Terminal Velocity

While investigating the mysterious circumstances of a beautiful student's demise, a maverick skydiving instructor finds himself entangled in a murderous conspiracy involving Soviet spies and a lost shipment of gold. Logical it ain't, but this entertainingly daft thriller does offer some good-natured satiric riffs on standard action star conventions. Charlie Sheen (throughout most of the film, this not-especially-heroic hero displays the approximate intelligence of a bag of doorknobs) stars along with Nastassja Kinski in a welcome return after a long absence from the screen. Good fun for adrenaline junkies, with a boffo climax involving a midair escape attempt from a free-falling convertible. Writer David Twohy went on to direct Sheen in the considerably more accomplished The Arrival. --Andrew Wright