Bullet Points: Terminal Countdown
PM Entertainment will always hold a special place in my heart and just when I think I couldn’t love them anymore, they went ahead and cast Louis Gossett Jr. in their 1999 film, Terminal Countdown…
- Hack in Action: Terminal Countdown introduces Vince the Hacker in spectacular fashion. After his hacking skills got him in deep shit with the United States government, the government cut Vince a deal, work for them or go to jail. Vince took the deal and now finds himself at their beck and call. Vince is working in an IT capacity at a swanky New Year’s Eve party with some of the Washington elite in attendance. We learn that Vince has mischievous streak in him and after he patches in the video feed to the first ever New Year’s Eve party on a space station, he switches the video to a sex tape featuring Ken, his boss for this event… then Vince takes off running, Ken and security are in hot pursuit, Vince grabs Ken’s car keys from the valet outside and it is car chase time!
- Out of the Frying Pan: The chase comes to a screeching (and crashing) halt and before Ken can get his hands on Vince, NORAD calls… more specifically General Seward (Malcolm McDowell, Class of 1999). Seward, is well aware of the prankster ways of Vince, so when NORAD received a message that a secret silo located in the jungles of Colombia sends a message that the launch sequence has been initiated, Seward is hoping this is another one of Vince’s practical jokes… no such luck! This is the real deal Y2K problem and World War III could be upon us…
- Back in Action: There were three men who helped design the secret silo for the Central Intelligence Agency at the behest of then President Richard Nixon. However only one of the three men is still alive and he is currently the resident of a VA Hospital in Florida… Morgan (Louis Gossett Jr, Iron Eagle)! Morgan having knowledge of the area and the silo’s super advanced security system and Vince being the hacking genius are recruited to join Fairchild (Ed O’Ross, Red Heat) of the CIA and his team to STOP the nuke from launching!
- Welcome to the
JungleForest: The team arrives in Colombia (well… Vancouver, British Columbia at least) and Vince provides some comic relief as the classic fish out of water. If keeping dorky ass Vince alive in the jungle wasn’t enough of a challenge, the team soon finds themselves under attack by soldiers who work for drug lord Fernando Camarillo. Following the attack, only four survive… Fairchild, Morgan, Vince and Fairchild’s top soldier, Thompson (Rick Ravanello)… the foursome encounter a wild card in the jungle, Russian operative Myra Soljev (Sarah Chalke) and soon realize it will take all five of them if they have any chance of getting into the silo and stopping the nuke.
- Didn’t See That Coming: Once they are inside, we get a Die Hard 2 level swerve as we find out that Fairchild and his team have other plans for the nuke… Morgan, with his knowledge of the silo, is able to slip out and visits an old acquaintance from his time in Colombia back in the 1960s, Fernando Camarillo and convinces him to help him for the good of everyone. Morgan, Fernando and Fernando’s army that includes Paco (Carlos Lauchu, The Silencers)… Paco was a total badass and the action MVP of the entire movie… Terminal Countdown managed to squeeze in one more bit of skullduggery before it is all said and done.
I liked more aspects of Terminal Countdown than I disliked… first off, Louis Gossett Jr. is always a huge positive in my book… Having Ed O’Ross and Malcolm McDowell as supporting players is always a plus… Sarah Chalke made for a convincing Russian and I’ve already touted the virtues of Carlos Lauchu.
The negatives… the movie dragged at times and the runtime is to blame there. The entire opening sequence with Vince could have been cut completely or at least cut down. While that edit could have meant a PM Entertainment movie without a car chase, it would have also meant less Vince… which would have been A-O-K with me. Vince was played by Jaimz Woolvet (nice name) and there was something off-putting about him that really made me dislike the character.
Just like Terminal Countdown managed to work a little Las Vegas into the movie, I have managed to work in some Bonus Bullet Points…
- AKA: Terminal Countdown was originally released as Y2K.
- Favorite Quote: “We are all a bunch of fucked bunnies.” – Morgan
- Stock Footage: It broke my heart a little when I realized PM Entertainment, the kings of the car chase, recycled the car chase at the start of the movie from Basic Instinct… Terminal Countdown also recycled some footage from Predator once the action made its way to the “jungle”.
- Directed By: One of the founding fathers of PM Entertainment, Ricahrd Pepin, was at the helm. Other PM films directed by Pepin included T-Force, Hologram Man and Dark Breed.
