Blink of an Eye (1992)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Sam Browning (Pare) is a soldier that trains with the Psychic Warfare Operations Unit. In other words, he's developing his psychic abilities that he may already have for the field of battle. When the wife of the Director of the C.I.A. has a dream in which her daughter, Kathryn (Lee) is being chased by terrorists, she tells her husband to do something about it. Working from this dream/tip, Alan Baker (Widerker of American Cyborg: Steel Warrior, 1993 and The Order, 2001 fame) contacts Sam Browning and tells him to go to Turkey, where Kathryn is doing volunteer work. Wary at first, Browning agrees and ends up shadowing Kathryn. Since the terrorists keep attempting to kidnap her, the unlikely pair have to go through many travails to try to avoid them or kill them, while attempting to leave the country alive. Will Browning's psychic powers play a central role in all of this? If you liked the Michael Pare-based stupidity (and we mean that lovingly) of Deadly Heroes (1993) and Killing Streets (1991), here's another one for you. Blink of an Eye is still much better than Warriors, however. But then again, so are most movies. It features Pare in a generic middle-eastern country setting, shooting terrorists. On a more positive note, because Sam Browning does go into some sort of psychic trance, the role is perfect for Pare because he can be as wooden as he wants to be. There are definitely some moments where he's very tree-like.The movie is oddly directed and has a strange rhythm. Even though it was his first film, this shouldn't be surprising as it was directed by Bob Misiorowski, the man behind the horrendous Derailed (2002). Sadly, we felt not enough was done with the "Psychic Soldier" concept. It's a good idea that went largely to waste. Just Michael Pare putting his fingers on his face wasn't enough to carry the idea. Plus there was no strong, central villain for him to fight. This is an easily avoidable problem, but still some action movies manage to screw this up. Another common pitfall this movie falls into was the fact that it slows way down before the climax. Unfortunately, points must be detracted for the lack of creativity for Pare's character and absence of a major antagonist. Blink Of An Eye could have been more than a machine gun shoot-em-up/Prerequisite Torture/guard tower fall/blow-up movie, but it doesn't rise above that.If that's your thing, fine, but this movie seems to be TRYING to rise above it. But we do always love seeing Michael Pare, and we also enjoy movies shot in Israel, so those were pluses. And, after all, some action goods are delivered. Of course, there's also the "Yay! Kid", one of our favorite characters in the movie. If you've seen it, you may remember him. If not, watch out for him.Blink Of An Eye makes too many missteps to warrant an enthusiastic recommendation, but it's relatively decent "Sunday Afternoon" viewing.

Michael Pare stars as Sam Browning a psychic soldier who protects the CIA director's daughter from terrorists trying to snatch her and hold her hostage at first the daughter (Janis Lee) is skeptical of the whole affair but when he rescues her and becomes blinded in battle, it is up to Pare to become the psychic one man army the movie promises. One of the things about Blink Of An Eye that I had seen a long time ago back on TV, is that it somehow has aged very well. The whole premise of middle eastern terrorists who have been used as bad guys in the late 80's and early 90's has a timeliness that never seems to change. One of the more curious things about Blink Of An Eye is just how non-flag waving it is during a time where the USA was treated as a righter than right angle against anyone who opposed us. Indeed with our American psychic hero is an Arab good guy fighting against the terrorists as well as an anti-Israel slant which shows the Israeli army willing to force America in a hostage situation to gain political ambitions. Blink Of An Eye is nothing more than an average action flick with a big body-count and a hero who steps up to save the day, however the most interesting factors is the beginning which has Pare and his Arab friend discussing the politics of the Middle East and US. It becomes almost fascinating enough to watch but due to the somewhat sluggish pace and the so-so story the movie rather becomes a flawed action flick with interesting elements.* * out of 4-(Fair)

Michael Pare stars as Sam Browning, a super soldier that may have psychic powers, which come in handy when he finds himself the only one able to defend a woman from terrorists in this interesting actioner which gets by, sheerly by the talent of Pare and a swift pace.Also the action sequences are very well put together and exciting to watch, even if they are somewhat derivative of Rambo, that's why Pare is such a big help, he can actually act and he makes a very convincing hero in what could've been just another undistinguished actioner. However to be fair some of it isn't all that successful, but in anycase this much better than what you'd expect from a straight to video actioner. Also some of the acting from the cast is rather dull.3/5 Matt Bronson

A potential politically motivated kidnapping in Turkey, with the intended victim being daughter to the National Director of the C.I.A., calls for extraordinary preventative measures. Therefore, when the intelligence agency chief's wife relates of foreboding nightmares involving the girl, Kathryn, the ace of the C.I.A.s "Psychic Operations Warfare Unit", Sam Browning ( Michael Paré), is called upon to ensure her safekeeping. Browning is, as revealed by the script, from a tradition of "Spirit Warriors" and possesses a proved wild talent of foresight. Nonetheless when, after his alerts to supervisors in a Kurdish refugee camp are scorned and the kidnapping occurs, his purpose is altered from giving warning to attempting a rescue of Kathryn. He frees her, over natural physical objections of her captors, and subsequently the largest portion of the work becomes a cartoonish affair, with Sam actually pausing during gun battles to perform as a seer, this while stunt performers take over the action under the guidance of stunt coordinator Ric Roman Waugh, who plays ably in a small rôle while leading his charges well, as he later does with his entire cast as director of the well-crafted James Caan/Matthew Modine suspense feature IN THE SHADOWS. Shot in Israel with a meagre budget, production values are poor throughout, with frequent flaws in continuity, such as when one severely injured character periodically disdains effects of an apparently self-cauterizing gunshot wound but, after all, one is not expected to dwell upon such shortcomings amid a spate of small unit engagements and exploits of derring-do. Occasionally the storyline shifts to two negotiating parties, one representing the kidnappers (of unidentified nationality), the other C.I.A. personnel, and there is a clever final twist scripted in for these conversationalists, but the object of the movie is to show action, and there is plenty of that, with a break now and then to allow for a patriotic soliloquy. An element of suspense is missing as there can be no question of the outcome, and one need not have prescience to realize it.