"Action at Point Blank Range.""Captain" Rick Morgan (Zane) works as a mine operator in East Zambezi, Africa (where they shot Damned River (1989)?) where he sings with his African buddies and minds his own business. When his old pal Jim Scott (Downey Jr.) shows up at the mine with a truckful of toxic waste barrels, havoc ensues. Due to a mix-up, everyone blames Morgan for deaths due to the toxic sludge. A year later, Maurice Dupont (Silver) approaches Morgan, who is now a disheveled drunk. He recruits Morgan and Dr. Kim Woods (Lisa Collins) to investigate the truth of the matter. Even though Morgan enlists the help of his friends Nando (Russel Savadier) and Madumo (Patrick Shai) things get complicated because the ruthless and evil Chang (Tagawa) shows up everywhere they are and shoots up the place. Will Morgan clear his name? Will he survive the country where the rebels are fighting the government? What really happened to Scott? How did Robert Downey Jr. spend his $500,000 for his two weeks on the set?Danger Zone is more of an ADVENTURE film than an action film. You wonder how Morgan will get out of all these cliffhanger-like scrapes. Just imagine a direct-to-video cross between Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) and Broken Arrow (1996).Nu Image produced the film, and Live entertainment released it, and it has some names, so they hoped it would be classier than the normal DTV project, which it is. It has some blow-ups, rocket launchers and fight scenes, as well as some silly humor. It's all very palatable.Billy Zane is funny as the man with the "alcoholic hat". It's a tan cap he wears to let the world know he is a raving drunk. There is even a scene where he retrieves the hat a la the aforementioned Indiana Jones. It's weird seeing a top name like Robert Downey Jr. in this type of product. He admits he did it for the money, but he probably had fun, if he remembers doing it. It was definitely a career low for him. His performance is more Jay Roberts Jr. than Robert Downey Jr. He has a ridiculous southern accent and every line he says ends with a drawling "Maaaan!" The nadir is reached with the line "This sucks, man!" We love Downey Jr. so it was unusual to see him like this.Ron Silver puts in a quiet performance which could be construed as having no energy. Shot on location in South Africa, Danger Zone is a cut above the normal DTV actioner in terms of quality, and might be a good intro to people who are not familiar with the crazy world of direct-to-video films. For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Robert Downey Jr arrives at Billy Zane?s camp in Africa wanting to dump some toxic waste. Zane refuses, more so when the army arrives and begins to shoot up the place, killing Downey in the process. Zane escapes, fleeing to New York where he is talked into returning by Ron Silver who tells him there is more afoot then meets the eye. B level action adventure results. Pay check movie for the cast (some of which looks drunk or stoned) is an okay time killer for the rest of us. Entertaining and worth a bucket of popcorn when you?re in an undemanding mood, this is the sort of B movie that would have played in grindhouses a couple of decades ago. Zane is good as the hero, even if he looks a bit bored. Downey?s role, though figured prominently in the cover art is rather small, which only goes to show that even in a down phase, once you?re a name you still can attract people. I liked it, but I wish I had seen it on cable on a rainy afternoon instead of watching it VCD late on a Sunday night where the break in the film made me have to choose to continue (I did switch discs). Worth a look if you stumble on it and want undemanding action.

Decided to view this film and had no idea if I was going to enjoy watching this story from beginning to end. The photography is fantastic and Robert Downey,Jr., (Jim Scott), "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang",'05, did an outstanding supporting role and was a so called friend of Billy Zane, (Rick Morgan), "The Last Drop",'05 but had a bad habit of getting him in all kinds of unpredictable situations. Billy Zane is a very hard drinking character who lives and breaths JACK DANIELS beverage for breakfast, noon and supper and also in between. Billy meets up with Lisa Collins, (Dr. Kim Woods),"Fix",'97, who starts out her relationship with Billy as only a professional doctor who looks for chemical energy readings. There is a scene where Kim Woods takes off her jeans because of an injury and poor Billy has to come to her aid. There is also another scene where Kim Woods is being attacked by a real evil guy and poor Billy again finds her in her bra, waiting for his assistance. This is rather comical at times and the acting is rather hot and cold, some action. and so much drinking, you begin to get Thirsty !

Billy Zane delivers a thrilling, entertaining and well watchable action movie. If this film had a bigger budget and wasn't a TV movie it would be up in the biggest earners of all time. Even though it is a TV movie it is quality to the last frame. It has a believable plot, lead actor (Zane) and supporting actors especially Robert Downey Jr. Without giving too much away, during the film there are some killer punch-ups. The best grapple is on top of a train going along a mountain with there being no doubt that Billy Zane isn't involved - Vic Armstrong eat your heart out! Watch this if you want to see some well choreographed fight scenes and realistic shoot outs. Billy Zane needs to do more action films with all of the aforementioned selling points to keep his Action Hero title