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Rane is a legitimately terrifying character. A Scary Villainīruce Payne plays Charles Rane, the villain. Now, this one isn’t quite Dolph Lundgren, naked in a sewer as the Punisher good. There’s always a kneeling before a shrine scene. It’s a must-have in a martial arts movie. We see him kneeling in front of a shrine. The best part about this is the opening of the scene. We get a full-on, shirtless work-out scene of kicking and punching as he relives that horrible day. That is, he was, until his wife died during his failed attempt to stop a convenience store robbery. The introduction to his haunted past is the best of them. While this isn’t a straight martial arts movies, it’s got several essential beats. I’d estimate Passenger 57 and Snipes’ charismatic, action performance is what opened up his career to more action movies. We even see some moves that he’ll later use as the vampire-hunter badass, Blade. It’s a lot of side-kicking, chopping and punching combo moves on villains all too ready to take hit after successive hit. Kevin Hooks uses that to give us some fun sequences of pure late 80s action, martial arts with Snipes.
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He also made his way into New York’s High School for the Performing Arts. He’s got a background in martial arts, having studied Shotokan karate, capoeira, jujitsu, and others. Hooks doesn’t have to cut around anything that Snipes does. What I’m trying to distinguish here is that there are groundbreaking action sequences in some martial arts movies while in others they just embrace the pure joy of having a competent martial artist in the lead. Passenger 57 isn’t The Raid. Very little is though. I believe with every fiber of my being that this is why the title sequence is two minutes and forty-nine seconds long.
#Passenger 57 movie#
It’s got a Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, late 80s action movie vibe to it with some legit funk laid over top of it. The remainder of the time is spent slowly zooming into the eyes of our villain.Īll through this, Stanley Clarke’s theme is playing. And then it gets to Charles Rane’s passport. The first thirty seconds features images you might see through an x-ray scanner. The title sequence for this movie is two minutes and forty-nine seconds long. Okay, so, do you feel the pedigree I’m laying out here? Clarke is a big deal.Īll of that is to help you understand my sincerity when I say: The score for Passenger 57 is straight up baby-making music. Which, not for nothing, also featured the work of Mark Mothersbaugh and Cliff Martinez. He’s also done scores for other movies and shows, to include Pee-wee’s Playhouse. In 1979 Clarke played in a short-lived band called The New Barbarians, whose other members included Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, of Rolling Stones fame. Chick Corea, the founding member of that band, played with Miles Davis’ band in the 60s. Clarke is the bassist in an on again, off again jazz fusion band called Return To Forever. Okay, let me break down that name for you. Stanley Clarke composed the score for Passenger 57. If that isn’t enough to get you excited, let me give you four reasons to take a look back at this movie. It flies by at eighty-four minutes, which includes at least four minutes of intro and credits. Director Kevin Hooks put together a great cast and crew and delivered an impossibly fun movie. It was written by Dan Gordon and David Loughery whose writing credits include Dreamscape, The Three Musketeers (the Disney version), Surf Ninjas, Wyatt Earp, and The Hurricane. It also co-stars Elizabeth Hurley, Tom Sizemore and Bruce Greenwood ( who you might have seen as Gerald in 2017’s Gerald’s Game). And then in Passenger 57 he gets a chance to showcase some of his martial arts background. 1989 saw him break out in Major League as Willie Mays Hayes and go on to New Jack City.
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1992 saw him also star in White Men Can’t Jump. This is Wesley Snipes in the middle of his 90s run. Speaking of hearts, mine unabashedly beats for this ridiculous movie. “Charles Ranes, known internationally as the Rane of Terror.” Remorseless, unashamed punning like this goes straight to my heart. TMNT) & Talia al Ghul (Batman vs.“Christ, you think they’d put an airline bomber on a bus or a train.” This wonderful piece of dialogue and more as we look back at Passenger 57 on its 25th anniversary. League of Assassins ( Ra's al Ghul (Batman vs. Phantom Zone Criminals ( Zod, Sauron, Kraken, Lord Voldemort, Agent Smith, Jaws, Gremlins, Medusa, Lord Vampyre, Wicked Witch of the West, Flying Monkeys, The Swamp Creature & Daleks) | Super Secret Police ( Bad Cop & Sheriff Not-A-Robot) | Stone Generals ( Gato, Mono & Serpiente) | The Jokerz ( Dee Dee Twins, Chucko & Woof) |