'Terminal Velocity' is a fun, moderately entertaining action/thriller starring Charlie Sheen and Natassja Kinski. Sheen plays Ditch Brodie, a skydiving instructor with an attitude and a penchant for trouble. Kinski shows up at his hanger asking for a skydiving lesson. Just before Sheen and Kinski are to jump, she jumps alone and fails to pull her ripcord, apparently falling to her death. Sheen, already beset by problems with the FAA, now finds himself in even more trouble and is being dragged into a life and death game of cat and mouse. To make matters worse, he doesn't even know who the cat is.
I won't give away too much of an already thin story, but story isn't the attraction here. 'Terminal Velocity' is first and foremost an action picture. Loaded with impressive stunts, gun fights, fist fights and some of the best aerial photography I've seen in years, this is basically a thrill ride for the senses. David Twohy's script is just good enough to give the actors something to do (okay, there are a few good lines) but visuallly, it's director Deran Serafian and DP Oliver Wood that make this the highly watchable film it is.
If 'Terminal Velocity' is artistically mediocre, there is nothing mediocre about this THX certified laser transfer. Not just good, but astonishingly good. I can not recall any disc in my collection that has the combination of color saturation, black level, contrast, detail and absolute clarity on this disc. The opening sequence takes place in a dust storm, usually very tough for video to render with any sharpness, yet every detail we are supposed to see is easily discernable. The following shot is of a city skyline at sunset and is almost breathtaking. The bright orange of the sunset between the light-dotted blackness of the city and the deep blue to black of the night sky. Fantastic. The rest of the transfer is just as good. The color rendition of this transfer is, in my opinion, as good as it gets. Blacks are just that, black. Shadow detail is perfect. Sharpness is excellent and in all of this, what stuck me as most impressive is the almost toal absence of noise. The clarity of the image is amazing. The transfer is matted to a ratio of just under 2.35:1 and the source material for the transfer is definitely anamorphic though the credits do not indicate whether original photography was anamorphic Panavision or not. Compostions appear well balanced and the wide framing is used effectively. If anyone wonders how good laser disc can get, you need only look for 'Terminal Velocity'.
The soundtrack on this film is also a great deal of fun (though, for once, the picture is more impressive). All the requisite expolsions, gun shots, punches, over-flying aircraft, rock music and various other effects are reproduced with clarity and precision. Dialog is well balanced so you can hear what's going on while everything else is going on. As you might expect from a contemporary action mix, the dynamic range and frequency response make good use of the digital capabilities of the format.
'Terminal Velocity' runs 102 (very quick) minutes and the disc contains 19 chapters. The side break could not be better. List price is $39.95. Even though this is not a great movie, I still recommend the disc. The stunts are fun, Natassja's a babe, and they just don't look any better than this.
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