A very bleak and cynical 70's all-star cast suspense thriller about a crazed motiveless sniper who for no rationale reason decides to blow away a bunch of spectators in a crowded stadium during a football game. It's up to ramrod police chief Charlton Heston, assisted by coldly efficient SWAT team commander John Cassavetes and antsy stadium manager Martin Balsam, to stop the mysterious lunatic before it's too late. Among the many folks in jeopardy are Beau Bridges as an unemployed dad who's trying to show his wife Pamela Bellwood and kids a good time, David Janssen and Gena Rowlands as a pair of middle-aged lovers, Jon Korkes as a pathetic jerk whose date with the lovely Marilyn Hassett goes disastrously awry, Mitchell Ryan as a gentle priest, Walter Pigeon as an elderly pickpocket, and Jack Klugman as a hapless compulsive gambler who's bet what little money he has left on the big game.

Director Larry Peerce relates the tightly streamlined plot in a fiercely stark and unsentimental manner, artfully using subjective camera-work, long lenses, and high angle shots to stoke the gut-wrenching tension to a nerve-jangling fever pitch. The set-up of said suspense tends to be a bit laborious at times and the background exposition on the many secondary characters is likewise a tad extraneous (and even a bit tedious, too),but the final climactic eruption of raw violence and sheer pandemonium (the crowd explodes in a frenzied blind panic when the sniper starts shooting them) is both gripping and disturbing in comparable measure. But what really gives this film an extra unnerving edge is its bitter cynicism and surprisingly upfront amorality, especially when it comes to the frequently brutish tactics used by Cassavetes to nail the sniper. The scene where Cassavetes gives an innocent spectator a severe beat-down and doesn't even apologize to the poor guy after-wards is particularly unpleasant and upsetting. This guy is the iron lung of law enforcement who's portrayed with a wired intensity and seething psychosis by Cassevetes that's genuinely frightening to behold. Whether intended or not, it's this nice nihilistic blurring the line between the cops and the sniper which in turn makes "Two-Minute Warning" a distinctly 70's kind of gritty and absorbing dead serious thriller.

Hollywood was responsible for making a series of excellent disaster and thriller films throughout the 1970s, and TWO-MINUTE WARNING is such a film. It's superficially similar to ROLLERCOASTER and BLACK SUNDAY but different enough to work; it's a real slow-burner of a movie that builds up and up to a climax which is one of the most electrifying I've ever seen put on a film. For the majority of the running time the viewer engages in a fun game of Russian Roulette with a seasoned cast including the likes of David Janssen, Walter Pidgeon, Beau Bridges, and even Mitchell Ryan (of DARK SHADOWS fame). Jack Klugman shines as a small-time gambler while Charlton Heston does the usual hard-man persona that he did so well and John Cassavetes pops up as a SWAT member. The film's direction is excellent, introducing the antagonist in the first scene in some HALLOWEEN-style POV shots and keeping the suspense simmering along perfectly. The last twenty minutes offers incredible violence, edge-of-the-seat shocks, and some perfectly captured chaos that made this into an instant favourite.

A psychotic sniper plans a massive killing spree in a Los Angeles football stadium during a major championship game. The police, led by Captain Peter Holly (Charlton Heston) and SWAT commander Sergeant Button (John Cassavetes),learn of the plot and rush to the scene.

This film probably maintains a level of popularity (if it has one) due to its cast, as the film itself is largely forgotten. But it should not be, as it takes the threat of a sniper (much like with Dirty Harry) and puts him into a crowded, confined area:a football stadium. Security today may never allow such things to happen, but the thought is scary.

There is plenty of action, but even more suspense. And that is what makes it more than just an action film. Who will be targeted? What is the sniper's motive? So much unknown.