A reminder of the days in which Sly's muscle matched his box office clout (those in any doubt consider for a moment the calamity of his Get Carter re-make). A superb pre-credit sequence – so brilliantly parodied by Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls – plays out into the solid action template: from explosive, tense and at times vertigo-inducing set-pieces, to a script chock full of classic one-line clangers.
Lithgow is clearly modelling his devilishly effete, quasi-intellectual antics as head bad guy on those of Alan Rickman in Die Hard – the sequel which saw Harlin cut his action teeth – but an overall mood of taut suspense and some nice backstory more than mask his theatrical flamboyance. Worth a look also for EastEnders' Craig Fairbrass and for arguably being the inspiration behind Tom Cruise's blockbusting bravado in M
