Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
John Badham
Cast:
Roy Scheider……….Officer Frank Murphy
Warren Oates……….Capt. Jack Braddock
Candy Clark……….Kate
Daniel Stern……….Officer Richard Lymangood
Paul Roebling……….Icelan
David Sheiner……….Fletcher
Joe Santos……….Montoya
Malcolm McDowell……….Col. F.E. Cochrane
Ed Bernard……….Sgt. Short
Jason Bernard……….Mayor
The Movie
Action movies in the 1980s are a guilty pleasure for any action movie fan. While action-oriented films were more serious and dark in the two decades before it, and a bit more playful in the two decades after, the 1980s featured a lot of things that the modern action movie couldn’t get away with. Shameless overacting, full frontal nudity for no apparent reason, synth pop, explosions to punctuate dialogue and Vietnam Vets having flashbacks and minor characters with the name “Alf” are only something a production between 1980 and 1989 could pull off without delving into self-parody.
Out of this vein comes Blue Thunder, an action thriller based in early 1980s Los Angeles. Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider) is a helicopter pilot allowed to use a new prototype helicopter bearing the film’s title as its own. Murphy is told that the chopper is to be used for military purposes. Paired with a rookie partner (Daniel Stern), Murphy is allowed to test the helicopter out over L.A. Thinking of it as a military experiment, he’s horrified to find out that it’s to be used for crowd control in a sort of bizarre rendition of Orwell’s “1984” with some spectacular chase scenes and helicopter gun battles that hold up 20 years later.
Blue Thunder is one of the many films that can be considered to be the embodiment of everything that 80s action movies are comprised of. With a synthesizer fueled score, the film has a plot that’s so over the top it’s almost beautiful in a way. The inclination now would be to play it almost as a farce or to not inject any sort of acting range to the dynamic of the film, emphasizing the action much more than the plot.
Blue Thunder takes the plot and makes it the central element of the film, playing it so serious that it’s amusing. It’s laughable at times, but the cast is taking this as seriously as a heart attack making it much more enjoyable than a bunch of actors mailing in their performances because of the sake of the material. This isn’t a high thriller or an attempt to grab an Academy Award, but its something to behold to see a cast of actors just throw themselves into the roles as if they were tackling Shakespeare.
The film’s action sequences are its bread and butter, though, and they are still quite good despite the advent of computer technology. While Top Gun would raise the bar in terms of how aerial dog-fighting would be shot and developed, Blue Thunder helped pave the way and its action sequences are still pretty good, if slightly dated.
It’s still a good action movie and worth watching, if only for its over the top nature and 80s style nudity.
Score : 6.5 / 10
The Video
Presented in a widescreen format with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the film has a solid transfer to DVD. The film isn’t grainy but the color isn’t very sharp but they are separated well enough to make it a good-looking film.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 format, the film sounds great. With the 80s style score and lots of gunfire, the film has a great audio track. The sound is separated nicely, with nice distinctions allowing the film’s audio to come through loud and clear.
The Extras
Ride With the Angels: The Making Of Blue Thunder is a three part featurette about the film, focusing on the pre-production, the actual production and the post production of the film. On the eve of 1984, with the famous book by George Orwell looming over people, the pre-production of getting the film made is pretty fascinating on a certain level. It’s interesting to hear them talk about developing the film and story in a much different era than today, where there would be much more of a reliance on CGI. They track the film from its production, which was tough considering they were in relatively new territory in terms of effects, as well as the film’s aftermath. Running around a combined 45 minutes, it’s fascinating to see how the film came to me from beginning to end.
“The Special”: Building Blue Thunder is a featurette focusing on the creative process of designing the helicopter. Nowadays they’d just animate the whole thing, but it’s very impressive to see how they crafted two helicopters in case of a screw up as well as the dynamics of trying to film it all.
1983 Promotional Featurette is an eight minute blast to the past, showing how promotional features have changed since 1983. With the advent of shorter promotional materials used today before films, it’s unique to see this as it’s definitely a relic of another era that gives away a lot of the key action sequences in a way that’s unfathomable by today’s standards. You just don’t see behind any film’s major action sequences unless its on DVD, so seeing them being put together on a promotional feature is something to behold.
Storyboard galleries of the three big main action sequences are included, as you get to see how they were designed and shot. It’s quite fascinating to see this then watch the film, as it gives you a distinct impression just exactly how they wanted everything to look and feel.
Commentary by director John Badham, editor Frank Morris and the motion control supervisor Hoyt Yeatman
Original Theatrical Trailer
Score : 8.5 / 10
