Countdown To Shutdown
Main Cast: Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges
Director: Larry Peerce
Taking place on the day of a football championship, this thriller about a madman on the roof with a gun chronicles the life of a clutch of characters before the game, and the aftermath of the panic and loss of life after the gunman begins his spree. Taunt in places and slow in others, it details fairly well and accurately the search and eventual planning strategies between the police and stadium officials.
We start Two Minute Warning by focusing on a number of people, including: a shifty gambler who is in need of a lot of money (Jack Klugman), a family looking for a little bit of fun to take their minds off employment troubles, and a flirting girlfriend and her would-be husband. We also meet the manager of the stadium (Balsam) and the commissioner of the police department (Heston). The insane gunman is not shown, the film taking a first-person perspective of his movements.
All the people end up at the game, of course, and eventually the gunman is spotted. How do the police handle the situation? And will the gunman open fire when his prime target does not show up at the game? Well, if the latter does happen, then I’ll let you discover whom among the all-star cast survives and who does not. Sort of like one of the disaster films, with the killing machine human rather than nature controlled.
Not a bad thriller if you enjoy action-drama mixes, it holds up well and delivers a goodly amount of tense situations.
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