'Chill Factor' is at every video store and pawn shop in the world. But nobody has seen it since it came out almost twenty years ago. But it's probably for the best.The first act of the movie is a mega dull look at a new lethal bomb known as "Elvis" that explodes if it is exposed to warm temperatures. David Paymer makes it, Peter Firth takes the fall, and gets out of jail seeking "Elvis." Despite how this sounds, I was really surprised at how flat it was.We then meet Skeet Ulrich who works at a coffee shop and is one of Paymer's friends. The quality does slightly rise, but barely. It isn't until roughly 20 minutes that Cuba Gooding Jr. gets introduced and the movie actually starts.Gooding Jr steals his employer's ice cream truck just to be spiteful and hopes to rip people off along the way. At Skeet's coffee shop, a near-death Paymer stumbles into the coffee shop with "Elvis" and tells them about it. Ulrich places "Elvis" in the ice cream truck and takes Gooding Jr along with him. It certainly took a long time to get somewhere! 'Chill Factor' is not a terrible movie, thanks in large part to Cuba Gooding Jr. As a part comedy movie, everything funny comes from him. And the friendship that blossoms between him and Skeet Ulrich is pretty entertaining. I know that both men needed to do their share in the greatness of the growing friendship, but only with Gooding Jr could this have been done decently. Ulrich isn't bad, but he's not as good. Peter Firth as the villain Brynner is awful. Unlike most cheesy 90s villains, Brynner is not interesting or entertaining in the slightest. He is far below average.The second flaw is the logic and believability (mostly in the stunts). The first action-packed chase scene is fun and cool, but not at all believeable. Then some of the characters (such as the political guy at the end that swears them to secrecy) are too dumb to be believeable. Many people's gripe with this is how similar it is to 'Speed'. In 'Speed' a bomb will explode if... and in 'Chill Factor' a bomb will explode if... Difference is 'Speed' was fresh and felt real. This feels like a wannabe. But is that really a bad thing? What 'Speed' had, 'Chill Factor' tried to mimic. And some of the chase and hostage scenes are quite exciting. That's just the way it is with chase movies.So aside from a handful of good action bits and Cuba Gooding Jr's hilarious performance, 'Chill Factor' is an empty dud.

This film was complete trash, but in a good way. I've always looked upon Cuba Gooding Jnr as a semi decent actor but if this is the kind of film he is going to be starring in, then I can see him descending the same way as Charlie Sheen.You can see from the outset that the makers tried to make one of those high octane action thrillers, which are ten-a-penny these days. But when you've got a budget that would struggle to finance an episode of quantum leap, then maybe making a film of this kind wasn't such a good idea.They make use of computer graphics in a lot of the action scenes which, to be honest, doesn't look the worst I have ever seen, but still prompts you to snicker at how bad it is. The most ridiculous of which occurs at the end of the movie, when a chemical weapon which we have been told has the power to blow up basically a quarter of America, detonates in a tunnel.At this point we are subjected to rotten computer graphics which are so bad that I instantly had flashbacks of Dean Stockwell and the film-making atrocity that was the Langoliers.But the story is complete nonsense, so even with a budget the size of Lord of the Rings, there would be no way of making the whole thing believable anyway. So you can perhaps see where the producer was coming from i.e. lets make a cheap action thriller and we'll plaster Cuba Gooding's face over the front cover and we'll maybe make some money.It would've have been better if Eric Roberts had been given the leading role.

Over the past few months, I've been taken in by some movies that have been deemed 'cinematic masterpieces' by some. I've also had the 'pleasure' of watching TV-movies that can be found at the bottom of the bargain bin in some video stores.This movie is neither. It is not a 10/10 movie masterpiece, nor is it a bargain-bin, third-rate, C-list, avoid-at-all-costs tape. It sits right in the middle of the spectrum. It is watchable and entertaining, yet not exactly worthy of the Oscar or Golden Globe awards. It was action-packed, fun to watch and a great way to spend a Saturday night at home, either by yourself or others.Out of ten, I give this film a 7. It lost 3 points for the somewhat hollow acting, but still, it was a fun movie, if you don't take it seriously.

Let me start by saying that I never walk out of movies. I'm a movie buff, and if I'm going to pay eight bucks to see a picture, I'm going to make sure I see the whole thing. However, Chill Factor was a different experience altogether. The trailers looked great. I had been following this movie, having been a fan of Cuba Gooding Jr. since Jerry Maguire. Talk about a let-down. What did this movie have? A terrible plot, stereotypically bad villains (the lead villain in this film is a textbook case of overacting), and a garbage script that lacked an original idea with the exception of an ice cream truck. This flick is blasphemy. Don't see it.