Plot: What’s it about?
The popular genre of the disaster movie got an odd twist at the middle of the decade when a tale of a lone gunman and a capacity crowd full of football fans in an LA stadium are all targets reached theaters and just as many crickets. It’s an all star cast, some football and a viewpoint that can be dangerous at the sound of the Two Minute Warning.
It’s the day of the big football game in Los Angeles and on the other side of town, a mysterious individual is making target practice with a few nearby. With everyone coming into the game, there are the many fans with their stories whether its the father with no job, or the degenerate gambler or the old pickpocket or the couple who can’t decide to commit to each other as well as a few other characters. What they don’t know is that mysterious individual found a way into the stadium before them and could open fire at any minute unless the cops get him first.
In parts this can be a dangerous tale and the viewpoint of the assassin is a remarkable choice. However, it’s good touches, a decent score that are diminished by the cliches of the disaster movie in this film complete with the all star cast, the multiple subplots and the danger that lurks within almost two hours. It’s fun if it were a TV movie but this was one that was a theatrical release and strictly a guilty pleasure whether it’s the red herrings, the priest running for the big game or the fact that most of the people in this were mixed from the cinema and the small screen.
And any movie like this wouldn’t be complete without a capper of a surprise cameo which happens early in the film and all this viewer can say is keep an eye on who sings the national anthem. Admittedly, when the craziness hits its peak, there are some solid moments but it gets to being slightly preachy towards the end and themes that were better handled in Black Sunday. Overall, Two Minute Warning is ok for a rainy day and great for a guilty pleasure but nothing more.
Video: How does it look?
The good news is Two Minute Warning is given it’s first wide 2.35:1 treatment onto DVD and it looks decent for the most part. Now the bad news, it’s not anamorphic. A film like this that gives the wide scope to the big field and the viewpoints like this deserves that kind of enhanced treatment, but for the most part the print is in decent shape with a speck or two popping up once in a while and not in a distracting way making for a transfer that can only be described as just good.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 2.0 track is good for the outer channels and the score which is used frequently in the eye of the assassin and at times could be slightly creepy. The rest of the sounds of the game and the effects come off decent until the end when there’s a lot of running going on and the sound of the grass sounds slightly better than expected raising the mark a little higher for that small effect in the film. The dialogue and all of its goofy lines can be heard clearly and even though the sound effects do sound like the stock kind, they still manage decently. This disc also has a Spanish and French 2.0 track along with English and Spanish subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All that can be gotten at the end zone are the films theatrical trailer which changes left and right aspect ratiowise along with production notes and cast and crew bios.
A amusing attempt at a twist on the seventies disaster film (and supposedly a different film when viewed on TV thanks to an added subplot), Two Minute Warning has it share of a few thrills and a few unintended laughs making it a worthwhile guilty pleasure for any viewer that’s amused by an all star cast acting on the disaster movie level with curious results.
