LeonLouisRicci
A particularly pathetic piece of cheese that is another example of Hollywood money that should have gone to feed the poor.The chase scenes in this cultish "Bad Movie" are what its reputation is built upon. But they are not really chase scenes, they are car-wrecking scenes. There is very little chase. They drive a block and then four or five police cars and tractor-trailers collide and explode. Again and again and again and again. That's it.If you are expecting anything else, don't. If that's enough for your visceral viewing pleasure then have at it. But remember, all that money up on the screen could have been spent saving some children from going to bed hungry.
HaemovoreRex
Michael Madsen apparently sleep walks his way through this undemanding but nonetheless fun entry from the ever reliable guys at (the much sadly missed!) PM Entertainment.Madsen plays a stunt car driver who is sprung from a prison bus by a shady government organisation who have hatched a dastardly plan to kidnap the president of the United States and are planning to utilise our hero's amazing driving adroitness in a daring bid to abscond with him. Well, if insane car chases are your cup of tea, then you'll love this for sure. Cars flip, spin, screech, explode and perform all manner of hair raising feats in this adrenaline pounding ride. Unfortunately, it has to be said that there is very little substance other than the aforementioned so if you are requisite of character development, a more abstruse plot and good performances then it would probably be wise to look elsewhere.Whilst certainly not one of my personal favourites from PM's extensive catalogue, this is nonetheless worth a look for fans of automobile chaos and awesome GENUINE (as opposed to lazy CGI crap!) stuntwork.
BroadswordCallinDannyBoy
Nick James is a professional stunt driver on his way to prison. However, bad guys with evil plans decide to use him as a getaway driver for a very important job, kidnapping the President of the United States, so they ambush the prison bus and coerce him to go along with them. Naturally, Nick James is a good guy at heart and starts to work things his way.The good thing about this movie is that the opening scene lets you know right away what you're in for - a nice, though very overdone epic score, plays during the beginning scenes. It seems to be music from bigger and more expensive action pictures like "The Rock" or "Batman Begins." Though the score oddly complements the outrageous chase scenes which are pretty well done, but thoroughly silly. Thankfully, the rest of the plot is equally silly so overall it works out as an enjoyable no-brainer action movie.The film's tagline of this being the greatest chase movie ever, however is really the one unnecessarily overdone thing. It's not and in watching you can see that it doesn't really try to be so for a truly intriguing and involving thriller, look elsewhere. This is just lots of fun for boys who like fast toys. --- 6/10Rated R for violence and profanity
O.N.
This movie had promise. Unfortunately, it's let down by a lame plot, bad acting and a very cheap, made for TV look.The movie centres on stunt car driver Nick (Michael Madsen) who is sprung from jail (after being wrongly convicted.... surprise!) to drive the getaway car for a bunch of crooks who intend to kidnap the president and sell him to the highest bidder.Unfortunately, this somewhat original idea, and the talents of Madsen and Roy Scheider (as the president) are ruined by poor execution and plotting. The story fails to explain adequately what the military has to do with everything, the constant presidential speeches have no real point in the plot and Madsen's character is sometimes made to look like a sincere guy and at other times just like the money hungry thieves he supposedly detests.The car chase sequences, which could have been exciting, simply come across as silly because of ultra slow motion shots and cars that begin to explode before they've even collided ! The villains hideout also looks like some cheap leftover from the original Star Trek series.And finally, the acting itself is generally quite poor, particularly the bad guys (Angie Everhart is NOT an actress). Even Madsen, who I thought was great in "Donnie Brasco" and "Reservoir Dogs" seems to be coasting along for the ride, although this could be partly attributed to the lame dialogue his character has been given.All in all, "Executive Target" is about what you'd expect from a cheap made for TV movie, which is a pity really because there is definite potential here.4/10.
AD
