John Badham

Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, Malcolm Mcdowell, Daniel Stern

Opis:
Wybrany do testowania Błękitnego Gromu Frank Murphy (Scheider) nie kryje zdumienia poznając niezwykłe możliwości maszyny. Błękitny Grom może prześwietlać ściany, nagrywać rozmowy prowadzone szeptem i równać z ziemią całe budynki. Murphy nie ufa zwierzchnikom i wraz ze swym partnerem Lymangoonem (Daniel Stern) odkrywa, że wojskowi chcą wykorzystywać supernowoczesny helikopter do inwigilowania zwykłych obywateli. Jego plany poznaje skorumpowany pułkownik Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell). Murphy porywa więc Błękitny Grom i wyzywa lotnictwo wojskowe podniebny pojedynek nad Los Angeles.

The early 1980s experienced a wave of technology fever, and it seemed like every machine wanted to be bionic. There was K.I.T.T. the car, Street Hawk the motorbike, Airwolf the helicopter, and Blue Thunder--which looked like the Mechano version of Airwolf. In what seems a moment of Austin Powers humour, it's explained that this super chopper cost "five million dollars"! Its supposed reason for being is aerial crowd control, but as Murphy (Roy Scheider) discovers--when not suffering 'Nam flashbacks--there's a government plot to silence a Senator who's disgruntled with urban pacification standards. Director John Badham obviously loved fiddling about with technology--he directed Wargames after all--and here there are lingering shots of buttons and switches, multiple takes of turns in the air, and any excuse used for a bit of primitive computer imagery. The secondary characters quickly begin to seem like wallpaper: Daniel Stern's spunky co-pilot has but one plot device to execute, and Malcolm McDowell plays the same tired old Brit baddie he's played for years. Ultimately it's the protracted aerial battle finale (which played havoc with LA air traffic control) that stays with you. Oh, and a gratuitous cameo from a nude contortionist!