Pros 1. A movie like this doesn't work if you don't like the main characters and I certainly did. Country Singer Kris Kristofferson brings a whole lot of folksy charm to Logan and Treat WIlliams does a good job of making Ernie's burnout relatable and understandable. It's hard to see Kris Kristofferson crying over Treat William's death and not think of him crying over the death of Charlotte Rampling in "Heaven's Gate" (at least Treat Williams died in a better movie).
2. I always get a kick out of seeing technology in 80's movies that was state of the art at the time, like the computer graphics shown in the conference on installing sensors on borderlands. The whole thing about these sensors putting Border Patrol Agents out of the field adds more tension to the whole plot with the lost money. If Logan and Ernie don't use that money, their careers are going places they don't like.
3. Kurtwood Smith shows, as he would further show in "Robocop" and "That 70's Show" that he's great at playing a jerk. Anybody else would sound cheesy if they recited that speech about being thankful for drugs and crime because they otherwise wouldn't have a job. It sounds natural coming from a Kurtwood Smith character. It's certainly a high point of the movie when Logan shoots that SOB.
4. Ernie's story about the penguins is pretty funny. The laughs in this movie work just as well as the action scenes.
5. One of the best scenes is when Ernie chews out the Latino man (for bringing in illegal aliens in his "stolen" vans) who's so slimy you can practically see it oozing out of his pores. Ernie knows how to tell it like it is. He also throws some well deserved jabs at the seedy man's lawyer.
6. I disagree in general with Leonard Maltin's negative review of Flashpoint but I definitely disagree with Maltin's view that it has the worst theme song of any 1984 movie. It's not performed by Prince or Ray Parker Jr. but I think it's pretty awesome. I don't think any of the 1984 theme songs I've heard are bad but my least favorite is the theme song to "Blame It On Rio" (appropriate as I thought it was the 2nd worst movie of 1984 after Bolero).
7. Best Line Logan: My daddy always said "if you can't get out of it, get into it" Ernie: I thought your dad said "if you can't fix it, f--- it" Logan: He said that, too
Cons 1. Something about the lost money related to the JFK Assassination seems like it doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. All of a sudden Rip Torn comes back to the movie and says how they paid the guy to shoot the president. It's like they didn't think the movie was interesting enough so they tacked on this element at the 11th element and say this fictional character killed JFK.
2. The movie just kind of stops just when it's really getting interesting. Not surprising since we only learn at the end about Rip Torn being involved with the JFK assassination. It's like their setting up for a sequel that never happened, especially the way Kris Kristofferson says to Rip Torn "I'll be back, tell them that".
3. I really liked Tess Harper and the sweetness she brought to her character. I wished she was in the movie more.
2. I always get a kick out of seeing technology in 80's movies that was state of the art at the time, like the computer graphics shown in the conference on installing sensors on borderlands. The whole thing about these sensors putting Border Patrol Agents out of the field adds more tension to the whole plot with the lost money. If Logan and Ernie don't use that money, their careers are going places they don't like.
3. Kurtwood Smith shows, as he would further show in "Robocop" and "That 70's Show" that he's great at playing a jerk. Anybody else would sound cheesy if they recited that speech about being thankful for drugs and crime because they otherwise wouldn't have a job. It sounds natural coming from a Kurtwood Smith character. It's certainly a high point of the movie when Logan shoots that SOB.
4. Ernie's story about the penguins is pretty funny. The laughs in this movie work just as well as the action scenes.
5. One of the best scenes is when Ernie chews out the Latino man (for bringing in illegal aliens in his "stolen" vans) who's so slimy you can practically see it oozing out of his pores. Ernie knows how to tell it like it is. He also throws some well deserved jabs at the seedy man's lawyer.
6. I disagree in general with Leonard Maltin's negative review of Flashpoint but I definitely disagree with Maltin's view that it has the worst theme song of any 1984 movie. It's not performed by Prince or Ray Parker Jr. but I think it's pretty awesome. I don't think any of the 1984 theme songs I've heard are bad but my least favorite is the theme song to "Blame It On Rio" (appropriate as I thought it was the 2nd worst movie of 1984 after Bolero).
7. Best Line Logan: My daddy always said "if you can't get out of it, get into it" Ernie: I thought your dad said "if you can't fix it, f--- it" Logan: He said that, too
Cons 1. Something about the lost money related to the JFK Assassination seems like it doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. All of a sudden Rip Torn comes back to the movie and says how they paid the guy to shoot the president. It's like they didn't think the movie was interesting enough so they tacked on this element at the 11th element and say this fictional character killed JFK.
2. The movie just kind of stops just when it's really getting interesting. Not surprising since we only learn at the end about Rip Torn being involved with the JFK assassination. It's like their setting up for a sequel that never happened, especially the way Kris Kristofferson says to Rip Torn "I'll be back, tell them that".
3. I really liked Tess Harper and the sweetness she brought to her character. I wished she was in the movie more.