Interceptor was directed by Michael Cohn, written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris and stars Andrew Divoff, Elizabeth Morehead, and Jurgen Prochnow. It's about an Air Force officer who gets caught up in the hijacking of two Stealth Bombers and must stop the assailants before they can complete their theft.
The Plot: Die Hard has had a remarkable effect on action movies, with plenty of movies aside from the namesake franchise coming to mind, and Interceptor is one of the earliest names on that list. It's not one of the best of the subgenre but it is there, abiding by tropes that had recently debuted and set in stone, delivering some good action scenes and an interesting idea for the setting but not much else. Captain Winfield (Divoff) is flying back to the U. S. on a cargo plane after the failed test flight of a new stealth bomber which resulted in the destruction of the craft. On that cargo plane, commanded by Major Morgan (Morehead), are two more bombers, bombers that Phillips (Prochnow) wants. After a very good interrogation scene in which he gets codes that send the refueling plane back, allowing him and his men to take its place, he does so, taking out most of the flight crew except for Winfield and Morgan. Unlike Die Hard, Interceptor doesn't have any tricks up its sleeve in its villain's plan, its hero's solutions, or outside interaction with other characters until the last 25 minutes. It's straight forward from here, which is fine for a low budget movie with a slight runtime, but to say there could've been more is an understatement.
The Characters: Clone or no, there should always be characters to follow and maybe even a couple to root for. Interceptor can't manage the latter requirement and instead opts to have its players blatantly showing the audience why they should care, with Winfield showing a picture of his family out of nowhere for no reason, only for that family tie to be dropped immediately. Winfield is just a blank slate aside from his rank which does give an idea to the training and experience he's had, but he doesn't have anything else. No friends, no life, nothing. It's not that he's explicitly denied these things, it's that the movie doesn't bother sketching them in. Morgan is the same aside from some minor banter between her red shirted flight crew and the fact that she's a female pilot, the perfect love interest for Winfield based solely on the two "traits" she has. Phillips is a mostly generic terrorist bad guy who does get a handful of scenes where he gets to make an impression. One being that interrogation scene and the others involve him adapting to changes in his plan caused by Winfield. His patriotic motivation is simple and doesn't ever get any emphasis, leaving those entertaining moments feeling a little hollow. Divoff is oddly flat here, not quite taking to the role with verve, often looking bored when delivering dialogue. He's normally terrific but in his defense there wasn't enough development between the three leads to make for one decent character.
The Action: Interceptor takes its time getting to the action, with the first major scuffle occurring around 45 minutes in which is way too long for a movie only barely lasting double that time. When the movie does finally kick into gear the action is good. Phillips's takeover isn't riveting by any stretch of the imagination but watching Winfield fight to take control back from the terrorists is amusing thanks to the setting's fragility, which comes into play multiple times and causes some cool kills and creates new hazards. None of the action scenes are remotely close to any of the first four Die Hard movies in brutality, inventiveness, or technical mastery, but the underdog is still watchable as he shoots some bad guys, falls down lots of stairs and spaces, and uses a grenade on a plane. Surprisingly for a movie of this budget there's a dogfighting finale to be seen. Had the movie stagnated in the cargo hold and cockpit, the meager quantity of action scenes until that point would not have sufficed. The dogfight isn't backed by much in the way of stakes but is engaging on its own terms, much like most of the action scenes that don't focus on jets.
The Technics: With the financial limitations considered, Interceptor is a passably made movie. It doesn't have much in the way of scope or atmosphere, but it creates its setting convincingly enough. The production design is unusually sturdy, with the admittedly few locations shown on the plane coming off as realistic, with accurate proportions and internal detailing. Sound design is generally above average too, with the swooping of aircraft, sucking of air pressure, and blasts of gunfire somewhat making up for the lack of grandiosity throughout the movie. Pacing is a problem here though, with so little to the main characters it would've been a smart move to get to the action as soon as possible without feigning false interest in the protagonists for 45 minutes. Once that halfway mark is crossed the movie leaps into action well enough but only shakily continues that energy to the climax.
Interceptor is notable for being one of the first real Die Hard clones, but that's most of what it has going for it. There are no characters to latch on to, spectacular action to behold, a plot whose direction is fun to follow, or suspense to keep your attention. It's a fine time killer once it moves past its setup but not nearly engaging enough to fill its runtime.
47/100.
