Line #21 Film/DropZone


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/drop_zone.jpg]]
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3	''Drop Zone'' is a 1994 action film directed by John Badham, starring Creator/WesleySnipes, Creator/GaryBusey, Creator/YancyButler and Creator/MichaelJeter.
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5	US Marshal Pete Nessip (Snipes) boards a plane alongside his brother Terry (Creator/MalcolmJamalWarner) to escort computer expert Earl Leedy (Jeter) to prison when a group of terrorists led by Ty Moncrief (Busey) hijack the plane and take Leedy with them, which results in several people getting killed, including Terry. Moncrief takes Leedy and uses him to get access to computers and obtain the identities of undercover DEA agents, so he can sell them to criminal organizations. Pete learns how to skydive in an attempt to stop him.
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7	----
8	!!Tropes
9	* ActionGirl: Jessie Crossman is an ex-con turned skydiving instructor who helps Pete learn to skydive. And she even shows initiative and goes aboard Ty's airplane and demands answers for Jagger's death before being pushed out the plane. And later, when Ty and his men raid the DEA building, she even manages to fight and kill Ty's DarkActionGirl Kara Sellar.
10	* ActorAllusion: This wouldn't be the first time Creator/GaryBusey portrays a [[Film/PointBreak1991 character that takes up skydiving.]]
11	* ArtisticLicense: The fact that Ty and his men raid the DEA office on the Fourth of July, during the Independence Day Skydiving Exhibition in Washington, D.C., a typical no-fly zone area which has no security at all throughout the day.
12	* BigBad: Ty Moncrief is a [[NaughtyNarcs former DEA agent]] turned renegade who steals information about undercover DEA agents and sells them to criminal organizations, resulting in their deaths.
13	* CassandraTruth: No one initially believes Pete when he recalls the events of the hi-jacking, only thinking it was Terry who acted like a loose cannon and no one would be able to make a parachute jump from a commercial airliner at 30,000 feet. Pete ends up [[TurnInYourBadge being suspended]] as he does his own investigating over the hijacking.
14	* ChuteSabotage: Ty's men attempt to do this for Jessie's parachute. Unfortunately, it's one of her members of her team, Selkirk, that ends up grabbing it and during the jump, it fails to deploy, which results in serious injury for him.
15	* TheCracker: Earl Leedy is a criminal hacker whom Pete and Terry get tasked with escorting to a high-security prison. But then Ty and his men kidnap him and use him to access the DEA computers to get the information they need.
16	* DefrostingIceQueen: Swoop, the more ballsy member of Jessie's skydiving team, is a good and loyal friend to his team. Except he ignores and doesn't acknowledge Pete (because he only talks to people he's jumped with) and has to get someone to talk to him through Pete. After Pete participates in a practice jump, Swoop still ignores him. And even as Pete saves him from being beat up by Ty's man, he even has to get Jessie to express his thanks to him. But after they jump together and foil Ty's plans, Swoop finally talks to him.
17	* DisneyVillainDeath:
18	** Pete's brother Terry isn't a villain, but he dies after being sucked out of the airplane after Ty and his men escape.
19	** Ty himself meets his end after Pete jumps him out of the window. While Pete has a parachute, Ty isn't so lucky as he crashes through the windshield of his getaway truck.
20	* ExtremeSportsPlot: Pete learns how to skydive so he can prove that the plane was really attacked and to bring down Moncrief.
21	* FallenHero: Moncrief used to be an exemplar DEA agent before turning evil.
22	* FauxAffablyEvil: Ty is calm, cool and polite, even as he murders innocent people.
23	* {{Fingore}}: [[BigBad Ty Moncrief]] cuts off a pair of [[TheCracker Earl Leedy's]] fingers for them to be "found" alongside [[NotEnoughToBury the mangled remains of "Leedy"]] that resulted from being flung out of an airplane by ExplosiveDecompression. In a much later scene, we see Leedy working to regain keyboard dexterity on his mangled hand in some following scenes (taking place over a few weeks).
24	* ItsPersonal: For Jessie, when she finds out her ex Don Jagger gets killed by Moncrief. Despite Jagger still continuing his criminal activities and worked for Moncrief, Jessie is still nevertheless heartbroken by his death.
25	* ItsRainingMen: Ty and his gang do this for their robberies.
26	* KarmaHoudini: Subverted. After Ty and his group are all dead, Leedy poses as a DEA agent and nearly gets away, with Pete hollering for him while he lays on the ambulance stretcher and nearly gets away until Swoop comes in and knocks him down.
27	* KindheartedCatLover: Leedy loves his cats and is even seen taking care of them when a prisoner nearly kills him. And when he's being escorted to the high-security prison by plane, with the cats going with him, he shows great concern for them.
28	* NeckSnap: Pete kills one of Ty's henchmen that way after a fight on the stairs. And shortly after, both Swoop and Bobby kill Torski like this by wrapping a cord around his neck and then deploying his parachute.
29	* NeverTrustATrailer: There's a scene in the trailer that has Pete attending the funeral of his brother Terry, which isn't in the final movie.
30	* SacrificialLion: Subverted. It ''looks'' like Selkirk is going to get killed by the sabotaged parachute, but instead he's merely injured and hospitalized for the rest of the film.
31	* SignificantAnagram: Pete Nessip is an anagram for his actor's last name, Snipes.
32	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Earl Leedy is a criminal hacker good enough for Ty Moncrief to decide to poach him for his EvilPlan, and that "poaching" involves a demented scheme to break him out of custody in mid-air and fake Leedy's death by [[{{Fingore}} cutting off two of his fingers]]. Much to Moncrief's [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou very notable]] annoyance, Leedy spends most of the rest of the film working to regain his keyboard dexterity after being maimed.
33	* WouldHitAGirl: Pete gives Jessie a big slug to the face right after she drops him out of the plane, which scares him nearly half to death due to it being his first time.
34	* YouHaveFailedMe: Ty and his men did what they can to keep the hijacking discreet, leading for everyone to believe it was Pete and Terry that went crazy in the plane. But after Pete investigates and questions a little girl that recognizes Jagger (who at the point before he jumped out was unmasked) and one of the FBI guys (who's secretly working for Moncrief) lets Ty know about it. And when they all go practice skydiving again, Ty goes with Jagger, who then guides him to fly into power lines, which [[HighVoltageDeath gets him electrocuted.]]
35	* YouKilledMyFather: Pete gets the motivation to bring down Moncrief after his brother Terry gets killed in the hijacking.
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Context Film / DropZone