This story of four heroic Los Angeles cops is packed with action and camaraderie and it observes all the rules of the genre. The four discover that a politician is exchanging military gear with Central American forces -- we don't know which side or which country -- in exchange for twenty-two million dollars of used hundred-dollar bills. I think that's right. Cocaine is mixed up in it somehow. I was never very good at this sort of thing.
The four cops -- Brian Dennehy, Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Fahey, and Bill Paxton -- discover that one of their superiors in the LAPD is particeps criminis and is covering up the operation. Dennehy proves to have too much probity for them so he quits the force. The others quit with him, determined to put a stop to these shenanigans. They do so, although at the loss of one of their own.
That merely adds revenge as a motive to these unfrocked officers of the law. There is the required final shoot out involving all kinds of weaponry and a helicopter that explodes in a fireball when it's down. I mean, it doesn't just flop around on the ground as downed choppers are want to do. There is a ball of flame full blown. There is an abundance of F bombs too. It's not a made-for-TV movie. The budget, if not lavish, was impressive enough.
Some of the banter is amusing. Pantoliano objects before one of the raids that nobody ever elected Dennehy as leader of the group. Dennehy agrees, saying this is a democracy and they should make proposals about the forthcoming action. They vote with great solemnity and elect Dennehy as leader of the group.
Not that much is called for in the way of acting. It might interfere with the headlong plot. Joe Pantoliano comes off best. His character is witty and earnest at the same time. Furthermore he is from Hoboken, New Jersey, Frank Sinatra's home town, and at the time of Pantoliano's youth it was a funky town of stevedores, sailors, and saloons with sawdust floors. Besides, he was my co-star in an unforgettable movie whose title I've forgotten, and he proved to be an unprepossessing person.
The four cops -- Brian Dennehy, Joe Pantoliano, Jeff Fahey, and Bill Paxton -- discover that one of their superiors in the LAPD is particeps criminis and is covering up the operation. Dennehy proves to have too much probity for them so he quits the force. The others quit with him, determined to put a stop to these shenanigans. They do so, although at the loss of one of their own.
That merely adds revenge as a motive to these unfrocked officers of the law. There is the required final shoot out involving all kinds of weaponry and a helicopter that explodes in a fireball when it's down. I mean, it doesn't just flop around on the ground as downed choppers are want to do. There is a ball of flame full blown. There is an abundance of F bombs too. It's not a made-for-TV movie. The budget, if not lavish, was impressive enough.
Some of the banter is amusing. Pantoliano objects before one of the raids that nobody ever elected Dennehy as leader of the group. Dennehy agrees, saying this is a democracy and they should make proposals about the forthcoming action. They vote with great solemnity and elect Dennehy as leader of the group.
Not that much is called for in the way of acting. It might interfere with the headlong plot. Joe Pantoliano comes off best. His character is witty and earnest at the same time. Furthermore he is from Hoboken, New Jersey, Frank Sinatra's home town, and at the time of Pantoliano's youth it was a funky town of stevedores, sailors, and saloons with sawdust floors. Besides, he was my co-star in an unforgettable movie whose title I've forgotten, and he proved to be an unprepossessing person.