Die Hard (1988) and Lethal Weapon (1987) spread their wings of influence far and wide, with many tributes and references to each, and Die Hard especially falling into numerous top ten lists of essential Christmas movies. Influences run deep; Passenger 57 (1992) has the dramatic musical stab as the villain is thrown from a great height just like the scene with Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman in Die Hard.
Throughout Passenger 57 there is the trademark bluesy sax riddled soundtrack that was pioneered by Michael Kamen and Eric Clapton during the Lethal Weapon movies (1987-1998), working cinematic magic with the combination of this style of sleazy music and buddy cop scenarios in a seedy criminal underworld.
Sinpes Zone
Sticking with Wesley Snipes and the 1994 movie Drop Zone, we can see the influence iconic movies can have. Drop Zone is centred on skydiving criminals and clearly draws ideas from Point Break (1993), a two-word titled, surfing meets buddy cop movie starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. Point Break featured an extreme sport (two if you count the skydiving scene) which gave it extra ‘cool’ and The makers of Drop Zone clearly picked up on that vibe.
Without Point Break there also would have been no Terminal Velocity (1994). A bit of a flop doubtless, but the impact of Point Break sent waves far. Shift forward two years; the later years of this deluge of gorgonzola flavoured and satisfyingly boneheaded flicks were decidedly cagey, in more ways than one. Nicholas Cage featured as both bad guy and good guy in three big buck action movies, The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997) and Con Air (1997).
Face/Off is the ultimate talking point movie, everyone within a certain young demographic has seen it, and around half rate it and the other half think it stinks. Bringing up this film in casual conversation can lead to grievous bodily harm or the foundations of a firm friendship. The latter Cage-fest starred the ever so talented John Malkovich as Cyrus The Virus.
Action Thrillers
Another riveting bad guy performance from John Malkovich is in In The Line of Fire (1993) where he tests aging FBI agent Clint Eastwood’s nerves. ITLOF is a much more savvy, intelligent and (in the right places) intimidating thriller in the vein of The Fugitive (1993) rather than a messy splurge of Hollywood cash.
In existence there are a plethora of movies that got made in this era and are certainly worth a mention, especially for fans and fanatics of the genre. True to the style under scrutiny, there will no doubt be a sequel to cash in on the immanent success of this one.
