Hijack Reviews

Extremists take control of a train in this cliched thriller, directed by veteran regional-exploitation player Worth Keeter. It's a good thing ATF agent Eddie Lyman (Jeff Fahey) decides to visit his girlfriend, publicist Valerie (Beth Toussaint), on the job. Her work on Senator Douglas Wilson's (Ernie Hudson) campaign involves riding the rails with the candidate, who's on a whistle-stop tour. Unfortunately, Wilson — a staunch advocate of gun control &#151' doesn't believe in travelling with a large security force, which makes him vulnerable to the right-wingers who are plotting to hijack his private West Rail car. At Los Angeles's Union station, Dave Anderson (Brent Huff) and his paramilitary malcontents board Wilson's train, intending to reroute it in the service of promoting NRA propaganda. Posing as a reporter so he can surprise Valerie, Eddie quickly realizes something is amiss. The militiamen replace Wilson's sole bodyguard, plant a nuclear bomb in the baggage area and hack into West Rail's mainframe computer to control the train's destination. As the train hurtles toward Sable Valley, Calif., Anderson's extremists harangue the passengers with their ideology and slay some hostages. Eddie manages to slip under their radar and tries to undermine Anderson's plan at every opportunity, even managing to steal a handy bulletproof vest from the gang. But though Eddie bumps off several terrorists, he's having trouble derailing their plan, which involves blow up some small town to demonstrate an unarmed America's vulnerability. This uninspired thriller hurtles along without ever offering action fans more than standard-issue thrills. And let's face it: It's hard to pump suspense into a thriller that terminates supporting players but not any of the leads — the victims have "Screen Extras Guild" written all over them.