Con Air (1997)

I first saw this film on a bus to a school camp in the country.  I think it might have been the only film the bus driver had, and we might have watched it more than once.  Bizarrely, the entire group on the bus enjoyed watching this.  I say this is bizarre because it was a bus full of teenage girls who didn't generally seek out this sort of film.  Or perhaps I just really enjoyed it and projected my enjoyment on to everyone else.

It's not the best film.  I realise this.  It's barely even a good film.  I was blinded by my discovery of John Cusack (whose entire film catalogue I subsequently made it my mission to see, and some further evidence of this will come up in later entries).  But I really enjoyed this film when I saw it the first time.  And the second time.  And the twentieth time.  I went out and bought it on VHS and watched it repeatedly.  I thought Nicholas Cage was a bit lame, but who cares when John Cusack, John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi are around to make up for it?

By the time I reached this in my current movie library viewing crusade, it had definitely been more than 5 years since I'd seen it.  Unlike Clueless before it, this one hasn't aged as well for me (though John Cusack is still as wonderful as ever).  I like my crappy action movies, don't get me wrong.  More of them will pop up as this project continues.  But sometimes it can be difficult get past the fact that they're not great.  I wonder what I would think of this film if the nostalgia factor were removed...

Final Thought:  It seems as though they thought that "Put the bunny back in the box" somehow carried the same ominous feeling as "I'll be back."

Up Next:  Cool Runnings (1993)