Sometimes even movies released into regular circulation from the major studios fall through the cracks. This is definitely one of those. Tommy Lee Jones as the industrial spy is as cool and calm as he's ever been. Linda Hamilton is as good as she's ever been and Richard Jaekel turns in another steady performance. The plot is clever and tight enough to satisfy most and the directing by Harley Cockliss (whatever happened to him? This seems to be his only outing) is tight and well paced. The first twenty to thirty minutes of the film were surprisingly good. The story opened briskly, there was some very sharp dialogue (some of it written by John Carpenter, who had originally been hired to direct), and one solid (and underrated) car chase between Jones and Linda Hamilton. This is just a good action thriller, and it has one of the best fist-fight scenes ever.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Somewhat silly actioner here as Tommy Lee Jones (yessss) in all his mid 80's glory, goes against Linda Hamilton (whaaaaa?) and yes, Robert Vaughn to retrieve a tape he stored in a VEHICLE FROM THE FUTURE! Actually, the vehicle is a mighty fast car, and Jones stored that tape in there so that the OTHER bad guys don't find it while punching Jones silly. Meanwhile, Hamilton looks all pouty and mean in her high hair while trying to take orders from her mean boss. But Tommy Lee Jones' sex appeal is too much for her! Ha ha! Soon she's putty in his hands and joins him to get rid of Vaughn. Verrrrrry 80's here, with the clothes the music etc, so you might enjoy it for the sheer cheesiness, other then that... well..

If Linda Hamilton and Tommy Lee had an emotional outburst in a forest, would it make a noise? Tommy Lee and his wooden acting is wonderful. I feel the same way about Clint Eastwood. Heck, those two could switch acting roles and nobody would know the difference.Linda Hamilton is another story. Usually a woman needs acting skills or some kind of sex appeal to make it in Hollywood. Hamilton proves the exception. Whether happy, sad, angry, or upset, she sticks with the tight lipped grimace of a hemorrhoid sufferer.Tommy Lee was 40, and had already perfected his acting style of using either a conversational and controlled voice or a slightly louder controlled voice. If he ever plays a robot, they won't have to coach him very much.The plot is pretty non-existent, even for a Tommy Lee movie. The best thief in the world is running away with his loot and comes upon the best car in the world. At the same time, he meets the best auto thief in the world. Tommy, in his wisdom as the best thief in the world, believes that the best place to stash his loot is in a car that is constantly being worked on by a team of engineers. Luckily, the best thief in the world is able to do this because the best car in the world is being hauled around in a crappy little trailer with a tarp. Tommy Lee even gets caught doing it, but they just let him go because, hey, he was just looking.They did throw in some very old actors: Jaeckel, Vaughn, Wynn, Cassavettes. Tommy Lee at 40 was the youngest by far. Hamilton was only 30, and must have had a Daddy complex.I love Tommy Lee when he is directed the same way you direct Eastwood and Lee van Cleef. Have them deliver fewer lines than anybody else, but have them dominate with their controlled, emotionless delivery. That didn't happen here. They didn't capitalize on Tommy Lee's one dimensionality to good advantage.I believe the director was trying to emphasize Tommy Lee's acting chops by having him appear in scenes with Bubba Smith. Bubba is a nice guy in real life, but he rarely contributes more to a scene than what could be provided by, say, a wall or coffee maker. Bubba appears almost exclusively in movies in which something heavy has to be picked up.Overall, the best scenes are those that involve Tommy Lee and none of the other principal actors. In those scenes, Tommy Lee looks like the future Tommy Lee.The movie loses points with the love scene, although it does keep your interest for much the same reason as why people slow down at auto accidents with burned corpses and severed heads. Ya just gotta look, even though you know the images will haunt you.See this movie if you want to see Tommy Lee have a good scene now and then.See this movie if you think an action movie should be full of pudgy old men.See this movie if you think women shouldn't be so emotional.See this movie if you think big-time industrial bad guys should only pack one gun for three guys. My crazy Uncle Ned would pick up a hammer now and then and bang himself in the head over and over. When asked why, he said because it felt so good when he stopped.Uncle Ned watches this movie.

Quint is a professional thief hired by the government to steal something they can't get legally. He does and gets away, but not without being spotted. Chased by a former "acquaintance", he hides the loot on KITT. Well, OK, not literally... still, it's a duller version of the Knight Rider car(well, the look and speed... there's no AI in this). This vehicle gets hijacked by Nina, who works for Ryland, and with 72 hours to retrieve what he was sent to get, our lead has to find a way to get into the facility(essentially a high tech chop shop, kinda boring). Perhaps the feisty young women is the key? The story is by John Carpenter, and considering that, and its cast, this could have been better. It's basically just... meh. We've seen it before. I got this as part of a 10 sci-fi flicks set. Don't watch this expecting it to really be part of that genre. It's a straight, very 80's action-thriller. We get a little clever dialog, Jones does what he can to make it funny(good, because what little lame comic relief this has doesn't work... and the atmosphere is far too serious), and the characters aren't too bad, if the villain is mighty flat. On the whole, however, it's unsurprising, in spite of a few unexpected turns of events, bits of tension, a chase, a shootout or a physical fight breaking up the long stretches of time where nothing too entertaining happens. It feels like it's more than the 90 minutes it is sans credits. The camera-work is fine. So's the acting(Bubba Smith isn't asked to do a lot, and as such, fares well enough). The theme tune is decent. There is some violence and disturbing content, a sex scene and brief nudity in this. I recommend this to people who love this kind of thing. Anyone else, you can find a better way to spend your time. 5/10