The 1990s may have been Nicolas Cage's brightest moment, and even though he had appeared in many literary films before that, commercial action films were the key to his rise in popularity. 1996's "Brave to The Island", 1997's "Change of Face" and "Prison in the Air" are all classics in commercial action blockbusters, and are still talked about by fans.
Whether it is the story content, or the production level, or the actor's acting skills, it was also among the best in Hollywood movies at that time, and these three blockbusters also made Nicolas Cage a hot A-list action star at the time, and I also liked Nicolas Cage from these three movies.
Although he is currently floating in a bad film and cannot get out, and has faded out of the Chinese screen for a long time, even if there are occasional short moments when his acting skills explode, he is always mixed with the infinite emotions of film fans. I have already talked about "Daredevil Island" and "Change of Face", and today, I just want to talk about this "Prison in the Air".
Released in 1997, Prison in the Air is a film made by Nicolas Cage in his thirties.
At the age of independence, he may have more irresistible male charm, and in this film, Nicholas Cage, who has long hair and a shawl, still has those melancholy but extremely intimidating eyes. The same personal heroism, the same story routine, but always make people reminisce endlessly, looking back after many years, you can actually see the director's hidden caution in the movie.
At the beginning of the movie, Bonn, played by Nicolas Cage, received a discharge speech, the content of which was - "Since 1700, the commandos have charged in various battles, you are the elite of the commando, I really don't want to see you discharged, you have dedicated yourself to the country, and you have kept the purpose of the commando, completed the task, even in the face of life and death, never abandon your compatriots, thank you." Thank you, good luck, and remember, commandos go forward! ”
In fact, this admonition is simply a slap in the face for the development of the later story.
Bonn was sentenced to prison for manslaughter, and the lawyer actually demanded that Bonn plead guilty, because it would only cost four years to serve. There is also molly, the head of the anti-narcotics police, who not only violated the rules that he could not take a gun on the plane, thus indirectly killing his own men, but also did not listen to the advice of experts and insisted on pursuing the plane in the wrong direction. More importantly, the superior leaders in charge of this operation are also stubborn to death, despising experts, not listening to advice, and acting arbitrarily.
But fortunately, the film gives the protagonist of Bonn the aura and noble personality, he did not agree with the lawyer's opinion, so he was sentenced to eight years in prison, and was released on parole when his daughter's birthday after school was approaching, but he was arranged to pull a group of criminals on a plane, and in the end, the criminals hijacked the plane, and Bonn could only rely on himself to prevent the criminals from escaping.
As a result, this life-and-death contest, from the sky to the underground, from carson city full of yellow sand to the bright lights of Las Vegas, makes people really enjoy watching.
As a commercial film, it is promoting the idea of the main theme of the United States, that is, the integrity of the soldiers, but in this main theme, it is mixed with the director's private goods, and some irony is self-evident.
Therefore, the characters in the film are biased towards face, the criminals are completely bad, and the good people have nothing to say. However, the director deliberately set up the role of Garland the murderous butcher played by Steve Bussimi to complete a certain critique of the system or the state. Steve Bussimi is also the actor who impressed me the most besides Nicolas Cage, even though he didn't appear in many films.
If the individual heroism of Bonn alone singled out several criminals is indeed blood-boiling, then Garland's mysterious identity is more imaginative.
When Garland appeared, the director gave him enough of the scene, was tied up with five flowers, the police on both sides were forked with forks, and the head was also covered with a thick hood, all of which were shaped, the real person must be very scary, did not think, when the hood was taken off, it was actually a weak white man, looking a little polite, this contrast between the front and back, naturally aroused the curiosity of the audience.
The criminal, led by the virus Cyrus, took control of the plane and prepared to flee, and the plane became a paradise for criminals, the police were either killed or tortured, Bonn had to face this danger alone, before he had been released on parole, he could escape in Carson City, but for the sake of the female police on the plane and his black inmates, he chose to stay and stop the criminals' actions.
If you think about what Raj, an expert played by John Cusack, said before, you will probably understand that people have already had the soil to breed evil under the control of this system, so this country and society should also bear the responsibility for the rampant criminals, but now, the chiefs led by Molly are casually coming, and the responsibility for solving the crisis is actually borne by a veteran who has paid for the United States but was sentenced.
In this way, looking back at the character of Garland, his murderous deeds were all said from the mouths of others, and after the plane was hijacked, he did not see Garland do any outrageous behavior, on the contrary, he was calmer than anyone. When he talked to Bonn, he said that he was not crazy, that what was crazy was the world, that the world was kidnapped by the system, and that was the interaction between him and the little girl, who thought that the little girl would be killed, but in the end there was none, and the little girl was still jumping around saying goodbye to Garland.
All these signs suggest that Garland may be a madman, but not necessarily a murderer, or perhaps, because the real murderer was not caught and forced to replace, so think about it, the director really played a good hand to satirize reality.
The climax of the film is a scene of a plane crashing in Las Vegas, where Bonn and Raj chase Cyrus on a motorcycle.
At that time, it was 1997, and that kind of explosion scene was not obsolete even now, and there was a fight with the "Face Change" speedboat chase scene released in the same year, although it showed the rescue routine of the American personal hero, but it was really enjoyable, which was the level that commercial action movies should have.
Cage, who has long hair and fluttering, is very manly, but he is still robbed of some limelight by Garland, who has few appearances, and the key is that at the end, he actually let Garland unscrupulously wander in the casino, and the spring breeze embraced the left and right, and the criminals on the plane were either caught or killed, leaving him alone to escape, as for how to escape, there was no need to pursue.
I feel, did the director specifically want to disgust the American system at that time?
In short, 23 years later, "Prison in the Air" is still one of the classic blockbusters in my heart.