Stars: Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Malcolm McDowell, Candy Clark, Daniel Stern

Director: John Badham

Summary: The Blue Thunder helicopter is the most lethal flying weapon invented. With an infra-red camera and 20mm electric cannon at his fingertips, police pilot Frank Murphy comes face to face with the subversive action group THOR, which eliminates political undesirables.

The air above Los Angeles has become a battle ground in this explosive action thriller. Roy Scheider (JAWS) stars as Frank Murphy, a courageous and honorable Los Angeles police officer who is chosen to test run Blue Thunder, a high-tech experimental attack helicopter that comes complete with listening devices, camera lenses, and computer files. While flying Blue Thunder, Murphy and his partner, Lymangood (Daniel Stern) discover that the government intends on using the helicopter for corrupt crowd control and surveillance. The top-secret operation is being run by a sinister colonel (Malcolm McDowell), who will stop at nothing to keep the devious military conspiracy a secret. In an effort to expose the covert military operation Murphy decides to "borrow" Blue Thunder, flying against military and police aircrafts on a death-defying flight. Superb special effects and daredevil stunts combine with breathtaking cinematography to create a dizzying battle for justice.

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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 Powershumour, 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 Wargamesafter 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!

On the DVD: There are no special features here, except a trailer and filmographies. --Paul Tonks

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Original Theatrical Trailer, Filmographies
Subtitles:	Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Year:	1983
Release Date:	September 5, 2005
Runtime:	105 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C 823 717 2
Keywords:	Action, Blue, Thunder, General, Wide, Screen, Adventure
Genre:	Action/Adventure