I found this film in Boston at the Virgin Megastore, along with another Piper treat, Jungleground. I was pretty excited, and my friends seemed like they were too, but they never really wanted to watch this. I think because it looks like it's a level below the DTV fare we usually watch, and closer to the 2am Spike TV Bruce Penhall vehicle level. But I soldiered on.
Terminal Rush follows the exploits of sheriff Don "The Dragon" Wilson as he infiltrates a hijacked Hoover Dam to save his father, who was taken hostage. The baddies are Michael Anderson Jr., who I know I've seen in other stuff; and DTVC Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper. Things aren't exactly what they seem, and the baddies are really after some chip that has the blue prints to a fighter jet on it (I think) and they use the Hoover Dam hijacking to divert attention and kill the power so they can steal the chip from the Air Force base.
This film is pretty Die Hard-y. I'm not sure that I mind that, though. Having D "the D" Dubs running around picking off grunts, knowing he's on a collision course to wackiness with Piper, is pretty cool. The set is similar to the Space Mutiny set, only it works in this case, because Wilson's running through the Hoover Dam, not a space ship.
The Piper factor wasn't bad. He wears this black paint across his eyes, like he's a raccoon ready to break into someone's trash cans more than he's a mercenary hijacking the Hoover Dam. It's pretty sweet. Because they split the baddie role into two people, Piper's not in it as much as he could be. I think I'm all right with that, though, because it works with the plot.
That brings me to another issue: why does Rowdy Roddy Piper drop the "Rowdy" from his name now that he acts and doesn't wrestle? Is he any less Rowdy in these action films? He definitely wasn't less Rowdy in They Live. He's plenty Rowdy enough fighting D "the D" Dubs in Terminal Rush. I just don't get it.
Wilson is a DTV mainstay, and probably deserves consideration in the DTVC Hall of Fame. I must admit here, I haven't seen much of his work. I remember him doing expert commentary on the UFCs, and he was great with that. He's a champion kickboxer, and maybe they'll consider using him in the Kickboxer movies, since Sasha Mitchell's character is dead, and Mark Dacascos doesn't do martial arts pictures anymore.
I may have paid $10 for this, because I saw it and was so excited to add to my Piper collection. That's probably a little too much. $5 is more in line with what this film's worth. Just the same, you'll get your dollar value for it. This is solid bad action that pulls no punches. The Piper factor's good, and D "the D" Dubs holds it down well enough. Give it a shot. If you don't spend too much, you won't be disappointed.
For more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114649/
Looking for more action? Check out my short action novel, Bainbridge, and all my other novels, over at my author's page! Click on the image below, go to https://www.matthewpoirierauthor.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment