Masterminds (1997): Dir: Roger Christian / Cast: Vincent Kartheiser, Patrick Stewart, Brenda Fricker, Matt Craven, Bradley Whitford: Certainly not the work of a mastermind. It is a pitiful embarrassment about a battle of wills between a deviant kid and a security adviser. Patrick Stewart plays the security adviser who will take over a school with his ruthless recruits and hold an auditorium full of children hostage. While his troops hold off police he makes a demand for cash. A young computer hacker will damage those plans and the film along with it. Very stupid with director Roger Christian going totally overboard. Vincent Kartheiser comes off as a really bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation as he repeatedly messes up the villain's plans. None of this is believable and Kartheiser's action scenes leave little to desire. Stewart is way too talented for this. His villain is reasonable but seems too intelligent for the foolish antics pitted against him here. Bad supporting performances by Brenda Fricker and Matt Craven who should regret this film decision. This is pretty much ranking as one of the dumbest ideas presented to viewers in a film all year. Fine location but story is pointless without a shred of realism but then again the film seems aimed full steam ahead at stupidity. The only hacker who will want any part of it is one carrying a hatchet. Score: 2 / 10

For those like myself who enjoy watching Vincent Kartheiser in MAD MEN (I have just seen Season Six), and think that his waspish character is amusing and chillingly endearing, this archaeological relic of the young Vincent is interesting. Despite his playing a teenaged computer hacker, it was already his seventh film. He is one of those 'boys with a computer in a bedroom' who has trouble with authority and resents his step-mother and step-sister. He has been banned from his expensive private school because of previous bad behaviour, and has now been condemned to attend 'public school' (in America that means the pits, unlike England where it means the most expensive and the word 'public' really means 'private'). But he is ordered to take his obnoxious and taunting younger sister to class in his old school, where they let him in the gates 'only for five minutes'. But the five minutes turns into a desperate adventure. A sleekly confident security expert, played with tremendous flair and bravado by Patrick Stewart, has just installed the new security system at the expensive private school. But he has a dastardly plan. He intends to hold ten children hostage because their fathers are billionaires. He demands $650 million in ransom money from the ten parents. He takes over the school with armed men and seals it off, blowing up police cars and so forth. Vincent is trapped inside, having just been on his way out. So Vincent wages guerrilla war against Stewart and his gang and tries to save the kids and the school. He hacks into their computers and security system, blows things up, electrocutes an armed thug (who mysteriously recovers, having been only incapacitated), floods the drains with the water from the swimming pool, and a entire catalogue of amazing feats. The film is sanitized to make the violence just playful enough to be acceptable to kids watching, and people somehow mysteriously don't really die even when they should. That is the opposite of 'dying for a cause', for here they 'don't die for a cause', namely a certification that can bring in the younger audiences. The film contains elements of comedy and is meant as mere entertainment, not as a grim tale. And in that it succeeds. It is worth watching just for Patrick Stewart's wonderfully comic and sophisticated portrayal of a vain villain struggling against Kartheiser, whom he calls deprecatingly 'Dennis the Menace', and who keeps thwarting Stewart's evil designs at every turn. Kartheiser himself maintains the same intensity that we enjoy so much in MAD MEN. I wonder if in private life he arranges everything he owns (though there seems to be little of that left, for they say he has given away all his possessions) in neat rows and screams in protest if anything is moved. He certainly is one of the more interesting actors of our time.

'No good kid' Ozzie takes his young stepsister to school, and winds up in a hostage of the school by head of security Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart from Startrek / X-men). As Ozzie says himself: We got a die hard situation here people!Thank goodness Ozzie is some sort of (computer)whizkid (apparently learned it from his dad) and sabotages the bad guys in many ways. Now, this computer thing is going way out of hand, with him infiltrating in the Pentagon (or something) in the beginning of the movie and his dad touching 2 keys and immediately infiltrates in the bad guys files... You also see the obligatory flickering 'NO ACCESS' and stuff like that... but who cares!Near the end the movie loses it's touch a bit with a chase in the sewers (or something) and Patrick Stewart claiming to be a Manchester United fan... one of the worst scenes in movie history, I must admit.But for 'one of the worst movies ever' (as it's sometimes called), I thought the movie was highly enjoyable. Flawed yes, far-fetched sure, but still...Final score: 5/10.

I was one of the few who saw this movie in the theater back in '97. It really made me a fan of Vincent Kartheiser.This movie is largely recommended for fans of either Kartheiser or Patrick Stewart, and it's surprising that there hasn't been a DVD release (that I've found). Both actors have a huge amount of screen time, and the movie itself looks great visually.Stewart really camps it up, and appears to have had fun playing "Rafe" as an over-the-top villain. Sometimes the performance goes a little too over, though. Kartheiser did the best he could with the stereotyped "bad boy" image. I thought at first he seemed a little old for the role, but as the movie progressed I couldn't see anyone else in the part.The movie has been compared to "Toy Soldiers", and also dubbed "Die Hard, Jr." While these elements do seem strong in the movie (plus the need for things to go KABOOM!), it doesn't seem to ruin the fun. Just check reality at the door and not worry about the details.Could it have been better? Yes. Is it unwatchable? No. Will the adults like it? Maybe (fans of anyone in it especially).Did I mention I really want this on DVD? Please!