The Danger Zone (1986)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Henry Vernon

Writers:

Tom Friedman (writer)
Karen Levitt (writer)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Where the road to Vegas crosses the highway to hell.

Plot:

Six girls are on their way to Las Vegas to sing in a TV competition, but when their car breaks down...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Murder | Independent Film

Cast

Michael Wayne	...	Moss
Jason Williams	...	Wade Olson
Suzanne Tara	...	Heather
Robert Canada	...	Reaper
Michael Kehoe	...	Reptile (as Mickey Elders)
Juanita Ranney	...	Skin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Axelrod	...	Ronnie
Kriss Braxton	...	Judy
David Crane	...	Det. Mallory
Dana Dowell	...	Kim
Jamie Ferreira	...	Janice
Cynthia Gray	...	Linda
Teresa Truesdale	...	Summer
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Curtis

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R | South Korea:18 (video premiere)

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Movie Connections:

Followed by Danger Zone III: Steel Horse War (1990)

Caution: danger!

This one ought to be marked off with yellow crime scene tape. I'm not complaining, though; it gives me a chance to be unrelentingly critical. But be fair: somebody had an idea (somewhere under the rubble of this story/characters/and non-setting) that Wouldn't it Be Cool if a gang of nice wanabe showgirls happened to run out of gas (or something) way out in the desert, on their way to their big break in Vegas and--wouldn't y'know, there just happened to be a gang of bad guys--all sweaty and drugged and mean as hell--out there at the same time doing a drug traffic deal? And, if that weren't a lean enough idea, throw in a tough-as-nails undercover biker/cop, who's looking to nail the gang and set the gals free? Yep: it goes downhill from there. One line, regarding survival in the desert (the gals find the druggers' ghost town digs, complete with beer and beens: "Well, all there is is beer; but we'd better drink it or we'll like, get all dehydrated . . .") Bad filmaking follows bad science. There turns out to be a desert rat (old guy with thorn-in-paw dog deal) who saves the day by coming up with secret rooms, secret stache of guns, etc) Undercover biker/cop reveals identity, leads gals to freedom, shoots all the bad guys, then--the gran finale "twist" continues his pursuit of higher ups in the drug trade under the scrutiny of his hidden partner (I think: it coiuld be he has switched over and is now doing business with the )slimy sunglassed non-chicano dude in slick duds.) Yes, I watched the whole thing. As I said, there might have been an idea there, somewhere, and I wanted to see how the u. cop emerged and what he'd do as his big finish. If you get the chance, skip it. Acting is only slightly worse than the plot, which is truly horrifying. As I said, again, it's pretty dangerous here: cuidado! jaime. Oh, give it a 1/2 * for the poor loser whose idea got lost.