Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Indieshack All movies in my view should be around 90 minutes or so tops, and this one comes in at that. Snipes at his peak, nicely directed action movie.

Comeuppance Reviews John Cutter (Snipes) is an airline security specialist. An expert in his field, he knows all the proper procedures should there be a terrorism incident on board an airplane. It just so happens Cutter is going to get to put his expertise to the test when he finds himself on a flight to L.A. with arch-terrorist and super-evil bad guy Charles Rane (Payne). Rane has a team of co-conspirators working with him, and he's taken everyone on the plane hostage. He thinks he's in control of the situation, but he didn't count on one thing: Cutter, of course! With the death of his beloved wife still haunting his mind, Cutter also feels especially responsible for protecting stewardess Marti Slayton (Datcher). While Cutter has compatriots on the ground such as Sly Delvecchio (Sizemore), Rane has quality baddie-ess support in the form of Sabrina Ritchie (Hurley). What follows is a battle of wits and fists as Cutter takes on the so-called "Rane of Terror". Rane thinks he's going to pull off his crime, and he just might, except for the presence of…PASSENGER 57. (Which is Snipes, not the little boy named Norman, just so we're clear).As roulette instructional videos go, Passenger 57 comes up aces. Hey, don't tell us we can't mix some metaphors around here. It's "Snipes on a Plane" as a young and dynamic Wesley entertains us all with everything an action hero should have: witty one-liners and snappy dialogue, an ability to get out of sticky situations, and some quality Snipes-Fu. That's right, all action heroes should engage in Snipes-Fu. Especially when it's mano-a-mano combat with Bruce Payne-Fu. Importantly, these are two of the main ingredients that make Passenger 57 work: a strong hero and a central, nefarious baddie. You'd be surprised how often action movie-makers leave out these seemingly-essential ingredients. Thankfully, they're present and accounted for here, and it's all wrapped up in a classic-90's framework.At 80 minutes, Passenger 57 is everything you want and very little of what you don't. We applaud director Kevin Hooks and the writers – more movies should be 80 minutes. You can pack in plenty of great stuff, and P-57 is certainly never boring. The soundtrack is popping' bass and/or smooth jazz by turns, which you would expect when Stanley Clarke is providing the music. The opening credits montage is an assemblage of various objects, including cassette tapes, and there's almost non-stop product placement for Pepsi. Rane has a classic "evil nerd" in his motley crew of evildoers, and, as you might expect, John Cutter is called "the best" at what he does. Transportation-based action was hot in the 90's, as evidenced by this, Speed (1994), and…others. Interestingly, Speed was released the same year as Drop Zone (1994), a movie in which they decided to push Wesley Snipes out of the plane. Apparently the Hollywood suits wanted to see what would happen.Co-star Alex Datcher was no stranger to action at this point in her career; we remember her from Rage and Honor (1992) – also notable as the same year as P-57 - and Jeff Speakman classic (?) The Expert (1995). It was also nice to see Liz Hurley in an atypical role, and fan-favorite Tom Sizemore is on board (the movie, not the plane) as Sly. It has been said he was named Sly because Stallone was originally supposed to play the Cutter role. Maybe John Cutter is related to Chuck Norris. This lame joke will make more sense if you click on the link. Also noteworthy, we think, is the usage of the name Charles Rane for the baddie. Fans of the great classic Rolling Thunder (1977) should remember that that is the name of William Devane's character, as exemplified in the memorable tagline, "Major Charles Rane is coming home to war!" – presumably the writers were aware of this? Well, apparently not. We're just big Rolling Thunder fans, that's all.P-57 may even have some nostalgic value to you if you remember seeing it at your local video store. Because it's fast-paced and fun, we feel it has aged quite well. If you're looking for classic 90's action in a nutshell, watch Passenger 57.

bkoganbing Playing the title role in Passenger 57 is airline security expert Wesley Snipes who is on board a flight where known terrorist Bruce Payne is being transported to face justice. Only Payne has other ideas. A whole flock of his confederates are on the flight including one of the stewardesses Elizabeth Hurley. She's a pretty deadly all on her own.Payne has some scheme afoot and needs the plane for more than just escape. He has to have the plane landed to refuel.My sheer dumb luck as Snipes is heeding nature's call Payne and his crew miss him. At this point it becomes a deadly cat and mouse game between Payne and Snipes with each exchanging the role of cat and mouse at different points of the film.Action fans will have no cause for complaint from Passenger 57. The tension is at times overwhelming. It always is in airline films where passengers are helpless thousands of feet above the ground and have no choice but to trust the professionals. This is inherent in every film about an airline flight going back to The High And The Mighty and much further than that.Snipes and Payne are an evenly matched set of adversaries. Passenger 57 is a tension filled movie right up the end.

Scott LeBrun Wesley Snipes proved himself a highly capable action movie hero with this early vehicle. It's no great shakes when it comes to the script or most of the characters, but director Kevin Hooks and his filmmaking team are good at giving this slick thriller an impressive pace and decent set pieces. One may notice that the running time is very short (84 minutes). So there's not a lot of filler, or fooling around, just a generous dose of escapist entertainment.Snipes plays John Cutter, an airline security specialist who conveniently happens to be on the same flight as a notorious terrorist, Charles Rane (who's played for maximum iciness and creepiness by a steely-eyed Bruce Payne). You guessed it: Rane has compatriots aboard the plane who help him to escape his FBI escorts and take control of the plane. From there, the action doesn't stop, and actually alternates between scenes on the ground and in the air. Cutter doesn't really have many allies, so the story does amount to a fairly typical "Die Hard" type derivation.The charismatic Snipes and the dastardly Payne are well supported by a bunch of familiar faces. Tom Sizemore is quite engaging as Cutters' upbeat, chatty pal Sly Delvecchio. Co-star Robert Hooks, who plays FBI agent Henderson, is the father of the director; also appearing are ever reliable Bruce Greenwood, lovely Elizabeth Hurley, an amusing Ernie Lively as a hayseed police chief, Alex Datcher as the sexy stewardess - excuse me, flight attendant - who verbally spars with Cutter. Michael Horse, Marc Macaulay, and William Edward Roberts play Ranes' various henchmen.With a high energy and funky score by Stanley Clarke as accompaniment, "Passenger 57" is solid entertainment for the undemanding action fan, with a hero you can root for and villains whom you can enjoy hating. Rane does show himself to be thoroughly evil when he murders an innocent passenger. The climactic action is not to be believed; it is ridiculous and over-the-top, but, really, who cares that much when all is said and done? Note that Snipes is at one point reading "The Art of War"; eight years later he'd be starring in a movie by the same name.Seven out of 10.