Choke Canyon (1986)

So much average

Simply Perfect

Great Film overall

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Known as "On Dangerous Ground" in the UK.A big nuclear company wants to take land (Choke Canyon) away from a peaceful scientist who is doing safe energy research work there to dumb radioactive waste. Obviously the peaceful guy isn't going to give them it. Nuclear guys will do anything to get rid of him, including killing him. Every one of the Nuclear companies goons come for him, but he dispatches them, even "Big" Bo Svensson, in typical 80s fashion.Film gained a bit of notoriety in the 80s due to the theme song by Mike & The Mechanics "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" being a hit in 1986. Song was more of a hit than the film. Tune is nowhere to be found in the movie though. Stunt work is great too. Check out the ending aerial joust with all the planes. Awesome.Has a nice environmental message, which I always like too. Mildly recommended.

It's really difficult to explain why this movie is so unknown and low-rated. I've watched it many years ago, as a child, and now found it's DVD release at amazon.com. It's still really great! If you are the fan of 80's action movies - like e.g. Delta Force, American Ninja, Rambo, Commando or James Bond series - you certainly won't be disappointed by this one. This is a very well-done action thriller, with some great stunts and action sequences and - above all - fantastic score by Sylvester Levay (see also Cobra, but he is best known for his Airwolf theme). There are also some really good actors starring in "Choke Canyon", like Stephen Collins, Lance Henriksen and Bo Svenson whose performances make this movie really worth of seeing. So I recommend "Choke Canyon" (AKA "On dangerous ground") to all who like some good, old and light action thrillers.

This is a pretty standard low-budget actioner running just over 1 1/2h, it does have some points of interest: The cinematography is not bad, some cool helicopter action and the heroine Janet Julian is a looker. It is undemanding action fare, you can park your brain and kill 1 1/2h or so, I have seen it a couple of times, it's ok. 5/10PS. The music video for Mike And the Mechanic's "Silent Running" is using scenes from this movie.

I confess to having seen this film only because I made an effort to search it out. In 1986 I was stationed in Ridgecrest, California, and spent my spare time hanging out at a friends machine shop. We were contracted to build some equipment for a movie being shot locally, and that's how I know the film. I built a satellite dish and control console used in the film from scrap, and was out on the shooting location south of Ridgecrest at an old ready mix plant on highway 395. This was the location for the lab, and where the monster trucks were driven over a canyon. The film itself is so low budget it screams for mercy, with much more money spent on F/X than writing or directing. The cast is composed of Hollywood fringe actors who never quite got the big break they were looking for. Some of the stuntwork, particularly the aerial work which was done in Utah was pretty decent, but overall the film was really hurt by the low budget tack taken in making it. However, getting to watch an almost completely Italian film crew at work has got to be on of the greatest sources of humor that can be found, and anyone who ever gets a chance to do so should. It will keep you laughing for years.