SAS: RED NOTICE (2021) Reviews of Eurostar hijack thriller

What do you think of this movie? Click on a star to rate it
  

SAS: Red Notice is a 2021 action-thriller film about a small army of well-trained criminals who hijack a Eurostar train deep beneath the English Channel. Also known as S.A.S.: Red Notice

Directed by Magnus Martens (Fear the Walking Dead; Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Jackpot) from a screenplay co-written by co-producer Laurence Malkin and Chad Thumann, based on a novel by Andy McNab, the British-Dutch-Hungarian-Swiss production stars Sam Heughan, Hannah John-Kamen, Ruby Rose, Andy Serkis and Tom Hopper.

Plot:

Tom Buckingham (Sam Heughan), a special forces operator, is taking Doctor Sophie Hart (Hannah John-Kamen) from London to Paris to propose. When their train is deep inside the Channel Tunnel, Grace Lewis (Ruby Rose) and her team of heavily armed war criminals seize the train and hold hundreds of passengers hostage.

Grace threatens to expose the British governments darkest secrets and blow up the Channel Tunnel if her ransom demands are not met. Unarmed and cut off from his counter-terror team, Tom is the only hope that Sophie and the other passengers have to make it out alive…

Release date:

Vertical Entertainment will release SAS: Red Notice in North America on VOD on March 16th, 2021 preceded by a UK internet release on the 12th.

Reviews:

“There are moments of action beforehand, but it’s once the train is hijacked Tom goes more Steven Seagal — Under Siege rather than Bruce Willis — Die Hard. Tom uses his deadly set of skills to eliminate each member of the rogue mercenary group down swiftly and efficiently. The action set pieces are choreographed very well…” Action Reloaded

“Sam Heughan makes for one hell of a leading man and from the Bulletproof Action perspective, one hell of an action hero to boot […] Ruby Rose was absolutely fantastic as the cold and calculating villain. Grace Lewis was basically raised to be a super villain and it shows.” Bulletproof Action

” …action, when it comes, is adequately shoot-’em-up, but the direction throughout the film is flat and disinterested and some of the writing is laugh-out-loud terrible, the kind of dialogue that might – just – work on the page but never once sounds like something an actual real person would ever say. It’s a very drab film, too, with little in the way of visual interest.” The Craggus

“What we have in SAS: Red Notice is a film where the direction is bland, the writing is bland, and although I watched this from start to finish, I could’ve stopped this at any point and still not felt like I was missing out on anything new […] At almost two hours, it rambles on far too long, Tom Wilkinson does his usual crap US accent…” DVD Fever

SAS: Red Notice is a gritty thriller more concerned with Sam Heughan sneaking around an underground tunnel getting into plenty of shootouts and hand-to-hand fights. Some of the firefights are sloppily edited but made up for by sequences such as a neck being snapped as two people fall down a shaft […] SAS: Red Notice is a winner strictly in the action department, but there is also admiration to be found in the messy behavior of its characters.” Flickering Myth

“The concept, of having a ‘good psychopath’ vs a ‘bad psychopath’ (given the wholly thing is written by a functioning psychopath (in McNab), is an interesting one. But… the whole thing is poorly delivered, starting with the script which is clunkingly bad. Some of the dialogue is execrable.” One Mann’s Movies

” …the likes of Tom Wilkinson and Anne Reid are completely wasted in their roles. And, while Andy Serkis relishes going right over the top as a gum chomping, potty-mouthed soldier, he’s simply doing it by numbers. Undoubtedly, there’s an audience for this kind of film – there’s plenty of them – but all SAS: Red Notice offers is the routine, the predictable and the stereotypical.” The People’s Movies

“Climactic scenes between Heughan and John-Kamen are a total maudlin bust, and even some great drone footage of Mallorca can’t save them. Following the downer of a climax between the hero and villain, they’re enough to really sour what was previously a taut and exciting action movie and tip the scales for SAS: Red Notice into the negative.” The Prague Reporter

” …whatever its shortcomings execution- or story-wise, the “Die Hard on a stalled/hijacked train” premise is hard to resist, especially in the second hour, once Martens leaves the table-setting behind for the usual assortment and combination of complications for Buckingham to overcome. Outlander veteran Sam Heughan makes for a solid, if all too often stolid, lead…” Screen Anarchy

“It’s got a lot of shooting, and plenty of bloody killing. But it’s also thirty-minutes longer than needed. The hostage scenario has been done many times, and it has been set in many locations. It’s a plot that is easily stale without the right amount of creative ambition added to weave something fresh from it.” The Silver Screen Analysis

“There’s plenty of well-executed action set pieces. And the final fight between the film’s two leads is well choreographed. But two hours of assorted @ssholes backstabbing each other, at times literally, just didn’t work for me. Pulling that off would have taken a much more experienced writer and a director…” Voices from the Balcony

SAS Red Notice delivers a solid dose of action, espionage, a bit of politics and a plot most would consider not too far removed from the realms of possibility. It moves along at a good pace and while it won’t wow you, it should leave you suitably entertained on movie night.” We Talk Film

Cast and characters:

Sam Heughan … Tom Buckingham
Hannah John-Kamen … Doctor Sophie Hart
Ruby Rose … Grace Lewis
Andy Serkis
Tom Hopper … Declan
Owain Yeoman … Olly
Tom Wilkinson
Ray Panthaki
Noel Clarke … Major Bisset
Anne Reid … Charlotte
Jing Lusi
Richard McCabe
Sarah Winter … Colleen
Douglas Reith
Dylan Smith … Alex
Grant Crookes … General Major Crookes
Attila C. Arpa … Sniper
Caroline Boulton … Olivia
Tim Fellingham … Bryce
Martin Angerbauer … Swan
Ty Hurley … Border Control
Roderick Hill … Chef de Train
Kevin Ezekiel Ogunleye … Roger
Károly Baksai … Swan
Ferenc Iván Szabó … Swan

Filming locations:

Hungary

Trailer:

MOVIES and MANIA rating:

MOVIES and MANIA provides previews, our own film reviews and ratings, plus links to other online reviews from a wide variety of trusted sources in one handy web location. This is a genuinely independent website and I rely solely on the minor income generated by internet ads to pay for web costs and cover yet more movies. Please support us by not blocking ads. Thank you. Oh and as an Amazon Associate, I earn a tiny amount from any qualifying purchases.