Passenger 57 is a 1992 action film starring Wesley Snipes and Bruce Payne. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Action movies usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. ... Wesley Snipes (born July 31, 1962 in Orlando, Florida) is an American actor and producer. ... Bruce Payne as Charles Rane from the film Passenger 57 Bruce Payne (born November 22, 1960 in London, England) is a British actor and producer. ...

Synopsis

The film opens with international terrorist Charles Rane (Bruce Payne) about to undergo plastic surgery to change his appearance in order to evade the law. Outside, federal agents and SWAT teams close in for the arrest. It becomes apparent the plastic surgeon and his staff are in on the plan. Rane becomes suspicious and makes his escape, killing the surgeon in the process. After a harrowing chase through the city streets, Rane is finally apprehended. Bruce Payne as Charles Rane from the film Passenger 57 Bruce Payne (born November 22, 1960 in London, England) is a British actor and producer. ...

We are then introduced to ex-cop John Cutter (Wesley Snipes). Haunted by the shooting death of his wife in a robbery, Cutter has taken a job training flight attendants and security personnel in how to deal with dangerous situations. During this particular session, his student is Marty, an attractive flight attendant. When Marty disobeys his instructions, the pair have a brief confrontation. Wesley Snipes (born July 31, 1962 in Orlando, Florida) is an American actor and producer. ...

After class, Cutter sees an old friend, Sly Delvecchio (Tom Sizemore), who is there with a job offer: vice-president for the anti-terrorism unit at Atlantic International Airlines, a major carrier. Cutter is at first reluctant, but Delvecchio and one of the company executives manage to win him over during lunch. Tom Sizemore Tom Sizemore (born September 29, 1961) is an American film and television actor. ...

Cutter boards Atlantic International Flight 163 to Los Angeles...and his new job. By coincidence, one of the flight attendants on this flight happens to be Marty. Also on board is Rane, in FBI custody, headed to Los Angeles to stand trial.

With the help of several henchmen stationed aboard the plane, Rane breaks free from his FBI escorts during the flight and takes the plane's passengers hostage. Cutter, in the lavatory during the takeover, emerges and manages to overpower one of Rane's men. Rane, however, responds by executing one of the passengers, making Cutter feel responsible for the man's death. During the confrontation, Cutter and Marty manage to escape, taking the elevator to the plane's lower deck. After a brief fight with one of Rane's men down there, Cutter initiates a fuel dump which forces the DC-10 to land at a small Louisiana airfield.

Cutter manages to escape from the plane, but Marty is captured by another of Rane's men. On the tarmac, Cutter is quickly apprehended by local sheriff's deputies, in a scene that hints at racism. An African-American man drinks out of the colored only water fountain at a racially segregated streetcar terminal in the United States in 1939. ...

Meanwhile, Rane has made contact with the local sheriff, Chief Biggs. Rane promises to release half the hostages in return for fuel and takeoff clearance. Rane also tells Biggs that Cutter is one of his men, a deserter. When the deputies bring Cutter before Chief Biggs, Biggs orders him taken into custody.

As the passengers are being released, Rane and two of his men make their escape. Cutter overpowers the sheriff's deputies and gives chase on a police motorcycle. Meanwhile, a team of FBI agents arrive, headed by Dwight Henderson, who angrily informs Chief Biggs of Cutter's true identity.

At the fair, Cutter manages to kill one of the henchmen as well as engage Rane in a fight just as police reinforcements arrive. Rane, however, tells the FBI and police that his remaining men aboard the plane will begin to execute the rest of the hostages if he is not returned aboard the plane and granted takeoff clearance.

Cutter, Henderson, and Chief Biggs work out a plane for FBI snipers to take down Rane as he boards the plane, upon which FBI teams will storm the plane and deal with his remaining men on board. As Rane boards the plane with an FBI escort, Cutter gives the order to fire. However, the sniper bullets hit Rane's FBI escort, not Rane. It is revealed that Rane's second henchman has taken the place of (and presumably killed) the FBI snipers, and he begins firing at the assembled police and agents. During the confusion, this henchman is killed, but not before Rane makes it safely aboard and the plane begins to take off.

With the help of Chief Biggs, Cutter barely manages to get aboard the moving plane via its landing gear. Once aboard, he quickly dispatches Rane's remaining two henchmen, then engages Rane in a prolonged fistfight that results Rane plunging to his death via a hole in the plane bulkhead, a hole caused by damage from their fight.

The plane lands safely at the Louisiana airfield for the second time that day. Amid congratulations and celebration, Marty and Cutter make their quiet escape.

Subplots in this movie include Sly Delvecchio's attempts at dealing with the impending public relations crisis that will befall Atlantic International if the situation is not resolved well, the sexual tension between Marty and Cutter, and Rane's (unrequited) sexual interest in Marty.

Trivia

A young, pre-fame Elizabeth Hurley plays a major supporting role in this film. Elizabeth Hurley Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born June 10, 1965) is an English model, actress, producer and designer, born in Basingstoke, Hampshire. ...

In one scene, Wesley Snipes' character John Cutter is seen reading a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Snipes would later star in a 2000 film of the same name. Wesley Snipes (born July 31, 1962 in Orlando, Florida) is an American actor and producer. ... Sun Tzu (孫子 also commonly written in pinyin: Sūn Zǐ) was the author of The Art of War, an influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy (for the most part not dealing directly with tactics). ... Art of War. ...

Some of the lines and plot devices in this film are similar or identical to 1997's Air Force One. 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Air Force One is a 1997 action movie starring Harrison Ford as the President of the United States, and directed by Wolfgang Petersen. ...

This film features the famous one-liner, uttered by Snipes, "always bet on black."

Other notable quotes include Snipes' remark when Rane falls out of the plane is "boo-ya, check-mate on the flipside!"

External links

• Passenger 57 at the Internet Movie Database
• [1] Charles Rane fan page