Blown Away (1994) *** [1994 Action Double Feature Pt. 2]

Terrible accents, weird U2 needle drops, slow motion Jeff Bridges in distress, and bizarre Tommy Lee Jones fashion. Blown Away (1994) is inferior to similar movies like Speed (released one month prior) and the previous year's In The Line Of Fire, but it’s competently made, has some fun over the top TLJ scenes, and a good score by Alan Silvestri. There’s some really cool microphotography, genuine tension, some big stunts, and a thrilling fight in the finale set against a Rube Goldberg machine (plus, of course, a big-ass explosion). Also, as a lifelong New Englander, it’s neat to see all the Boston locations (I don't know if I've seen another feature film use the Hatch Shell) as they were filmed 30 years ago. 

Stephen Hopkins Films Ranked