
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 10, 1994                   TAG: 9412140057
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: C12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ONLY SNIPES CAN SAVE 'DROP ZONE'

Anyone who expects the slightest bit of logic or plausibility from "Drop Zone" will hate it. From the opening set piece - bad guys blowing the door off a 747 and leaping out - to the big finish - skydiving into the July 4th fireworks in Washington - the movie does not make a lick of sense.

So what?

The pace is quick, the cast is attractive, and because the action is so unrealistic, the violence isn't offensive. It isn't particularly original, either. Most of the best moments are borrowed from better films and better directors.

Marshal Pete Nessip (Wesley Snipes) is escorting criminal computer hacker Earl Leedy (Michael Jeter) on the jet when it's hijacked by Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey) and his henchpersons. In the confusion, Pete's brother (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is murdered and Leedy disappears. The FBI thinks Leedy was killed with the bad guys, but Pete doesn't buy it. He thinks they jumped.

He heads down to Florida to learn the finer points of skydiving from ace Jessie Crossman (Yancy Butler). Meanwhile, Ty and Earl are proceeding with their dastardly plan, which involves jumping out of airplanes and off of tall buildings. Most times they use parachutes, but not always.

Writers Peter Barsocchini and John Bishop try to make the sky divers' world an updated version of the macho camaraderie shared by Howard Hawks' aviators in "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939). They're hard-drinking guys and gals who laugh in the face of death and all that. The supporting cast - Corin Nemec, Kyle Secor, Rex Linn, Grace Zabriskie, Clair Sansfield - appears to have a grand time with it all.

In the long climactic fight scene, director John Badham borrows heavily from "Die Hard" and blatantly steals from John Woo's "The Killer" and "Hard Boiled." He and skydiving supervisor Guy Manos handle the real jumps and special effects well, but the key to the film is Wesley Snipes.

When it comes to physical action, he's the best and most graceful actor in mainstream films. He also has the sheer star power to save the ludicrous story from itself.

Drop Zone **1/2

A Paramount release playing at the Valley View Mall 6, Salem Valley 8. 100 min. Rated R for violence, strong language.

by CNB