Very disappointing...

That was an excellent one.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

"I tell you Jack, I feel a whole lot better if we were flying". "Well, ever since that plane load of prisoners went down in Vegas. The FFA doesn't want anything to do with us".Cool to see a little wink to the film that it patterned itself on. "EVASIVE ACTION" is a poor man's version of "CON AIR". Being in the same film universe, you could call it Con Train, but it manages to deliver a few of its own surprises. It just doesn't stop there either, as certain characters are similar in persona and mannerisms. Instead of a top-draw cast, you get a second string ensemble. Dorian Harewood is the good-hearted criminal ala Nic Cage. Roy Scheider is the cunningly dangerous head criminal ala John Malkovich. Clint Howard is the weird psychotic prisoner that everyone fears ala Steve Buscemi. Howard doesn't do much, and his character doesn't really live up to the name Hector "The Director" Millar whose signature style was recreating the murders from horror films. Instead all does here, is look creepy, while spouting well known movie dialogues. Then there's Ray Wise, Don Swazye, Ed O'Ross, John Toles-Bey and Dick Van Patten rounding it up. The performances are all acceptable without anyone really standing out.For what it is, plot mechanics stay simple. Predictable character traits and motivations linger, being brutal when it wants to be. Mayhem and pacing stays frequent, in spite of its minimal intensity, a few stunts had a degree of tension and were extremely well-shot. This durable, straight shooting b-grade actioner delivers on the quota.

EVASIVE ACTION is nothing more than a cheap, B-movie rip-off of CON AIR, made by schlock producer Andrew Stevens who seemed to churn such efforts out with a monotonous regularity. However, there's little that's monotonous about this particular film, which proves to be a hoot through and through.A group of dangerous prisoners - and one decent one - are being transported to a new prison via train (after that incident when "the plane came down in Vegas", nudge nudge). Inevitably they break loose, leading to all manner of low-rent mayhem aboard the train. The direction is poor and the scriptwriting worse, with one exception: the genius creation of Hector the Director, a psychotic loon played to the hilt by B-movie icon Clint Howard. A manic cross between Malkovich's Cyrus the Virus and Hopkins's Hannibal the Cannibal, Hector only speaks in film quotes and is a delight to watch.The poverty-row budget is all too apparent in the dodgy staging of the action sequences; occasionally the film will cut away from the action altogether (such as a bomb blast) when they can't afford to show it. After a while, it becomes apparent that the money was blown on amassing a cast of B-movie stalwarts and familiar faces. Headlining them all is Roy Scheider as a grizzled Mafia don and long-time convict hell-bent on escape.Meanwhile, Dorian Harewood acquits himself well as a guy serving his term thanks to a miscarriage of justice, getting the viewer on side early on and coming across as a truly decent character. Elsewhere we get ROBOCOP's Ray Wise as a Sheriff and RED HEAT's Ed O'Ross as a prison warden. Patrick Swayze's brother Don even turns up as another bad guy, and you quickly realise why he never reached the stardom that his brother enjoyed. Most people will scoff at EVASIVE ACTION as a piece of trash, but this B-movie hound thoroughly enjoyed it!

Trains have been a popular aim for movie cameras, ever since the Lumière brothers in 1896. Take the 1903 Great Train Robbery, Keaton's General, La bête humaine, Under Siege 2, and many many more. I admit to have a special liking for them, and couldn't resist when I saw this one for €1.99 in the shop. Was it worth it? I'm undecided. I wouldn't call it good, nor bad.. let's call it middling? What I liked most were the beginning jail scenes - far from Shawshank Redemption or Green Mile, but quite nicely done. Hey, this is a "direct to video" on a low budget.. even B movies of old were made for the big screen!On the other hand, this little thing shows ambitions. Two scenes of jumping on the rushing train, from a collapsing helicopter and from a motorbike, were hinted at but not exactly shown (impossible to do? too expensive?) But then, in Mission Impossible you even had a helicopter chasing the train in the tunnel! The climax shows that the makers had watched Silver Streak (one of my favorite train movies), but couldn't afford a worthy remake. Most bizarre I found how the many people in L.A. Union Station seemed not to bother at all at the "catastrophe", just keeping wending their ways... or was it the desert the train was in, 9 minutes from LA?Lots of incontinuities. Where was Donner Pass (a famous rail location!) I kept hearing about? How silly can you misrepresent a railroad control room, and its screen display? And does California really have about ten policemen (or did the budget forbid using more)?And yet, it did have its charms. Even though it was very probably made by adults, now thinking more about it, this movie somehow exudes the embarrassing but fun experience of watching a high-school theater project. Reconsidering, I give it 7/10 - five for middling, but one bonus point each for being set on a train, and for the hilarious audacity of trying to do a much bigger show than the budget would allow... :) I haven't watched Con Air, so I can't compare. But if you like "train exploitation", this film may be worth US$3 to add to the collection, and 90 minutes to watch.

How desperate must Roy Scheider have become to accept a role in this straight-to-video offering from Jerry P. Jacobs, who must be some incestuously close relative of Alan Smithee. It is sad indeed when a quality actor is forced to prostitute his art in this way...and I thought I'd seen it all with Raul Julia's swan-song as General Bison in the frivolous STREETFIGHTER! Total CON AIR clone without the budget, stars, script or direction. I particularly liked the character played by Clint Howard.."Hector the Director!" Have producers no shame! I saw this a few weeks ago after a friend lobbed in from South East Asia with a VHS copy. Stuck it for 40 minutes then put on CON AIR to finish it! Avoid.