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Charles rane is not insane....

John Cutter is a security expert, who is presently still mourning the death of his wife.His friend, who works for an airline, offers him the job of chief of security, which he accepts.He is then being flown to L.A. for the company's annual meeting, where he will be introduced as the new Chief of Security.But unfortunately for him, Charles Rane, a stoic and deranged terrorist, who was caught by the FBI and is also being flown to L.A. is on the plane.And Rane's people are on board, who then takeover the plane but Cutter throws a monkey wrench into his plans.what could have been just another 'die hard' rip off, actually turns into a very good, if throwaway movie, thanks to the over the top performance from Payne, who tries his best Hannibal lecter impression, and is very cold blooded.Snipes again proves he was something special in the nineties, but the best thing about this movie is that it has one of the best lines from an action movie, which even has its own build up music and camera zoom 'always bet on black'.some of the script is pretty poor, but for fans of the action genre, this does not disappoint.

No action or excitement – Snipes deserved better

Airline security expert John Cutter is onboard a flight which also contains the FBI transporting a dangerous terrorist. When the terrorist escapes and hijacks the plane, Cutter is forced to bring the plane down on a small runway and face up to the terrorists in order to save the hostages.Die Hard had a great plot and you can understand why so many films want to use it again and again. However many are poor rip offs that fail to repeat the tension and excitement of the original. Here is no exception – the set-up offers Die Hard on a plane, but no sooner does it take off than the plane lands and we have a chase in a fairground. The action is low, with only Snipes' martial arts stuff to provide interest. The film is so short that by the time it starts it's ending, with nothing to really stick in the memory.Snipes makes a good leading man despite the material, he has a good physical presence and his martial arts is impressive. Outside of him the rest of the characters are nothing more than stereotypes – the feisty stewardess who eventually falls for the hero, the smarmy, intelligent terrorist (English naturally), the dumb local police who are won over etc. No-one really shines – even Tom Sizemore is wasted.Overall, an action movie needs action and excitement – this has neither.
The silly plot makes little sense and snipes deserved better.

Very good action film

This is a good film to watch if you need to kill 90 minutes. It does'nt require much thinking, its just a mindless shoot em up action thriller. Snipes was probably the best part of this movie giving a solid performance as an action hero. Bruce Payne is solid as the crazed terrorist Charles Rayne, and I thought Tom Seizmore gave a strong performance in this movie. The action scene's were good too, especially the part at the carnival. In all a very good action movie and is a good to watch if you dont want to watch something too long but entertaining. 4/5

die what?

Die Hard undeniably started the whole action craze off,but sadly,looks a little too unmodern for today's younger action audience. Well,here's an action adventure for the 90's.Wesley Snipes is perfectly cool and sharp as John Cutter,a big mouth former airline security specialist,still grieving over and blaming himself for his wife's death at the hand's of a crazed armed robber,who agrees to frontline a surprise at an airport his smarmy friend Sly Delvechio (Tom Sizemore)has arranged for him.Only,it turns out major international terrorist Charles Rane(Bruce Payne)has been put on board and,of course,hijacks it,only for Cutter to make a right nuisance out of himself. It's all rather implausible.Why do the feds not arrange for him to travel on a special aircraft,would you find a lawyer waiting unprotected in the cell of a psychotic,would renowned plastic surgeons not know a major terrorist if they saw one,if so,how come the federal agents below seem to know,would guns get past metal detectors in the airport,would people not be chasing away from the sight of a crashlanding aircraft,would there not be a better alternative than dumping the fuel,would you really be able to cling on to a plane wheel at that speed?Hell,would a sane agent arrange that as a surprise in the first place? Luckily,it runs in at a staggeringly short 80 minutes,has some occasionally interesting dialogue and is packed with explosive,thrilling action to make up for the leadenly wooden Elizabeth Hurley,who sounds gorgeous throughout.

How do you like YOUR steak?

Wesley Snipes has been fortunate enough to be in some excellent movies -- "Money Train", "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar", "U.S. Marshals" (read cousinpaco's review) and "Drop Zone", to name a few. Even with such an impressive list of movies, "Passenger 57" is by far his best work.

Snipes plays John Cutter, an ex-cop / terrorism expert, with a rather large chip on his shoulder. When Cutter takes his seat (as passenger 57) on flight 163, he has no idea what's in store. Also on board flight 163 is Charles Rane, a psychotic terrorist being transferred to a high-security prison. Rane, in cahoots with someone else on board, manages to free himself from the restraints, and take flight 163 and its passengers hostage.

Rane is a convincing and sinister bad guy that likes his steaks "bloody", and doesn't have time for Cutter's attempts to foil his hijacking plans. The movie loses its edge once the plane lands, but Snipes' one-liners keep the movie fresh.

While formulaic at times, "Passenger 57" should be cherished by the Wesley Snipes fan in all of us.

Good action

Ever since I was young and first saw this movie, I got hooked on Wesely Snipes. I liked the fact that here's a black man who can fight! He showed his real martial arts skills in this movie and others to come. I really liked the fight scenes in which he takes down each criminal diferently than the last. however, this movie may have a certain feeling to it, in which it is...uhmmm...nnot complete. Probably because of the short running time, and I agree that with maybe just 20 more minutes instead of 40(too long!) could have expanded some of the character development, and what not.Over all I had a pretty good time, and I give this **1/2 out of ****.

Wesley Snipes Best Film As An Actor!

Hello,

Passenger 57 is a definite 5 out 5 movie, the best of his career.

Thanks and I recommend this movie to any Suspense-Thriller movie goer.

Terrible

The film is only 1 hour 20 minutes, the plot never really gets off the ground! The acting by Liz Hurley is terrible, she tries to put on a posh English accent and just sounds so false. Apart from that all she does is hold a gun in the air totally unnaturally. The film never explores anything in any depth, an infamous terrorist is being flown on a plane (747 according to the actors but external shots show a DC10), and is rescued by some of his fellow terrorists who to be honest are totally unprofessional. This could have been a better film had the story lines developed a bit better, and Wesley not overcome all the terrorists so easily.

Cheesy, campy return to the 'Doomed Flight' genre...

Wesley Snipes is the only fun there is about this movie and he really isn't that fun in this movie! He stars as former air security rep. John Cutter, Cutter lost in wife in a tragic holdup and he blames himself wholly because of it. Virtual Unknown at the time Elizabeth Hurley plays a crooked stewardess, the villain Rane is cool, a little too mysterious but cool. Everything in this movie is rushed along in a quick hour and twenty minutes pretty well so there really is no time to go to the bathroom or get popcorn while its going (not that you'll miss much). Overall not a horrible movie but still is cheesy and campy in some spots (almost like this movie should have been on TV instead). The ending is silly and a lot of the action in this film depends on your ability to disassociate yourself with reality and let the campiness do its work.

PASSENGER 57 IS WESLEY SNIPES' BEST MOVIE!!!

"Have you ever played roulette?"
"On occasion."
"Yeah, well here's a word of advice for you--ALWAYS BET ON BLACK!!!"

--Wesley Snipes as Atlantic International Airlines Head of Security John Cutter to Bruce Payne as terrorist Charles Rane in PASSENGER 57.

Not only is PASSENGER 57 a sensational action movie, not only does PASSENGER 57 feature a sensational villain--Bruce Payne in the ROLE OF HIS LIFE as terrorist Charles Rane!!!--not only does Wesley Snipes do a fantastic job of playing a black man trying to succeed in corporate white America, but PASSENGER 57 has excellent music, great photography, and a solid supporting cast anchored by Tom Sizemore, Bruce Greenwood, and Elizabeth Hurley as Payne's English henchwoman, Sabrina Ritchie.

And the script is pretty good, too, as Snipes plays the BLACK MAN OF ACTION to the hilt, with just the right mix of awareness, bravery, and humor--with his own interests in meditation and martial arts thrown in--as he rolls with the subplot of race in America throughout the script--highlighted by one scene where Snipes tries to convince some a sherriff and some redneck southern cops that he's one of the good guys, and the sherriff responds, "And I'm the Governor of Louisiana!"

But as good as Snipes is, Bruce Payne nearly steals the show, because from the time he appears in the film's opening scene, Payne turns Charles Rane's every line into Shakespeare, and Rane's every act of violence into a threat of something worse, and before you know it you've got one of the greatest screen movie battles ever: black, spontaneous, hotheaded good guy American airline security chief John Cutter trying to protect a plane and its passengers versus blonde, blue eyed methodical coldblooded English terrorist Charles Rane who wants to hijack it! And Rane has a lot of friends in high places!!!

PASSENGER 57 IS WESLEY SNIPES' BEST MOVIE!!!

Chari Krishnan RESEARCHKING

Sky Hard.

My Take: Provides the wit and thrills to its somewhat unoriginal premise. Snipes is terrific. First there was DIE HARD, which tells us the story of a cop surrounded by terrorists in an invaded Chicago High-rise. It was followed by DIE HARD 2, which widens the terrain to Washington's Dulles International Airport. it was followed by the first knock-off, which was UNDER SIEGE, which actually is DIE HARD at sea, and it was a fine action-packed entry. It can be said, by now, that the formula has worn out. How wrong are you! After UNDER SIEGE closes, PASSENGER 57 comes knocking. Best called as DIE HARD on a plane, PASSENGER 57 only but replays the DIE HARD formula and changes the locale. Even if nothing much has changed, PASSENGER 57 is a modest effort at best. It's an enjoyable action-packed thriller with some nifty action and a great lead under the superb charisma of Wesley Snipes.Instead of a high-rise on an airport, the film this time takes place on an airplane, and the hero once again is a cop, this time is named John Cutter (Snipes), which actually is a decent substitute for Bruce Willis' John McLane. Cutter is still in a grudge when his wife is murdered years ago by a criminal. Cutter then boards a plane, Flight 163, when his buddy (Tom Sizemore) introduces him to a job opportunity. Bad luck of course is sure to follow when one of the passenger happens to be a professional hijacker named Charles "The Rane of Terror" Rane (Bruce Payne) who is taken by the FBI to be tested for trial. Here's a question on logic: Why put him on a plane if you know his a hijacker, and why only assign two guards if he's the most dangerous one on their list? As a matter of fact, many questions in logic can be asked all throughout PASSENGER 57, but it's not twice as much fun as the film's action-packed energy, as well as toying with one action movie cliché after another.Of course Rane escapes and takes over the entire plane. And of course it's up to Cutter to set things right, kick the terrorists' butt. As a matter of fact, there's an number of clichés that will bound to get you feeling a sense of familiarity. It's predictable for much of the running time (which is actually just a real short 84 min.), but that might just be part of the fun. Since you might know how everything in PASSENGER 57 is resolved, then part of the fun is actually seeing how this clichés are utilized and reused. And they're used very well, and as much fun. The stunts and action scenes are tight and terrific. Snipes makes a dynamic action hero counterpart to Payne's brilliantly chilling villain. Supporting roles, including the second-banana damsel of a flight attendant (Alex Datcher), are forgettable and underused, but you hardly care. PASSENGER 57 may not be original at the extremes, but it's a lot of fun, clichés and all.Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.

Passenger 57 - Hijacking with Mr. Snipes.

Synopsis:
John Cutter (Wesley Snipes) is an airline security expert who is just getting back into his groove after the tragic murder of his wife. On his way to a meeting with airline executives in Los Angeles, the plane he is on is also occupied by international terrorist Charles Rane (Bruce Payne), escorted by the FBI. But things don't go as planned as Rane escapes and hijacks the plane. Cutter, along with an unsuspecting stewardess (Alex Datcher) must try to stop him before more people die.

About the Movie:
This is a movie that I initially really enjoyed, but after seeing it a second time a number of years later, I'm not so certain about any more. It's definitely nothing original as far as airplane disaster movies go, especially compared to the host of airplane hijacking movies that have come out in the past decade.


One of the main problems is that it needed to be better composed as far as its main characters. The movie makes great pains to reveal to the viewer that Cutter's wife was murdered and he is gun shy about working in counter-terrorism. I rather liked this element of the film because it made him less of a paper cutout action hero. Unfortunately, apart from one or two short sequences, the movie doesn't follow up on this background all that well and chances to develop the tension between him and the female lead are missed completely.

The movie is 84 minutes long. For the expense of an extra 10 minutes a lot could have been done to follow up on all that character development later in the film. It's a real shame that they didn't, because the female lead in this film fares rather poorly, existing mainly as an eye-pleaser and a woman to squeal when harassed by the terrorists.


On the acting side, Wesley Snipes is his usual self, manly and in charge. He does nothing new here. The villain, played by British actor Bruce Payne, comes of exactly like he's supposed to be, psychotic. Payne does a decent job in the role, though in all honesty, he really isn't given much to work with to make him stand out. The same goes with the female lead, played by Alex Datcher. Her character as Snipe's love interest, as mentioned earlier, is hardly fleshed out at all, leaving the actress with very little to make her memorable.

Interestingly, this movie happens to have Elisabeth Hurley in it in a role you wouldn't expect her to play. It's a shame that her role wasn't fleshed out more because a more dynamic character to work with in such an atypical role for her might have been entertaining. As it is, she's totally unexciting.

On the action side, Passenger 57 has everything you'd expect in a Wesley Snipes film, from cheesy one-liners to gratuitous action sequences. There are some pretty good action sequences in this film, including one where Snipes climbs from a speeding car onto the landing gear of an airplane that's taking off.


Of course, there are some cheesy and clichéd sequences too, like the confrontation he has with a couple of redneck sheriff's deputies. It makes it seem like they're discriminating against him because he's black, a plot element that has been so over used in movies as to make one's eyes roll. There are a number of bits like this.

All in all, this isn't a terrible movie. It could have been better written, but the action scenes can be entertaining. It won't stand up against some of the other airplane hijacking movies out there (Executive Decision and Airforce One, to name two), but it does have it's high points.

About the DVD:
Passenger 57 comes in a cardboard snap case on a double-sided DVD with both fullscreen and Widescreen versions of the film in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. The image and sound are about average for a budget DVD such as this one. The movie is translated into French and has English, French and Spanish subtitles.

As far as special features, this one has what appears to be something that is becoming standard on Warner Brothers budget DVD releases. They include 9 theatrical trailer for other films and a series of textual production notes that provide background on the movie, cast bios and notes on the airplane hijacking movie genre. They're interesting to read, but not nearly as nice as real special features like documentaries would have been.

Bottom line is that this is an average movie on an average DVD release. 3 stars.

Standard action packed movie with the usual two-fisted hero

John Cutter(Snipes)is an expert security agent who's still mourning the death of his wife.He embarks in a giant plane assisted by beautiful air hostess(Alex Datcher and Elizabeth Hurley).Then he finds himself accidentally trapped into the middle of an airline Jumbo hijacking executed by an arch-villain terrorist(Bruce Payne)who previously committed numerous terrorists acts.He hijacks the crew and seizes control of it. Cutter must take action confronting against the nasty criminal developing a battle of wits between the two charismatic opponents.Meanwhile Cutter contacts with his airline chiefs(Tom Sizemore and Bruce Greenwood)who want hide the events.The film packs nonstop action,suspense,tension,lots of violence when the murders and fighting happen ,being quite entertaining.It's a run and mill action film because from the beginning to the ending the thriller and emotion is continuous. Wesley Snipes is top-notch a action hero,turning as tough action man in films of big budget like ¨Murder at 1600,Money train,Art of war, US Marshall and Blade trilogy ¨,however today he only makes low budget films as ¨Unstoppable,The detonator,7 seconds,Chaos,The marksman¨. Bruce Payne is excellent as the ruthless and extremely intelligent villainous, he plays-as always- magnificently a megalomaniac nasty.Spectacular musical score by Stanley Clarke is correctly adjusted to the action. The motion picture is well directed by Kevin Hooks-an usual TV movies director-,he's the Robert Hooks'son who plays a FBI agent. The film will like action genre enthusiastic.It's a must see for Wesley Snipes fans.

editing

first, alex datcher and liz hurley make the movie worth watching. notice the aircraft call letters are backwards as if flies across the screen? or how about when the terrorist shoot the guy and throw him out of the plane on the airfield? if you look closely at the under side of the passenger plane, which is silver, you can see the guy land on a blue air mattress. such realism. that, and a carnival ground? pa-leezzz! ahh, but liz and alex

What a terrible film.

I passed Passenger 57 in the video store today, and was intrigued by the DVD cover. Unfortunately, the film doesn't live up to the expectations that I had. Although Wesley Snipes, an amazing action-flick star, plays the lead in this film, it lacks the entertaining qualities that his other films have. The action is minimal, the story is terrible, and the characters are flat. The main plot of this movie could've been written in a much better script; one that was enjoyable, and kept viewers on edge. Instead, Passenger 57 is a sad attempt at an action-thriller. I was not "on edge" at any time during this movie, which was very disappointing.I would not recommend this film at all. The plot is boring, the characters are boring, and the action is boring! If you're looking for an exciting Snipes movie, watch any of the Blade series films, or The Art of War.3/10.

So trashy it's good!

Passenger 57 is not exactly a great film, nor even a good one. But I still kinda like it, and I watch it once every so often just for the sheer fun of it, same as with movies like Commando.From the beginning, Passenger 57 is simply laughable. The scene where Bruce Payne is just about to have his face changed always cracks me up. He's about to have plastic surgery, but has to make his escape just before getting under the knife, 'cause they found him! The whole set-up is just so preposterous that it makes me laugh. Trashy movie, but a damn entertaining one!Snipes as the über-cool Cutter gets the job done. Liz Hurley as the unlikely (and boy do I mean unlikely!) supermodel terrorist is a scream! And pretty Alex Datcher as the spunky air hostess and tough-gal romantic interest is another reason to watch this movie. Art it ain't, but it's a fun roller-coaster action ride, all the funnier for being totally unbelievable.6 out of 10.

Passenger 57 summary by Jack Rosagro

An infamous terrorist has evaded capture for a long time by being extremely clever and ruthless. Things get interesting when he hijacks a plane carrying famous security expert John Cutter, who isn't about to stand this sort of thing. END

This is your captain speaking: folks, you better hang on!

Wesley Snipes stars in what made him into a spectacular actionstar as he is today in "Passenger 57." I can't believe how manypeople lambasted this film as I read their IMDB reviews! This isan excellent movie, you boneheads! Snipes is John Cutter, a tough, kung-fu-fighting airlinesecurity expert who is forced to take on a scary terrorist namedRane (played by Bruce Payne, an actor that makes Alan Rickman'scharacter from "Die Hard" look like the fairy god-mother!) onand off board a jumbo jet. Next to Samuel L. Jackson and WillSmith, Snipes has to be the coolest black actor around, andprobably the meanest too. He's the Afro answer to Bruce

Good solid action flick. A must for Snipes fans.

Passenger 57 is an enjoyable and rather underrated action film. Although there is not too much of a storyline, the slick action scenes combined with some very good performances from Wesley Snipes and Bruce Payne kept me entertained from start to finish.While Passenger 57 offers nothing really new to the action genre, it does offer plenty of fast paced chaos and explosions and combined with some entertaining hand-to-hand combat skills by Snipes, it is certainly better than a lot of other standard action fares out there.Snipes gives a very good performance as the lead and Bruce Payne is brilliant as the mentally unstable villain. The other cast are somewhat overshadowed by Snipes and Payne, but do an adequate enough job.Overall I was very pleased by Passenger 57, so much so that it proudly belongs in my DVD collection. A very good choice for action fans and a must for Snipes fans. 8/10.And don't forget...."Always bet on black!"

Dumb fun

Passenger 57 dates back to the days when Tom Sizemore still had hair, a chin and a career outside homemade porn and when all you needed to get an action movie made was to bill it as Die Hard on a plane/train/bus/ice rink/ostrich farm. Wesley Snipes is the ex-cop on the wrong plane at the wrong time and you'll have no trouble spotting the baddies because, as with all 90s films, they're Brits (in this case Julian Sands wannabe Bruce Payne and Elizabeth Hurley). At a lean 83 minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome and while no classic, as dumb fun action movies go, it's pretty dumb good.