Sudden Terror: The Hijacking of School Bus #17

Back in the mid 1990's myself and several other cops were hired to do stunt driving of police cars in the chase of the school bus. The actual incident occurred in Miami previously but this was filmed in Jacksonville, Fl. And the production executives were short on drivers that knew how to pursue. We also helped wit the uniform set up's, gun belts, fake Beretta 9mm. I know I notice BS cop rigs in movies and we tried to get them to set it up correctly.

The stars were very nice folks to us all. We were on set out around Bartram School off Atlantic & University Blvds. One day and a full banquet of food was set up for everybody. We also went over on the old Haines St. Expressway to stage the bus & police car chases. A lot of filming occurred but the movie of course was edited. Bruce Weitz was one actor that stood out to me as a down to earth guy. Many of us cops watched him in Hill Street Blues and that ensemble of actors were all awesome. Mr. Weitz would talk with you in relaxed times and I enjoyed speaking with him.

I'm surprised that any of the other reviewers actually watched the whole movie, given their extreme dislike of it. I found it perfectly in keeping with the general style of such movies. Yes, there IS a lot of emphasis on sentimentality in the face of danger, but that's exactly what people look for in a Lifetime movie and, don't forget, this actually happened to real people, so I doubt it was completely unrealistic. What impressed me was the spirit of the bus driver in the face of extreme stress. There is no parent alive who would not wish for someone of her character and strength to be the one to protect their child in such an ordeal, were they not there to do it for themselves.

As with most if not all TV movies, their budget is lower than those of mainstream motion pictures and acting a little more sub-par. However, this is a pretty suspenseful little TV movie, based on a true story, where a madman hijacks a school bus boarded by disabled children.

Instead of relying on the usual gunfights and explosions, a good deal of thrills, drama and suspense are put in, making the plot pretty intriguing and making the audience eager to find out how the course of events would play (almost having the exact adrenaline as the movie Speed).

The acting wasn't bad, except, the plot tends to drag a bit and is slow-paced. But, not at all a bad movie to spend with on a Saturday night.

Grade B-

Boy, it's Friday. I've been working hard all week an I'm looking forward to a quiet TV night. I look at the TV guide and see that there is an action-filled "based on a true story" film on Iceland's Channel 2 about a man who hijacks a school bus. I thought it might just be interesting to watch it considering I liked movies like Speed and Executive Decision. I sit down and I start watching. The thing that pops into my mind after 5 minutes of watching is that Sudden Terror might just be a strong competitor of being the worst film I've ever seen. (Caligula is on the top of that list by the way). So this Asian-American guy owes the IRS $16.000 and hijacks the CX-17 school bus to pay others attention to the unfairness he has to suffer. In this schoolbus are kid who are "special". Of course they start to panic, but not to worry...The bus driver is a Cuban immigrant who doesn't panic under pressure according to her husband. Well anyway, this has to be one of the worst acted films ever. Marcy Walker who plays the SWAT-leader gives the viewers a stunning performance (I kid you not)and she almost made me cry. No wonder this was her last film according to IMDb. The casting director probably looked for actors on a list containing Razzie-nominees and winners. I feel truly and deeply sorry for the children who play these special children and the day they watch this film when the get older, the average depression rate among american teenagers will definitly rise. WHAT A WASTE OF A FRIDAY NIGHT!!!!!

There is nothing wrong with the acting in this movie; why do people always blame the actors for poor film making? Watch it for what it is, a low-budget afternoon/midnight movie loosely based on a true story.

People have gotten used to (((ACTION!!!!)) and ((EXPLOSIONS!!)) but this being a sort-of true story, it's lacking in that kind of visual stimulation. What it does have is a paranoid weirdo who may or may not be carrying a real bomb on a schoolbus in a moronic attempt to clear his tax debt. It's not CSI Miami. The only thing really wrong with this movie is that it's too slow-paced, the whole thing could have been fitted into a 45 minute episode on a TV show but it's been dragged out for 2 hours.