First off I'm probably more kinder to this type of Low-budget film because i grew up watching & loving them & loved seeing all the cool artwork of B-movies in video stores back in the 90's.
Also I'm a big fan of the underrated Robert Davi as i loved him in Maniac Cop 2&3 & Raw Deal & The Bad Pack & Die Hard & Predator 2 & many more Awesome films. Davi was a guy i loved to see in anything & he was a regular face in many movies i grew up watching.
The ultra cool Davi here plays a Former Gulf War hero named Rowdy Welles & is framed for murder by slimy CIA boss Dick Althorp played by Ben Gazzara (Road House). For his own freedom, Welles is sent on a mission to destroy a nuclear processing plant run by Eurotrash terrorist Lothar Krasna played by Alexander Godunov (Die Hard, The Runeston, Waxwork 2) but it won't be easy. I liked the main European villain Lother as he was very sinister & very untrustworthy lol & i liked the chilly bleak winter look of the film that gives a cold-blooded feel to the movie. The story is very basic & been done many times, it's a good American on a mission in a dangerous foreign country but because its Davi the film is more enjoyable.
There is some scenes that drag on abit & some jet fighter sequences that go on abit to long but all in all The Zone is a decent little Conspiracy thriller & a fun B-movie.
Honestly Robert Davi is at his Coolest here, he smokes cigars alot (would make Columbo proud) he wears a suit, he's sarcastic with a witty sense of humour & is brutal at the drop of a hat lol. Davi reminded me of a low-rent version of James Bond & you can see that although this is a low-budget DTV B-movie, Davi was having so much fun getting to be the cool lead in his own movie. Davi really was a cool action hero of the B-movie genre & in todays high-tech world & CGI infested cinema he remains a great Retro action star of the great video era.
My top 3 Robert Davi movies would be: The Bad Pack, The Zone & Under Surveillance, but he's great in pretty much everything.
Also i really liked the music score.
