When Kristy Swanson gets an attack of the guilts about what she does, she wants out. Unfortunately, Madsen is her immediate superior in a company where "giving two weeks notice ain't an option."As a teen killing vampires, Kristy did a very good job. The valley girl image seemed to fit. But as an assassin on the run...well, keep running Kristy. Run, run far away! This film is not a concept that hasn't been done before, but it HAS been done better!I didn't want to watch the rest of this film, but I felt I should if I wanted to give a review of this movie. I've always liked Madsen, and his character was a bit predictable, but this movie was definitely a waste of time both to watch and make...no wonder it never got released theatrically!

This movie is only so-so as entertainment, but I found the subject matter extremely interesting given the current political climate. I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it, but suffice to say that it has to do with using terrorism as a pretext to justify government power. Mmmmmmm. As usual, the concept of "what if the entire government were doing that" isn't explored, but it still scored a blip on my raised-eyebrow-radar (see "Enemy of the State" and "The Matrix" for other recent films in this vein, both better than this one; "Conspiracy Theory" is not as good as those two but also worth seeing if you like this kind of thing).And, of course, it's got Kristy, so I had to give it a 5. Actually I might have given it a 4 but the other actors did a pretty good job and the dialogue was above average even if the plot wasn't as explosive as the title might suggest. A nice effort, for a low-budget thriller.

I love Kristy Swanson movies. She's a beautiful, compelling actress and deserves better than this; but, as always, she does a super job. I do think the director made her character a little to terse and mean, even though the plot called for it. Had he allowed Kristy some margin of sensuality and vulnerability, she would have rounded out her character and added another level to the film. Kristy is athletic and projects herself powerfully. I don't think any actress can equal her in action roles. She can do anything, but she is quite adept at handling physical, aggressive characters. She's believable, and always fun to watch. In Supreme Sanction, Kristy plays a reluctant assassin, who rebels, and is then pursued by her top secret government employers. Michael Madsen, a super actor, is her chief antagonist. She allies herself with her intended target and her computer-genius friend, and they seek to expose the "Agency" and save the target's little daughter. Supreme Sanction is a rather marginal action film with limited atmosphere. After some initial action it bogs down for a while, until the mildly wild climax. But Kristy, and Michael Madsen make it worthwhile. They play well off each other. The director goes a little overboard trying to let us know how mean and incorrigible Madsen's character is. I got the point well before he was satisfied. There are plenty of holes in the plot, so watch this one for the actors; and Kristy's brief disguise as a hooker.

In my mind Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Donnie Brasco) is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. He has given some great performances (watch him out-act all of the talented actors in Reservoir Dogs). But he hasn't gotten as much respect as he deserves because besides some big movies (Donnie Brasco, Free Willy 1 and 2, The Getaway, Thelma and Louise) he has appeared in more low-budget, small, often direct-to-video films. Once again Madsen appears in a small film, this time debuting on HBO. The story line is similar to the much superior (though average) film The Replacement Killers. Kristy Swanson (8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, The Chase) plays a government assassin who refuses to kill a famous reporter because she sees him with his kid. Because she does this, her government agency orders Madsen and friends to kill her. This starts off some boring action scenes. Swanson though a talented actress in unconvincing as a professional assassin. The other actors are average at best. Once again, Michael Madsen saves the day. If it wasn't for Madsen's strong presence this film would be horrible not just below-average. The film would have been a lot better had Madsen received more screen time. Recommended only for Madsen's performance.