ALTITUDE (2017) ***

This week, I was a guest on Matt Poirier’s Direct to Video Connoisseur Podcast discussing the career of Dolph Lundgren.  As part of the discussion, we decided to give a new-to-us Dolph flick a look-see and compare notes.  While there’s a part of me that wishes we had chosen a movie that took better advantage of Dolph’s talents, I have to admit that Altitude is surprisingly, a lot of fun.   It’s a throwback to the airplane actioners of the ‘90s such as Passenger 57, Executive Decision, and Air Force One.  There’s even a little bit of déjà vu from Non-Stop as well.  (Man, it makes me feel old to say something from the ‘90s is a “throwback”, but oh well.)  You can listen to our full discussion here: https://www.talkshoe.com/episode/8308715?fbclid=IwAR2ZQf92_CtPZzqm5DC1JEqN_UJcw4BZzNf2sgiW_WC4RyJA0aS5kE1fJ3Q

Denise Richards stars as a demoted FBI agent on a cross-country flight back to DC to work a crummy desk job.  While onboard, she’s approached by a passenger who offers her $50 million if she can get him off the plane safely.  As it turns out, a gang of thieves has hijacked the plane and are planning to crash the bird to cover their tracks.  With the crew members indisposed and confronted with an incompetent air marshal, Richards takes it upon herself to stop the bad guys and save the passengers.

They say there aren’t enough good roles for women of a certain age, but Altitude plays like a manifesto to prove the naysayers wrong.  This is an excellent vehicle for Richards, who’s at the top of her game.  She’s a lot of fun to watch, and to my pleasant surprise, makes for a credible action heroine.  

Of all the actresses in Hollywood, I was not expecting Denise Richards to get a Totally Unrelated Badass Moment scene.  Usually, these are reserved for the likes of Clint Eastwood or Steven Seagal or someone like that.  And what a badass she is.  This scene cleverly uses her sexpot image to usurp the audience’s expectations.  It begins with a man taking people hostage inside an office building while having phone sex with an unseen sexy woman.  When he finally asks her what’s she’s wearing, the filmmakers cut away to Richards outside the building surrounded by FBI agents holding the phone to her ear and saying, “Kevlar!”  Naturally, this leads to the big moment when she storms into the building, diffuses the situation, and takes down the gunman.  

From the opening moments, Altitude announces itself as a quirky actioner that doesn’t quite play by the rules.  Many films like this have a clever opening, but quickly fall into the same repetitive lulls that most DTV actioners run into.  Not this one.  It’s constantly a little bit better at every turn than you’d expect.

You make think I’m crazy, but it’s similar in some ways to Dolph’s classic Showdown in Little Tokyo.  Not only does Altitude move like lightning and has zero fat on it, it’s clearly having fun turning traditional action genre clichés on their ear.  What’s refreshing about the film is that the women are much stronger and competent than the men.  Most of the male characters are seen as buffoons or corrupt, while the women are more than capable, smart, and funny.  While Richards is excellent in the lead, it’s Greer Grammer (Kelsey’s daughter) who steals the movie as Dolph’s henchwoman Sadie.  She has a lot of screen presence, kicks some serious ass (she even believably intimidates Dolph), and is just plain fun to watch.  

Even though Altitude has fun messing with the conventions of an airplane action movie doesn’t mean it fails to deliver the goods.  Everything you’d want to see in an airplane actioner is here:  There are evil flight attendants, fights that occur in the cargo hold, and bad guys getting sucked out of the plane.  It’s as every bit as good as Die Hard on a Plane but with Denise Richards could be.  

On the downside, I will say that the action suffers from poor camerawork and fight choreography.  I can almost write that off though, due to the cramped, claustrophobic quarters inside the airplane.  Unfortunately, you don’t get to see Denise square off with Dolph, but she does fight against UFC star Chuck Liddell.  The CGI is also terrible, and the shots of the airplane often looks like something out of a video game.  That too is forgivable, mostly because the film is so fast moving.  Although it takes place in a cramped, confined space, the movie never feels like it’s repeating itself.  The plot always has forward momentum, and there are no unnecessary scenes to bog the pace down.   

I kind of felt bad spending a whole podcast devoted to Dolph Lundgren talking about a movie in which he had such a minor role.  Even though he spends most of his screen time sitting down in the captain’s seat flying the plane, he still delivers a strong performance.  As a die-hard Dolph fan, I did find it funny that the picture on his character’s ID badge was nothing more than Dolph’s IMDb photo!  

In short, Altitude is one DTV action flick that flies high!  

AKA:  Hijacked.  AKA:  Turbulences.  AKA:  Altitude:  Die Hard in the Sky.