like just the world of skydiving. where see all the like You go to the skydiving bar, you go to the skydiving school, you get skydiving friends.
01:04:09
Speaker
yeah
01:04:12
Speaker
Although, it's weird, like, they don't really explain skydiving. You know, there's never a moment where they use, like, Wesley Snipes as, like, the audience surrogate and be like, hey, Wesley Snipes, you've never jumped before. Like, here's your main cord. Here's your reserve chute.
01:04:27
Speaker
Here's how you do this. It's just like, just throw out a plane.
01:04:33
Speaker
I guess, like, they just assumed people knew how to skydive. Like, it was so prevalent in
01:04:40
Speaker
guess so. They're like, you've seen enough about it by now, so you know how this works. Even, like, Air Force One, like, they did have to do, like, an explanation of, like, William Tracy's, like, telling everyone, like, all right, you jump on the plane, you pull this you pull this cord, if it doesn't go off, you pull this cord.
01:05:00
Speaker
Yeah, it's just, like, drop zone, it's, like, there's so much skydiving, but then also, like, there's not, like, any information about skydiving. Just like, you know skydiving. You get it. Yeah, know. agree.
01:05:14
Speaker
If anything, there should have been like someone explaining skydiving in a class that Wizzy walks by and then we get like i mean the understanding of it. Nancy Butler runs a skydiving school.
01:05:25
Speaker
But she doesn't teach a class or anything or even give like a tutorial.
01:05:32
Speaker
No, it's just like the people that show up are, i guess, have already taken the classes they're just there to do like a jump for that day. Yeah, that's what I'm So like in a movie way, you have at least one person in the crowd or even in the school that's like, this is my first jump.
01:05:48
Speaker
And then it's like, okay, well. And then while she's giving the lesson, that's when Snipes is like, hey, what's up with this world of skydiving? you'll You'll see. Can sign for this class?
01:06:02
Speaker
And she's no, it's full. Yeah.
01:06:10
Speaker
But yeah, it's it's ah it's ah it's a fun, like, deeper cut Wesley Snipes movie. um um mean, there's definitely, like, like ah you know Demolition Man's the year before that. Like, there's, like, higher tier Wesley Snipes around this one.
01:06:28
Speaker
But it's still fun. and i don't I haven't seen Terminal Velocity in... i don't know I saw that movie last, but I'd take a pair of it, but I'm assuming this one's probably better Terminal Velocity.
01:06:42
Speaker
I bet you Terminal Velocity has more skydiving explanations. Probably, yeah. I feel like it's a better use of skydiving things.
01:06:54
Speaker
If Terminal Velocity has like maybe other... other like ah like some other action sequence sprinkled in, but it's it's not just constantly skydiving, then maybe that would be... that's that's is everywhere This definitely needs like some sort of like other... Just something to break up the skydiving. Give me a shootout. Or like... Wesley Snipes punches a couple of guys in the bathroom at one point, but that's like not enough.
01:07:17
Speaker
That's just a bar fight. Yeah, it's just a bar fight.
01:07:22
Speaker
Although do love that Wesley Snipes like is busting out his karate and like he's like unstoppable, basically. like He's one-shotting everybody he's down. and Yeah, I mean... He has like like one fight where like it kind of was a struggle and that's because he was more surprised, but otherwise he's pretty much unstoppable.
01:07:42
Speaker
Yes. He's taking like three dudes in ah in a bathroom and destroying them. destroy
01:07:49
Speaker
I wonder wonder if they'd slow down the footage like they did with Demolition Man. Or tell them to like physically slow yourself down because you're too fast. Yeah, the camera can't pick up the speed.
01:08:05
Speaker
But yeah, check it out if you haven't seen it. Check out that new 4K if you want to see it in its highest quality.
Next Episode Tease and Announcements
01:08:13
Speaker
And come back next week, we'll be heading to... like is it Pacific Tech is the school in Real Genius? Because it's going to be turning 40 next week, so we're head back and dig into all that Val Kilmer science wackiness going on.
01:08:31
Speaker
I called it it's the 80s Oppenheimer before Oppenheimer movie. he's got Yeah, you got a bunch of like rad 80s teens to build a build ah deadly weapon for you.
01:08:43
Speaker
Who regret that they do it?
01:08:49
Speaker
But yeah, we'll dig into all that next week. um You can over to site. We have all of our stuff there. We got news, reviews, trailers. I got a review of Fantastic Four First Steps you can read. Our Game Box 2.0 for July is up, so you can check out all the games you played ah for July.
01:09:07
Speaker
all the big trailers from Comic-Con are up there, so anything they got released last week or this week for that or for new movies are up there as well. And so head over and check all that stuff out.
01:09:19
Speaker
And yeah, so for Chris, I'm Zach, and we will see you next week. For more for Everything Action, head to www.everythingaction.com. You can also find us on Facebook at facebook.com slash everything.action and follow us on X at EVAction.
01:09:37
Speaker
We're also on Instagram and threads at everything.action. Find of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your at podcast app of choice and be sure rate and subscribe.