Passenger 57 (1992)

Dark Jedi August 31, 2014

★ 6/10

This movie is acceptable as 85 minutes of light entertainment but it really never rises above mediocrity. The plot is unimaginative with all the usual elements. Terrorist is transported by FBI on commercial flight, terrorist escapes with the help of an insider on the plane, our hero gets arrested by bungling cops who mistakes him for a bad guy and of course the obligatory jump off or on the plane while it is moving scenes. Yawn! Wesley Snipes performance is as good as one can expect of Wesley Snipes which of course does not help elevate the movie above mediocrity. The one character which stands above the rest is the master terrorist played by Bruce Payne. I quite liked his cool, insane style of portraying his character. There are a few semi-decent action scenes splattered around the movie which helps keeping the interest just above the I’ll-read-a-book-instead level. Otherwise th…

John Chard July 10, 2016

★ 3/10

Wesley Snipes vs The Rane Of Terror. Or should that be our Pain at the Terror? Of all the Die Hard clones there have been, and there have been many! Passenger 57 may just be the worst. The story follows Wesley Snipes' airline security expert John Cutter, who whilst undertaking a flight to L.A. gets embroiled in a hostage takeover led by evil bad man with a troubled childhood, Charles Rane. Cue quips, kicks and death defying tricks as Cutter strikes one for the good guys. Kevin Hooks' film works well enough on a very basic actioner level, due in the main to Snipes. Snipes was six years away from his signature role in Blade, and for sure he is a bona fide action star. As evidenced here, he has the charisma and body motions to carry the film thru its turgid script. It's a script that smacks of the writers sitting round a table and suggesting they put Snipes in a number of tricky situatio…

CinemaSerf August 31, 2025

★ 6/10

“Cutter” (Wesley Snipes) is grieving the death of his wife as he travels on an aircraft that finds itself hijacked by the dastardly “Rane” (Bruce Payne) and his henchmen - including one of the hostesses with the mostest. What “Rane” hadn’t factored in as he makes outrageous demands of “Atlantic International” is that the mourning “Cutter” is head of security for this very airline and is no slouch when it comes to demonstrating his ninja skills at thirty thousand feet! What now ensues sees some acrobatic antics at altitude and on the ground as the story follows predicable lines from start to finish. Snipes is fine as an action hero, but he is best left with a few lines as possible because this dialogue is way more of his enemy here than the floppy-haired Payne could ever hope to be. It has a few goes at a denouement, on the tarmac, on the plane, and even in a fairgro…