Velocity Trap

Although filled with special effects and sometimes advertised as a sci-fi film, "Velocity Trap" is really an action film. A "Die Hard"-clone set in space. But since I loved "Die Hard" and especially "Under Siege", I decided to buy the film and check it out. Now that I have, I'm not disappointed at all although there were a few flaws.

The hero of this film is Olivier Gruner. His most famous film is probably "Cyborg", directed by the legendary Albert Pyun, but he has been in several other films as well. My personal favorite of his films is "Automatic", a surprisingly inventive action film with great fight scenes. Gruner definitely has the right stuff to be an action hero. He has "the accent", his fight scenes are always great and he even has a sense of humor which is especially apparent in "Velocity Trap". Not only that, he even starred in a family film(!) "The White Pony" and didn't look out of place.

Now, the plot here is nothing special but I guess nobody expects or even wants it to be. This is after all an action film, not "Boys Don't Cry". However, there are some pretty interesting humorous details in a few scenes. For example, there's a scene where Olivier Gruner is dancing ballet by himself! I thought Mark Dacascos singing karaoke in "Drive" was something but I was wrong. _This_ scene is something! There are also some good bits of dialogue here and there ("Can't take a joke, Stokes?" "Actually, many people find me very funny" or something along those lines).

The director is Phillip Roth who's previous work includes "Digital Man" and "Darkdrive". Although his films usually have a pretty low budget, they have some quite good effects and that is the case in this film as well. The chase in the end of the film is surprisingly effective and there are no obvious "blue/green screen-effects". The sets also work pretty well but the music was a letdown. It lacked a good theme and the underscore wasn't that great either. This film would have benefited greatly from a futuristic and energetic synthesizer score.

Also, while this is one of the best films from Phillip Roth, it lacks one key element that I expected from it: fight scenes. There's a fair amount of gunplay, some good stunts and some pretty nice explosions but I think fans of Olivier Gruner (myself included) were expecting more fights. As it is, there's really only one fight scene in the beginning of the film and even that is quite short and unspectacular.

Anyway, this is an effective action film. It doesn't even try to re-invent the genre but it's never boring. All in all, a very good effort from Mr. Roth, but the next time, a better score and more fight scenes, please! This one gets a 7.

Oh, and by the way, the DVD includes a great commentary from Phillip Roth, special effects expert Andy Hoffman and Olivier Gruner himself. This is one of the best and most entertaining commentaries I've heard since the commentary of "Darkdrive", which also includes a commentary by these guys (except Gruner) although it isn't even listed as a feature on the DVD box cover. In case you've heard the commentary of "Velocity Trap", I can tell you that the name of the actor they couldn't remember in the beginning of the movie is Yannick Bisson (here credited as Yannock Bisson, a typo perhaps?) and his show that they refer to is, of course, "High Tide" (a great show, also starred Rick Springfield). I recommend renting the DVD just for the commentary.

As many others have already noted, the best thing about "Velocity Trap" is the quality of the special effects. They are very impressive, and they belie the film's low budget. Other than that, the film starts out as extremely confusing and baffling (I couldn't tell what was going on during the first 20 minutes), then elevates itself to the level of "passable". Olivier Gruner is wooden, but at least he shows a sense of humor about himself. (**)

Olivier Gruner has two requirements for a classic rogue cop: his woman belongs to another man, and he has a dead daughter. For punishment, he's sent back to Earth on a slow boat carrying $40 million. Pirates board the ship to steal the dough, leaving Olivier to fight the bad guys with lots of flying effects and pretty sparks. What I like about Gruner is that he really doesn't take himself seriously, almost in the Jackie Chan mode (don't misunderstand, he doesn't have half the skills, but he does have fun). A cast full of folks who went on to bigger and better things -- including Alicia Coppola from "Bull" and Jorja Fox from "ER" and "CSI" -- rounds out the stereotyped cast. I caught it on cable and enjoyed it.

Being a fan of the b movie sci fi flicks, and a fan of Oliver Gruner's work, I decided to check out Velocity Trap. What I got was in somewhat incoherent mess with a film, with a very bizarre premise. There is a patch of outer space that human's have to be asleep to travel in, yet a group of human thieves are going to high jack the ship while it's in that space, while human security guard Gruner protects the cargo. Huh? Gruner is framed in a implausible set up, and has to guard the ship's cargo as punishment. The job is considered a step down from his former position of glory. Did I mention he was set up by his own boss so that his boss could have Gruner's wife? Oaky, that we can let slide. There are some very weak, and rather unexplainable character turns, and for someone reason, the writers tried to throw a curve with every turn, and they fail badly. They hurt the film by outsmarting themselves, as they try to take a plot that should only be used on Star Trek TV show, or any other sci fi show like Andromada. The special effects are somewhat decent, and the acting is passable. There was so much that could have been done, and sadly, this film is more of an example of what could have been, versus an example of quality sci fi. Check out only if you are a fellow Oliver Gruner fan. Other then that, you won't miss much by missing the movie.

Weak story, weak writing and poor acting. The only good thing I can say about this film is that it had mediocre special effects.