Bullet Points: Overkill (1996)
I decided to dive into the Bulletproof Action Suggestion Box for the first time in 2025, and cover a film suggested by friend of the site, Andrew Babcock. I can’t recall a time that Andrew has steered me wrong, so I was excited to check out 1996’s Overkill starring Aaron Norris.
By 1996, Aaron had established himself behind the scenes, having directed his brother Chuck in numerous films, starting with 1988’s Braddock: Missing in Action III. Aaron was not a complete stranger to being in front of the camera, as he had some acting parts along the way. But 1996’s Overkill was going to be his first (and to date only) chance to be THE ACTION STAR…
- Out the Window: Overkill starts off with cop, Jack Hazard (Aaron Norris), on a big bust with several of his fellow LAPD officers. But Jack’s fellow officers don’t get so into it that they end up launching an undercover cop out of a second story window, like Jack did. Jack’s boss, Captain Anderson (Robert Miano, Guardian Angel) reads him the riot act before he gives Jack an ultimatum, either a vacation request or a resignation letter better be on his desk tomorrow morning. The next thing we see is Jack arriving in the tropical paradise of San Carlos in South America.
- Steinerized: When Jack gets to his hotel to check in, there’s an anxious man ahead of him, who is very concerned when a package to his mother will be picked up. The man notices, Jack’s badge and the sits down in the lobby… later the man, who we learn is accountant Gary Steiner and he’s in some serious shit. Steiner interrupts Jack while he’s enjoying a meal, saying he noticed his badge earlier at the front desk and hopes he can help… apparently the local authorities have been no help to him, so at this point Steiner is desperate. Jack does his best to blow him off, but when a guy assaults Steiner in the hotel hallway, Jack can’t help but to get involved… it turns out the guy is one of the unhelpful local authorities and soon Jack finds himself battling several members of the San Carlos PD in the lobby of the hotel, before he and Steiner are taken to prison!
- Prison Break: While they are locked up, Jack learns that Steiner worked for a guy named Lloyd Wheeler (Michael Nouri, No Escape No Return). Wheeler has big plans for San Carlos, building a luxury resort with no regards for the locals and their traditions, but he’s also into some shady business outside of San Carlos, which Steiner uncovered when he decided to hack into Wheeler’s computer just for the fun of it…. and he also embezzled 10 million dollars so he could save the whales. So it makes total sense why Lloyd Wheeler would be after Steiner and in prison , Steiner is a sitting duck… so the best thing to do, is bust out of prison! And Jack gets Steiner and their cellmate Jose (who knows the way) out of prison! But Lloyd and the crooked officials of San Carlos were going to plan a prison break anyway for a very sadistic reason, so Jack’s actions merely pushed the schedule ahead by a day.
- Most Dangerous Game: The reason Lloyd wanted a prison break is he wanted new humans to hunt… that’s right, Lloyd Wheeler gets another layer of villainy. For this hunt, he has invited his beautiful assistant Catherine, and has his right hand man Joseph Douglas and Douglas’ hand picked trackers accompanying him. But it becomes clear to Douglas early on, that Jack Hazard may be more than they want to handle… Wheeler however, is all excited for the challenge…. that is until Jack sets up some booby traps which makes Wheeler ask the classic question, who is hunting who?!?!! Things get even worse for Wheeler when he has to deal with dissension in his ranks, the mysterious Shadow People, and his own madness!
My only real complaint about Overkill, is there wasn’t a moment where I felt our hero, Jack Hazard, was in any actual danger. Maybe it’s because I knew his brother was Chuck Norris or maybe because Aaron Norris’ is so low key in the movie… make no mistake about it Aaron’s Jack Hazard gets the job done, but he does it with zero pomp and circumstance and instead lets the results speak for themselves.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started Overkill, especially with an unproven leading man like Aaron Norris. But as I was watching, it became apparent that Overkill was overdelivering at every turn… Jack Hazard is a badass name and Aaron Norris lives up to it. Michael Nouri is the MVP of the film, giving us a multi-faceted villain that gets more and more evil as the movie goes on.
Thank you Andrew for suggesting another hidden gem in the action world! And now, while some might consider it overkill, I will present some Bonus Bullet Points…
- Most Annoying: The Gary Steiner character would have easily been the most annoying character in the film with his non-stop talking and 20 questions for Jack as they make their way through the jungle… but he doesn’t come close to Carey Scott’s “bus announcer” character. Even though Scott is only in the movie for a few minutes, he makes the shuttle trip from the San Carlos airport to the hotel, excruciating.
- Favorite Scene: The prison break scene, finds Jack stealing a truck and crashing through the barbed wire prison gate with it! The truck is then dragging the barbed wire along and some of the guards trying to stop the escape, end up getting tangled up in the wire and dragged behind the truck! It’s a simple thing, but I honestly don’t think I’ve seen that done in a movie before.
- The Name Game: Not to be confused with 1987’s Overkill starring Playgirl’s Man of the Year for 1985, Steve Rally.