8. Con Air (1997)
Nicolas Cage complete with dodgy haircut and accent combination) is parolee Cameron Poe, homeward bound to see his wife and daughter on the titular transport plane when the inmates take over the asylum. A ragtag band of lifers played by the likes of John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo and Dave Chappelle hijack the plane and decide to make their own unique bid for freedom, pursued by John Cusack and Colm Meaney as dogged FBI agents. After a slow first act that spans Poe's eight years in prison and uses hefty amounts of exposition to fill us in on the dangerous collection of passengers, things kick up a gear when Malkovich's 'Cyrus the Virus' leads the prisoners in a violent coup. As a man just wanting to get home, Poe leaves a series of clues (or occasionally drops them out of a plane) in an effort to thwart his fellow cons. The ambush at the airfield is undoubtedly the movie's highlight; a visceral shootout that somehow manages to end with a sports car crashing through a guard tower. Despite becoming bogged down in some unnecessary subplots and a slew of cringeworthy dialogue,
Con Air redeems itself in the third act with a spectacular emergency landing right in the middle of the Sunset Strip, destroying plenty of local landmarks along the way. And just when you think that's all she wrote, the movie gives us one more high-speed chase for good measure; this time involving a fire-truck that results in a memorable end for Malkovich's character. Director Simon West crafted an all-time cult classic with his debut feature, one that ends on a particular high note for Steve Buscemi's Garland Greene. The paper-thin characters and cliche-ridden script are more than compensated by a stellar cast that are clearly enjoying themselves, not to mention several memorable action scenes. Just don't mention that awful Leann Rimes song.