Many times success is measured by a person's perseverance. The old adage, "If at first you don't succeed try, try, try, again" may have been Wallis Nicita's philosophy in the beginning when she saw the script for Drop Zone, but became prominent in her mind that she carried the script for five years before finding a producer in Paramount Pictures. 

Having found backers for the movie, Nicita, a former casting director turned producer, now turned her efforts on finding the right actors for the parts. 

With the lead actor engaging in skydiving, Nicita wanted Wesley Snipes for the part but could only hope he would agree to fall from an airplane. But then could he find time in his busy schedule. 

"It was always Wesley that I had in mind," Nicita told a group of writers here following a screening of the film. "He can do anything. He can do Shakespeare. He can do stunts. He is a fabulous actor. I was thrilled when he decided to do this film." 

Snipes who was also in New York to finish up some scenes, and was in the group of cast members and staff of Drop Zone, was not overly enthusiastic about Nicita's praise. He said he enjoyed acting and would try anything once. "Acting is what I do," said the Orlando native, whose best picture so far, according to him, was White Man Can't Jump. 

Before accepting the role, Snipes has never skydived. Since making the movie, however, he has been up at least four times, including last weekend. 

"It is truly a test to overcome your fears," he said. "Once you come out, it's like, WOW! "Everything is so calm." 

On Snipes first jump, he said he put his hands down to break his fall as he left the airplane but when he didn't touch anything, he started to scream. 

In some of the shots in the movie, an African American stunt man who has had over 3,000 jumps perform some of the actor's jumps. Snipes said it is up to the viewers to figure out when he is not jumping. He is not telling. 

The bad guy, so to speak in this action adventure, is Gary Busey of Lethal Weapon, The Firm, and Predator 2 fame. 

Busey, also at the press interviews instead of a Dallas Cowboys game, said he was introduced to skydiving by his friend Patrick Swayze. He said he started September 13, three years ago. 

"Patrick Swayze said you ought to come down and skydive, you will feel something that you never felt before, it's better than sex," Busey said. "I gave him my word that I would be there. When I give somebody my word that is a trap because I have to go. I picked him up at four in the morning and went to Paris Valley. I had a choice of tandem, static or accelerated free fall. I chose the third. You jump out the plane by yourself with two jump master on each side and pull your own rip cord." 

He said he fell 9,000 feet in 55 seconds before pulling the rip cord and Swayze was right about feeling something that you had never felt before. 

Busey said that landing had a special feeling but was very short and Swayze had been slightly exaggerating. "It's over too fast." 

Busey said in regard to his accident on his motorcycle December 4, 1988, when he hit a curb at 45 miles per hour, he left his body briefly but was given three choices. He chose to come back to earth. He said that was the last thing he remembered for four weeks. 

"I am the national spokesman for the National Head Injury Foundation. I'm making the law mandatory in every state for motorcycles, recreational vehicles, snow mobiles, three wheelers, and if you are in a hurry, have a heavy date, and take a shower, I am designing a helmet for the shower because you can fall down in the shower and injure yourself. This is traumatic brain injury every 35 seconds." 

He said the "shooters" who took the movies were people who had hours and hours of skydiving experience. "They can do things people never dreamed to with the cameras on their heads." 

Twenty four-year-old Yancy Butler, who has the female lead in the film, was also a neophyte when it came to skydiving. Butler, who made her film debut in Hard Target, has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence and said she was always a tomboy growing up. She has a 3.8 grade point average and received a Griggs Scholarship. 

The original script has her role written for a man but the producers and directors changed the character to a woman. There is no romantic relationship between Butler and the men in the film. It is strictly action between all the actors, good versus bad. 

The directors, John Badham, who has directed such gems as Saturday Night Fever, War Games, American Flyer, and Point of No Return, and aerial director D.J. Caruso, of Another Stakeout fame, said the movie will thrill all movie lovers. 

Carmen had to direct some of the scenes while in the air herself and communicate with Badham who was on the ground. They mapped out some of the maneuvers before taking off for the 13,000 feet plane ride. 

"Most of the scenes in this movie are real," Badham said. "There aren' t any blue screen shots. There are only a couple of computer generated scenes." 

Badham said, "This movie and "Blue Thunder was the most complicated movies he has ever directed. 
 

Drop Zone: Action-Packed Thriller

The Nessip brothers, Pete and Terry, (Wesley Snipes and Malcolm Jamal Warner), two U.S. Marshals, have been given the simple task of transferring computer whiz, Earl Leedy (Michael Jeter) to a federal prison. 

The three men, with Leedy in handcuffs, instead of driving, take a plane, a 747 to be exact, Terry and Leedy are sitting together and the prisoner is getting on the marshal's nerves. The sooner they land, the better so Terry can get back to his wife and kids. 

Among the passengers are Ty Moncrief (Gary Busey) and several friends, men and women, who decide to terminate the flight of several of their fellow passengers. 

Terry has a real streak of bad breaks, getting shot and eventually during the melee falls out of the plane through an opening made by an explosion. Leedy and some other passengers, Moncrief included are presumed dead because they also fell out of the plane and Leedy's finger is found on the plane. 

The feds accuse Terry, based on the testimony of other survivors of precipating the violence on the place. Pete is suspended after he is accused of fabricating some absurd story that the whole thing was a prison break to free Leedy. How could this be done from a 747 high in the air, and where did the parachutes come from when no one saw any? Were those people expert sky divers? 

To get the answers, Pete must enlist the assistance of some expert skydivers himself. He goes to see Jessie Crossman (Yancy Butler), who just happens to be a woman running a pilot training school. She also knows quite a bit about skydiving because her boy-friend is an expert. 

Pete learns to skydive so he might infiltrate the sport and find out just how the escape was executed. Meanwhile Moncrief, a former Drug Enforcement Agent, carries out his macabre plan to make millions by using Leedy's skills to break the computer codes of government agencies and sell the information to all takers. 

Some of the jumps must be made so that no one will suspect how the information was gathered. 

The intricacies of the skydiving world are presented to the viewers. Preparation in wind tunnel, free fall, team jumps, fast drops, tandems, and of course landings, even in water. The results are breathtaking. 

Pete learns there is to be a drop zone in the nation's capital. There will be teams competing for prizes. Moncrief's team will be among them. So, he joins Crossman's team. 

However, Moncrief, being the genius that he is, has other plans, which prompts Pete, a law and order type, although he has been suspended from the government, to attempt to halt three clandestine plans. 

Guy Manos, a skydiver with over 8,000 jumps, according to the actors, has come up with some outstanding exercises for the skydiving crews. Co-author of the story, Manos presents some aerial action never seen before on the screen. 

The audiences response at the conclusion of the film's preview was very enthusiastic. They could only marvel not only at the photography but the artistry of the crews who were hurdling through the air, sometimes at 200 miles an hour. 

Busey and Jeter were experienced skydivers but Butler skydived for the first time to prepare for the role. Ironically, in the film, Jeter has to play a person who is terribly afraid of skydiving. 

Manos describes skydiving as one of the most dangerous sports undertaken by people. "The two fastest football players in the world running at full speed at each other would hit a combined speed of about 28 miles per hour. Sky divers would collide at almost 100 miles per hour. Although the space seems vast, stunt skydivers are in danger of crashing accidentally, being knocked out by each other and then "Burning in" - hitting the ground. 

The stunts demanded for "Drop Zone" required the hiring of a large team of professional skydivers, each having the experience of thousands of jumps in competition. In fact, according to John Badham, the director, the extras in the July 4th drop zone scenes were all skydivers. 

Locations for the movie were Los Angeles, Miami, Key West and Key Largo. Skydivers like Florida because of the year-long ideal weather.