Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Firefox (1982)

Clint Eastwood put down his guns and became an ace fighter pilot who steals a state of the art Soviet fighter plane controlled by the pilot's thoughts for this movie.

As director, he had a choice of what to film and who to cast so Firefox was his idea.  Incidentally, I just saw a poll asking which was the greater actor, John Wayne or Clint Eastwood.  The numbers were running about 2 to 1 in favor of Clint.  I could believe the voters were probably of the younger generation because Clint on his best day could only reach a pale comparison of John Wayne on an average day. But those who have never seen Wayne would not know that.  So there is some advantage to being older after all.

Clint has blossomed into a pretty good director through the years, except he doesn't know what to leave out; but to be fair, that seems to be a common failing nowadays with films running a half hour to 45 minutes longer than necessary to adequately tell their story. The one thing they probably learn last, if ever, is editing and the director that could tell an excellent, gripping story in an hour and 20 minutes is almost a thing of the past - more's the pity because movies are improved most when the director knows what to leave out.  So, in case you were wondering, the thing I miss most in my movie watching today is the story telling. Some of the old directors like Howard Hawks, John Ford, John Huston, and Orson Welles had such good ability to show what they were driving at without endless footage of only remotely related stuff.   Peckinpah was probably the last of the old style movie directors who could package a film just right.

The story is fantasy that assumes the Soviets had developed a fighter plane that was light years ahead of anything the USA had - ha ha ha.  The MIG 31, Firefox had thought controlled weapons system, speed far above a speeding bullet, and was more powerful than a dozen locomotives and invisible to radar, too.  The USA had nothing like this so they decide to steal it.  The only problem was the only pilot they had that might be able to fly it was Clint, who was suffering from PTSD but he could think in Russian, essential to operate that thought-controlled bad boy.

Of course he had to sneak in there and steal it, avoiding all the undercover agents that infest the Soviet Union, but of course he does it and begins to fly the MIG back to friendly skies.  In the interim he keeps having flashbacks about that pesky Vietnam War and the horrors he saw and experienced there.  But of course he has to evade the pursuers who even have a Firefox of their own to try to shoot him down. The result is the first ever air to air combat between non existent Soviet super planes and you'll want to see that scene yourself, if you are a plane or sci fi fan.

The ending chase scene makes the build up endurable but afterwards you wonder if it was worth the time spent.  To me, the movie was quite slow moving up to the point when the Firefox was stolen and could have been cut down considerably.

The Warner DVD contains a color copy of the 136 minute movie in 2.35:1 theatrical format.  No extras are included.

This one is for Clint's fans only.

Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day