Always had fond memories of this film from watching it on video. It holds up pretty well, if you’re into films about hijacking oil rigs. Actually they take over a boat rather than an oil rig, but it’s still a more interesting target than a bus or something.
The other big plus of the film is Roger Moore’s performance as the sabotage expert – woman-hating, eccentric, lives in a castle, loves cats and stitchwork. Moore is clearly having the time of his life in the part – presumably he knew a lot of similar nutters like him, and the change from James Bond does him the world of good, he seems really animated and into the role. I also enjoyed Anthony Perkins as the leader of the hijackers, though part of me couldn’t help wishing that James Mason (who plays an admiral) played his part and Perkins played a second in command or something – Mason is kind of wasted and the villains could have used a bit more weight in the acting department.
The film does have a central flaw, in common with other films where baddies take over a small area (eg a plane in Executive Decision) – there’s not a lot of room to move, so the scriptwriter has to juggle a bit to find things for people to do, and there’s not a lot of action until the final charge.
In something like Die Hard it’s not as much a problem because they take over a big room and there’s ventilator shafts and stuff to fight in; in Speed they fixed it by having a big opening sequence, setting it on a bus which is speeding all the time, and having an extra action scene at the end on a train (which was actually one too many). So it does slow up in the middle.
Also, Moore has it over Perkins a bit too easily – a major reversal would have helped.
The film features a female British Prime Minster who doesn’t look like Maggie Thatcher but who provides an amusing clash with woman-hating Moore.
No comments:
Post a Comment