The premise of the story itself is straightforward. Ex disgruntled LAPD Cop is unhappy that he is not rewarded for all the hard work he has put into the job. He wants what's due to him, so he rigs an elevator full of people with explosives. In walk LAPD Cop's Jack and Harry. Through sheer ingenuity, and some dumb luck, they managed to thwart the bombers plan, who is seemingly killed in the blast. Both Jack and Harry are awarded medals for bravery. Of course this is witnessed by the mad bomber who is very much alive. He then makes it his quest to beat Jack to the punch. He blows up a bus to get Jack's attention. He also rigs another bus with explosives and calls and taunts Jack on a payphone. The catch is the bomb goes off if the speed falls under 50 mph. So begins the cat and mouse game between the two.
What follows are some pretty harrowing but amazing stunt scenes. Jack gets on the moving bus by hijacking a car. And when he does get on the bus, an ex con mistakenly assumes that Jack is after him. He whips out a gun and accidentally shoots the bus driver. annie, who ironically taking the bus as her drivers license got suspended for speeding has to step up. We then get the scene where they unload the bus driver. Then comes the crazy 'floor it' scene where the bus comes to an incomplete section of the freeway and has to bridge the gap. With Jack's encouragement they clear the gap.
Meanwhile back at LAPD HQ Harry discovers the identity of our antagonist and travels to the location. The bomber identity is determined to be excop Howard Payne and he is always one step ahead. Harry is killed in the blast. How is the bomber staying ahead of them? While casually chatting with Jack, Howard slips up and mentions the Arizona Wildcats. Turns out that he has a hidden camera on the bus and can see Annie, who has a Wildcats jacket slung over the driver's seat! Jack has an idea and diverts the bus to the airport so that the bus can go in circles and maintain the speed. He also gets a local news crew to tap into the Howards feed, record the feed and loop it so they can buy time to unload all the hostages. He is successful in his endeavor. Howard soon realizes this, but plays along to collect his bounty. He fortuitously runs into Annie, and takes her hostage. Jack is once again placed in a position where he has to try an outsmart the Howard. This time they end up on the mass rapid transit. The bomber chains Annie to a bar and goes nuts when he discovers he has been duped. In the final confrontation atop the speeding train, Jack emerges victorious, and gets his girl by 'speeding up the train' to make it jump the tracks!
Overall I really enjoyed this action flick. As stated there is great chemistry between the main cast of characters, great action set pieces, a rousing theme song from Billy Idol, and heaps of quotable one liners such as 'what would keep the elevator from falling? The basement ', ' Thanks for pushing that Bob. The lights are on but you never know what might really be broken. Geeze Bob what button did you push', 'Pop quiz, airport, gunmen with one hostage. He is using her as cover and is almost at the plane, and you are a hundred feet away. What do you do? Shoot the hostage. Take her out of the equation. Go for the good wound, and he can't get to the plane ' 'tell me again Harry why did I take this job? 30 more years of this and you get a tiny pension and a cheap gold watch', 'what do we do with the hostages? We take them out of the equation',' I drop this stick, they pick your friend up with a sponge', and,he is so persistent, he always gets his man'. Classic!
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