Treat-Williams Movie Reviews

"Critical Mass" is so bad that it is actually enjoyable. There are so many holes in this plot that one wonders if there was actually a director assigned to the project. The basic plot centers around terrorists who steal nuclear material to make a bomb and then take over a nuclear power facility to blow it up. Amid numerous explosions and even a nice truck/bus chase in the high desert are enough plot holes to keep most movie audiences in hysterics. My favorite was in the Pentagon where top military brass are discussing the terrorist. The camera does a closeup of the dossier showing the actor's picture playing the terrorist. The next line is, "The terrorist, whose face is unknown..." Why tell us his face is unknown just after showing us his face? We had to replay this moment and then pause the DVD so my wife could stop laughing. Her favorite moment was when the terrorists are stealing the nuclear material and are walking around the facility. The leader has a little piece of notepaper which he keeps looking at about 7 times, as if he couldn't find his way up the stairs without looking at his paper. I wondered if maybe he had his lines printed there. Then you've got Andrew Prine playing a pompous state senator who is shooting an election commercial at the power plant when the terrorists attack. Prine and his lovely press secretary run for the door with security guard Treat Williams while the rest of the camera crew and reporters stand there allowing themselves to be shot. As the terrorists are running around the facility with automatic weapons looking for the them, Prine starts shouting at Williams in full voice. This happens repeatedly with the terrorists just inches away, but of course the shouting never attracts them. Also, when the bad guys get shot, none of the good guys picks up their weapons. Another moment is when Williams has captured and tied up a terrorist and sticks the Senator's tie in his mouth. Most people would just be able to take their tongue and push the tie out of their mouth and call for help; but this terrorist must sit there for 15 minutes until his buddy rescues him. You may enjoy replaying the moment where Andrew Prine steps on the explosive and is hurled through the air with a ball of fire. Most people would be burned or maimed, but Prine just winds up dead with a bit of fake blood on his nose. This is one of those movies where the plot is so bad that you can enjoy it as one of the most wonderfully incompetent films you're likely to run across. Another thing I like about the DVD is the special features. The only special feature is some previews of other films I never heard of. When you push it to watch the previews, it starts playing "Critical Mass" again. Have a laugh, you won't do much else with this clinker! Taxi!

From the start this movie had all the making of a real bomb. The JetStar and DC-9 aircraft scenes were totally bogus. Treat Williams is a pilot, he should have know the flying scenes were bogus. Grizzly bears hibernate in winter. When it is 20 below zero water freezes, but it wasn't frozen in these scenes. Should have been a comdy.