SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: CHILL FACTOR

"CHILL FACTOR"
(1999) (Cuba Gooding, Jr., Skeet Ulrich) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	Heavy	Extreme	Moderate	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	Extreme	*None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	Minor	None	Mild	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A mismatched pair of unlikely heroes tries to prevent a renegade former Army officer from obtaining a devastating weapon.

PLOT:

Ten years after a covert military experiment on a remote Pacific island went wrong and killed eighteen servicemen and his assistant, Dr. Richard Long (DAVID PAYMER) is still trying to forget the havoc and death his experiment wrought. Living in the small town of Jerome, Montana, Long still conducts scientific experiments at the local base, but far more enjoys his time fly-fishing with Tim Mason (SKEET ULRICH), a loner/drifter who works in the local greasy spoon and has a checkered past.

Long's life changes, and then ends, when he's visited by Andrew Brynner (PETER FIRTH), a former military officer who took the blame and served ten years in Leavenworth for Long's lethal experiment. Now a free man with a score to settle with his country, Brynner has assembled a team of high-tech terrorists, including icy blond Vaughn (HUDSON LEICK), and plans to steal and then sell "Elvis" -- Long's highly volatile, blue crystal substance -- to the highest international bidder.

Unfortunately for him, Long has already delivered "Elvis" to Mason, along with the directions that the substance remain below fifty degrees Fahrenheit lest it detonate and kill everyone within several hundred miles of it. After Mason and Arlo (CUBA GOODING, JR.), a wisecracking ice cream delivery man, have a run-in with Brynner, they set off en route for Fort Magruder, some ninety miles away.

The two men don't get along with each other -- Arlo only agrees to transport the temperature dependent device in his ice cream truck because Mason held a gun on him -- but find a common bond in trying to avoid Brynner and his team. With the help of Colonel Leo Vitelli (DANIEL HUGH KELLY), who shows up late in the game to assist, Arlo and Mason do what they can to survive Brynner's attacks, avoid the local deputy, Pappas (JIM GRIMSHAW), who's also hot on their trail, and keep "Elvis" below fifty degrees.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Those looking for another action/buddy picture, or who are fans of Gooding or Ulrich may want to see it.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For violence and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: CUBA GOODING JR. plays an ice cream delivery man who's stolen his truck from his boss before he gets wrapped up in this mess. After that he does what it takes to survive and uses strong profanity and some violence along the way.
SKEET ULRICH plays a young man with a trouble past who finds himself in the same situation as Arlo and similarly uses strong profanity.
PETER FIRTH plays the former military officer who goes bad and kills many people as he tries to acquire and then sell a formidable weapon.
DAVID PAYMER plays the scientist who devised that weapon that costs him and others their lives.
HUDSON LEICK plays one of Brynner's lethal minions who kills several people.; SKEET ULRICH plays a young man with a trouble past who finds himself in the same situation as Arlo and similarly uses strong profanity.
PETER FIRTH plays the former military officer who goes bad and kills many people as he tries to acquire and then sell a formidable weapon.
DAVID PAYMER plays the scientist who devised that weapon that costs him and others their lives.
HUDSON LEICK plays one of Brynner's lethal minions who kills several people.; PETER FIRTH plays the former military officer who goes bad and kills many people as he tries to acquire and then sell a formidable weapon.
DAVID PAYMER plays the scientist who devised that weapon that costs him and others their lives.
HUDSON LEICK plays one of Brynner's lethal minions who kills several people.; DAVID PAYMER plays the scientist who devised that weapon that costs him and others their lives.
HUDSON LEICK plays one of Brynner's lethal minions who kills several people.; HUDSON LEICK plays one of Brynner's lethal minions who kills several people.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content in this R-rated action/adventure film. Violence is extreme with many people being killed, whether via explosions, gunshots or having their throats slit. Some of the results are bloody, some of the scenes may be tense to some viewers and the perpetrators obviously have bad attitudes.

Profanity is extreme with more than 10 "f" and 50 "s" words being used, along with other profanities and plenty of colorful phrases. Beyond all of that and related material (an extreme amount of suspenseful music, some other bad attitudes), and a brief instance of someone smoking a joint, the rest of the film's categories have relatively little or nothing in the way of major objectionable material.

Nonetheless, should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at the listed content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: One of Long's assistants lights up a joint.
Pappas accuses Mason of selling beer to an underage patron. He also states that Mason was earlier arrested for public drunkenness.
Mason mentions a time in his past when he and a pal celebrated the friend's football draft by bar hopping (which eventually led to them crashing their car into a ditch).
A man comments on having a case of beer on ice in his truck.

BLOOD/GORE: We see a man whose skin is blistered and bloody from an explosion. Others have similar wounds and we also see a soldier with bloody stumps where his legs used to be.
Brynner and his team find Long's blood on the floor.
Long comes into Mason's diner and the front of his shirt is soaked in blood. Later, we see his blood on the floor that Brynner steps in.
We briefly see a villain's body on the road (but other than being dead it isn't bloody or gory).
We see a bit of blood shoot out as a villain is clotheslined by a rock formation.
We briefly see one of the former, slain guards whose slit throat is bloody.
Blood squirts out when Mason is shot in the knee and later he has some bloody scrapes on his face.
Both Brynner and Vaughn are bloody after surviving an explosion.
We see a man's face melting just before his body disintegrates.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Obviously Brynner and his forces have extreme cases of both.
Some could see Long as having both for devising such a devastating weapon.
Pappas accuses Mason of selling beer to an underage patron. He also states that Mason was earlier arrested for vagrancy and for public drunkenness.
We learn that Arlo has stolen the ice cream truck he's driving (stating that his boss owes him) and is trying to get cash for the deliveries he's making.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" as well as those concerning the general premise of the bomb detonating if it reaches a temperature of 50 degrees may be unsettling and/or tense to some viewers. All of that, of course, depends on the viewer's age and tolerance for such material.
As Long is prepared to test "Elvis," he suddenly discovers that the blast radius will be much larger than expected. As the explosion then goes off, his assistant and various soldiers try to flee.
With Arlo and Mason having hidden Long and his device in the diner, Brynner comes in and begins looking around and acting menacingly.
Some men pursue the ice cream truck on motorcycles and one of them then fights Mason on top of it after Mason slithers along the side and then dangles from the open and wildly swinging back door.
Arlo tries to drive his large truck along a skinny and recent destroyed mountain highway that's crumbling under the weight of the truck, thus endangering it of possibly falling over the cliff.
Arlo and Mason careen down a tree-lined mountain in a boat, momentarily hanging on the edge of a ledge, before plummeting into a lake at the bottom.
The last part of the movie, where the villains chase the heroes and fight with them as the temperature of the weapon continually rises, may be suspenseful to some viewers.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Explosive device/Handguns/Knives/Machine Guns/Bazooka/Missile Launchers: Used to threaten, wound or kill people (or carried by military forces). See "Violence" for details.
Handgun: Held by Mason on Arlo to make him drive his truck and later held on a man to take his boat.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Piece of sh*t," "I don't give a sh*t," "Holy sh*t," "Sh*thead," "Screw up," "Pissing," "Idiot," "Geek," "Moron," "Whacko," "Shut up," "I'm about to get into your ass like last year's underwear," "Kiss my ass," "Screwed" (nonsexual), "Bend over and kiss your crazy ass goodbye," "Fat rat bastard," "Pissed you off," "Nut job" (crazy) and what sounded like "Sweet d*ck."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of action-oriented suspense music plays during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): A rap song plays with lyrics that couldn't be understood, thus possibly containing objectionable material.

PROFANITY: At least 11 "f" words, 51 "s" words, 1 slang term for male genitals ("pr*ck" and another possible one, "d*ck"), 18 asses (5 used with "hole"), 14 hells, 10 damns, 1 crap and 6 uses of "G-damn," 4 of "Jesus" and 1 use each of "Oh my God" and "God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A motel manager comments on Brynner finding people "doing what people do in motels" as he prepares to search the rooms (he doesn't and we don't see anything).

SMOKING: One of the villains smokes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: The (often unbelievable) way in which the two heroes act to prevent that weapon from falling into the wrong hands.

VIOLENCE: Long's assistant and many soldiers are killed by an explosion that also devastates a small island.
As Brynner's forces overtake a base, at least 3 guards have their throats slit, another is shot dead, Long is wounded and the villains shoot open a door.
Long drives through a gate, breaking the wooden gate arm.
A dog briefly attacks one of Brynner's men.
A motorcyclist pulls a gun on Arlo who then swerves his truck to make the villain crash headfirst into another oncoming truck, killing him.
One of Brynner's men fights Mason on top of a moving truck. As such, he punches Mason several times, pulls out a knife and then steps on Mason's fingers as the latter holds onto the edge of the truck. That man then gets clotheslined, however, by an approaching rock formation hanging over the road, and then falls and crashes into a car windshield and is killed.
A bazooka (or similar weapon) is used to blow up a tanker truck, presumably killing the driver.
A villain rappels down in front of Arlo and Mason's truck, firing his gun at him. Their truck, however, hits and kills him as he hangs in front of it.
Their truck then crashes and flips over with another smaller truck crashing into it.
Mason aims his (empty) gun at a man so that he and Arlo can take his boat.
Brynner holds his gun on Arlo's boss, threatening to shoot him.
Vaughn shoots Mason in the knee as he and Arlo try to escape. She then kicks him while he's lying on the ground. Later, she hits him in the face with her gun and then kicks him again.
Brynner and Vaughn riddle a truck with gunfire.
The bad guys sideswipe a car.
Brynner and Vaughn repeatedly ram a truck from behind.
A military helicopter fires missiles that blow up two vehicles and later it fires more that blow up and then seal the entrances to a tunnel.
Pappas aims his gun at Arlo and Mason.
Mason kicks and knees Vaughn and then grabs Brynner, pulling him down from a ladder where both then fall onto a car below them. He then chases and tackles Brynner and the two then exchange punches.
A man stabs another man in the chest with a long and sharp thermometer.
An explosion kills several people.

Reviewed August 26, 1999 / Posted September 1, 1999

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