Blue Thunder (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Blue Thunder (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Not Quite Thunder.
Summary: 3 Stars
The 1980's were an era that mass produced more... screwball comedies than ever before. It was also the era that movies filled with mega-violence were made and cloned more quickly than mulitpling mosquitoes.[I thought] one of these such films was BLUE THUNDER.BLUE THUNDER has all the elements of many of those violent 1980s films. The lead character is a Vietnam vet struggling with vivid flashbacks. He has a comical sidekick (in this case played by Daniel Sterns) who is murdered about halfway through the picture. The lead character ends up getting caught up in a plot that runs deeper than he originally imagined that ends up leading all the way to some secret government sector or plot. In the end the hero takes things into his own hands and goes on a rampage to get the bad guys and set things right and is cleared of all wrong doing, accused or actual.
Roy Scheider stars in the film as L.A.P.D. aero-division pilot Frank Murphy. Schneider does a decent job considered the material he was given. Besides one feels an immediate kinship to anything Scheider acts in; this is the guy that killed Jaws. His sidekick in the film is a young Daniel Sterns (before he gained fame with "The Wonder Years" and HOME ALONE) and he does a good job playing the greenhorn.
However, neither Scheider or Sterns is the star of this movie. They are both second billing to a super-duper armed police helicopter called (you guessed it), BLUE THUNDER. You see Blue Thunder was created by the government to keep us rebellious citizens in line and to protect people at the 1984 Olympic Games in L.A. However, some really evil guys planned to use the machine for alternative purposes to help "keep order" (hint, hint). This chopter has armor, can sense heat, shoots a lot of bullets really fast, and can hear and see through walls. She's the star.
Overall, the movie's not all that good or bad. The movie starts off slow but picks up after the first half hour racing steam until the exploding, yet let down of a conclusion.
Movie Review: He wore Blue Thunder
Summary: 3 Stars
Have you ever wondered what life would be like if...it was the future? All books were burned? Aliens invaded? Then you've probably turned to sci-fi to live out your dystopian (or utopian) fantasies. So in the never-ending quest for the right drug, take the blue pill. Blue Thunder, that is. Blue Thunder explores all possible options for expostion. Such a revisionist history usually attempts to redefine science fiction in film-specific terms, opting variously for epistemologically based or image-based criteria instead of the source-based or narrative-based assumptions that have so far shaped most discussions of SF film. Not so with Ol' Blue Thunder. Central to the genius of this film is the reconsideration of the question of whether cinemato graphic aspects of film production could themselves mark film as science fictional or provide in themselves phenomena worthy of consideration by the SF community--the spectacle of production technology deserving and rewarding our attention just as surely as do narratives about the impact of technology. And the SF community would have a lot better things to talk about than cinemato graphic aspects if they did the wild thing more often, instead of drooling over Captain Kirk's tush in Star Trek! The fleeting colaboration of brilliant thespian (Rob Schneider) and brilliant director (John Badham), combined with the building blocks of life known as craft service (oh yeah, and let's not forget the writers!) made one tour de force without the tour or the force, so I guess this film is just made of "de" (get it?) So what are you doing still reading this review? Go out and rent it!Movie Review: Blue Thunder: One Well-Oiled Machine
Summary: 4 Stars
"Blue Thunder" is about as perfect as a B-grade thriller can get. It has all the right clich?s: the tortured Vietnam vet, the inexperienced sidekick, the grumpy boss, the slimy and smart villain. And, of course, there's the "MacGuffin", an old Alfred Hitchcock term for a particular object in a movie that everyone pursues. In this case, the MacGuffin is a prototype helicopter, presumably being loaned to the LAPD to head off potential terrorist [movements] during the Olympic Games (this movie was made in 1983, a year before the games in Los Angeles. At one point in the film, a police dispatcher describes a robbery suspect as a "male negro". Gives you sort of an idea of how long ago 1983 really was). Murphy (Roy Scheider) is an LAPD helicopter pilot suffering from a pesky case of post-traumatic-stress disorder. His delicate psychological condition has Murphy one step away from forced retirement, and nobody really wants to fly with him. Luckily, his new partner, Lymangood (Daniel Stern), is too young and naive to know about Murphy's problems. He clearly experienced some pretty horrible things over in the Nam, and one night, while attempting to rescue a city councilwoman from two thugs, he has a flashback to when he witnessed the murder of an enemy soldier.
Later, after the councilwoman dies from her injuries, Murphy suspects that her murder wasn't the result of a crude rape attempt, as the brass are trying to imply. It may have something to do with the new police helicopter they're trying out. Blue Thunder is essentially a tank with propellers. It's heavily armored and has a wicked-looking machine gun mounted on the nose. It also has surveillance equipment that can "see" people through walls via their body heat and hear any words that are spoken above a bedroom murmur. The technology, particularly the computer gear, seem archaic nowadays, of course, but it looked pretty impressive back in the days of New Wave and the Evil Empire.
Murphy has his misgivings about the chopper, particularly when, during a demonstration, it mows down not only a bunch of cardboard dummies representing terrorists but a few of the ones that represent innocent bystanders.
"One [dead] civilian for every ten terrorists is an acceptable ratio," one of the shady government men manages to tell Murphy with a straight face.
"Not if you're the civilian," Murphy responds.
Another federal rep involved in the project is a pilot from Murphy's Vietnam days, a snobby British fellow named F.E. Cochran (Malcom McDowell). Try to figure out what those initials stand for. There is no love lost between these two.
While taking the chopper on a test ride, Murphy and Lymangood inadvertently record Cochran and his associates discussing their real motives behind the Blue Thunder project, which may include killing Murphy. What follows is a mad dash for the incriminating tape; Murphy hijacks the copter and enlists the aid of his girlfriend, Kate (who is possibly the most reckless driver in movie history) to get the info to the public. Director John Badham deftly handles a great climax in which Cochran and Murphy chase each other in the L.A. skies. My personal favorite moment is a comical sequence involving heat-seeking missiles and a barbecue chicken shack. Nearly the entire film is shot with a hand-held camera, giving it a rough, documentarian feel that I liked a lot.
The cast is pretty much top drawer, but the late great Warren Oates steals the whole picture as Murphy's commander, Captain Braddock. Oates continually spews venom and offers paternal advice to Murphy, occasionally doing both at the same time. He also gets all the best one-liners. My favorite:
Shady government guy: "Did you know Murphy checks his sanity with a wristwatch?"
Braddock: "What do you check yours with, a dipstick?"
Badham has a few good movies under his belt ("Saturday Night Fever", "Stakeout") and quite a few bad ones ("Point of No Return", "Short Circuit"). "Blue Thunder" is basic good Badham: it's no classic, but it gets the job done.
Movie Review: Blue Thunder
Summary: 4 Stars
Blue Thunder is a good film. Not great, but good. It's biggest boost comes from actors Roy Scheider (Jaws) and the late Warren Oats (The Wild Bunch, Stripes). Warren Oats gives his captain role enough witty sarcasm to make other actors in kind take note. This was his last film performance. If your a fan of either actor that of it's self is reason to own the film. The Arthur Rubinstein music score also helps give the film a pulse (note: to give the music a haunting effect, Rubinstein placed a microphone in a water cooler bottle and set it underneath a Grand Piano while recording some tracks). As for the story, it tends to lose the pace of the film at a point but that pales in comparison to other, more obvious flaws. Things like a boom mic in a shot, or continuity mistakes like that found in Lymangood's death (note: watch his hands).
The herald of Blue Thunder coming forward with the Pinkville sunrise in the background is just as menacing now as it was for a certain nineteen year old who saw it in '82. The climactic duel between Murphy and Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell) is also one of the films best moments even if it was imposible. There are little features to be had on this DVD, this might hurt any must-have-it-all collectors like myself, but for me one reason was all I needed to purchase Blue Thunder, ...memories.
Movie Review: Top Gun meets the X-Files
Summary: 4 Stars
"Blue Thunder" is an experimental helicopter designed to be prevent or otherwise deal with any terrorist situation. With its armor plating and rotary cannon, Blue Thunder (a converted Gazelle Helicopter) is no mere observer helicopter. Also equipped with an array of sensors and a computer that can hack into anyting, and an engine silencer and its pilot can sneak the chopper's awesome firepower right up to the enemy before being spotted.Roy Scheider is Murphy, a police pilot and shell-shocked Viet Nam vet, is given the task of field-testing the new chopper in hopes of getting it in service for the LA Olympics (this movie is circa 1982). Never one to go by the book, and with the help of fellow flyer Lymangood (Dan Stern), Murphy takes the super-chopper on an unauthorized jaunt and discovers the dark secret of Blue Thunder's purpose, uncovering proof of a massive conspiracy to turn LA into a police state governed by a fleet of gunships. When the conspirators - who include a sinister pilot (Malcom McDowell) who was also Murphy's Commander in Vietnam - realize they face exposure, they kill Lyman and set their sites on Murphy. Driven to desperation, Murphy hijacks the machine, stalling for time until his girlfriend (Candy Clarke) can find the proof that Lyman left behind revealing the truth about Blue Thunder. The police and the military pull out every stop to bring Murphy down - missiles, fighters and other choppers. Murphy's solutions are pretty inventive, but you know that these are only previews for the big one - the major dogfight between Scheider and Macdowell over the streets of LA.
Blue Thunder is actually pretty smart, obscured though by how much fun it is. The first half, before we see the super-copter show its moves, is wonderfully paranoid, with an eerie electronic score and wonderfully spastic camera movements (now ruined in countless episodes of NYPD Blue). Schieder and Stern develope this great dialog (mostly ad-libbed) that keeps things flowing, Macdowell is great as the evil Colonel and Warren Oates - though underused - is also excellent as Scheider's boss. The flight-scenes are incredibly choreographed and have yet to be surpassed (after nearly 20 years!?!?).
All in all, a great flick.