Watched Blue Thunder (1983) yesterday. Directed by John Badham (WarGames, Short Circuit etc.) and starring Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, Daniel Stern and Malcolm McDowell.
Scheider´s Pontiac Firebird
Scheider and Thunder
Scheider is solid as always and you just love to hate McDowell. It was also nice to see news reporter Mario Machado (Robocop) in this one.
Nice LA scenery, cool helicopter and a story that doesn´t take itself too seriously. The film was written by cult heroes Dan O´Bannon (Alien, The Return of the Living Dead etc.) and Don Jakoby (Lifeforce, Death Wish 3 etc.)
In 1984 there was ABC TV series based on the movie featuring the Blue Thunder helicopter. Eleven episodes were made before the series was cancelled.
[ 15. February 2012, 05:17: Message edited by: aTomiK ]
Posted by The Good Package (Member # 9492) on :
havent seen this one yet, but its on my to do list
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
I'm definitely a fan of "Blue Thunder," an excellent action film. The late, great Warren Oates is wonderful as Scheider's boss, and Candy Clark from "American Grafitti" is also cool and funny as the love interest.
Posted by JAY LEE (Member # 6345) on :
Saw this the other day on tv, it was a little slower than I remembered, but still a good flick!
Posted by Bernie_Lomax (Member # 8571) on :
I know I have seen this before. Back in the mid 90's I reckon. I can't remember a thing about it though.
The pics alone are enough to inspire me to watch this again.
I love Pontiacs though.
I had always been a fan of Trans Ams: then a few years back I was working at this high performance car place and this guy put the Kibosh on my thoughts of certain cars.
This guy knew his stuff though.
According to him:
Trans Ams are s..hit. He said they are considered as a joke in the whole American muscle car scene, but didn't get his opinion on a Firebird. He said I am much better of going for a Camaro.
Delorian: I always thought they would be kick a..ss but he said that are pieces of c..rap.
I have never seen one in real life personally but my mate swears he saw one the other day. It wasn't going 88 miles per hour though, and wasn't equipped with a flux capacitor.
Posted by Zombo (Member # 8405) on :
Bernie, the guy you talked to is right on...DeLorean's are pretty "eh" cars. Kind of an interesting design, but the power-to-weight ratio was not great, and it wasn't that fast (0-60 in about 10 sec).
"Blue Thunder," though...awesome movie! I've always been a Roy Scheider fan, and he gave the film some weight. Plus...Candy Clark! Who doesn't love Candy?
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Candy was very good. Funny, lively actress.
Posted by Bernie_Lomax (Member # 8571) on :
I am totally gonna get this. It looks rad.
Zombo: I am a fan of Scheider, but only really from Jaws.
I liked the brief part he played in Marathon Man too.
If a salesman showed a Delorean could do this in a test drive I would definitely buy it:
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
blue thunder was a superb movie,the late great roy scheider was always one of my favourite actors and john badham was a very underated director,i've not long ago purchased the blu ray of blue thunder and find it quite a noticeable step up in quality from my old dvd in both sound & picture. a great movie,worth getting on blu .
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
warrior, I would like to see the difference, especially the voyeur scenes Posted by kevdugp73 (Member # 5978) on :
I remember liking this as a kid and bought the DVd a while back, but no chance to watch it yet. I really like Roy Scheider...he'd make a good Uncle...or next door neighbor!
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
quote:Originally posted by aTomiK: Candy was very good. Funny, lively actress.
Love her. Very underrated, even beyond her signature role in "American Graffiti."
[ 10. May 2011, 05:36: Message edited by: Crash ]
Posted by the young warrior (Member # 9554) on :
atomik,if i get chance i'll put up some screen comparisons (blue thunder blu ray vs dvd) of the naked yoga scene! p.s i'm only kidding!
Posted by Bernie_Lomax (Member # 8571) on :
Tease!!
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
Roy Scheider is great (and often overlooked). John Badham is a solid Director. I used to like Blue Thunder, though it's a bit dated now. Good movie. I think the TV series tanked because Airwolf had beaten it to the punch. I can still recall the Blue Thunder v Airwolf debates at school. Airwolf won, of course.
quote:Trans Ams are s..hit. He said they are considered as a joke in the whole American muscle car scene, but didn't get his opinion on a Firebird. He said I am much better of going for a Camaro.
Well, speaking as a Brit, US muscle cars are generally regarded to be nothing but good-looking hogs with powerful engines and atrocious handling. I always thought that you bought one for the looks and then 'tweaked' it yourself over time.
quote:Delorian: I always thought they would be kick a..ss but he said that are pieces of c..rap.
They were never really intended to be kick-a$$ cars. They were more of an executive car.
quote:Bernie, the guy you talked to is right on...DeLorean's are pretty "eh" cars. Kind of an interesting design, but the power-to-weight ratio was not great, and it wasn't that fast (0-60 in about 10 sec).
The Delorean factory was built from scratch and most of the workers were not professionals. Delorean had pre-orders on the cars which he had to fulfill, so they didn't have any time to iron out the kinks in production. The early run was sloppy, contained parts from other cars, and was in need of a major design overhauls. When the car came out the car was slammed for shoddy workmanship and constant problems and even though sales had been good, returns were high and orders dropped off quickly. The bitter irony is this; the last runs of the Delorean were the best cars they'd made, successfully fixing many of the issues from the earlier cars. The workers were also experienced by the end. When the factory shut down there were hundreds of unsold cars in rows outside - the best ones they ever made - and they sat there unwanted in the rain... not rusting.
Posted by Bernie_Lomax (Member # 8571) on :
Thanks for clearing that up Logan. After becoming a bit more educated about things I have decided to get A Ferrari.
"Could you maybe spare a little, ya know, extra cash?" - Eddie, Vacation.
Here's a nice clip to illustrate the difference between American and European cars. Logan, I think you'll like it, but no doubt be familiar with it.
Only neccesary to start the clip at 2:03
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Thanks for clearing that up Logan. After becoming a bit more educated about things I have decided to get A Ferrari.
I didn't want to sound hard on US muscle cars. They're totally impractical over here because of their size, the size of the roads, and the price of fuel. I really like the way they look, and if we had big wide roads over here I'd love a Trans-Am... or a Corvette... or a Dodge... or a... you get the point.
quote:Here's a nice clip to illustrate the difference between American and European cars. Logan, I think you'll like it, but no doubt be familiar with it.
I frigging love that intro! It always makes me feel good!
"Whaddya do when ya done it all? CANNONBALL!" Posted by Bernie_Lomax (Member # 8571) on :
The price of fuel in London is ridiculous but you would be oh so cool, cruising down Bayswater Road and snaking it through Hyde Park in a AC Cobra. The squirrels might not think so though.
The whole left hand drive thing would be a biatch too. Especially trying to overtake. You would have to swing the whole car over to see if it's safe to go around and by that time....hammer time.
Just seeing that Lamborghini take off really does it for me.
"From sea to shining sea."
"We just drive around looking for accidents."
Posted by Cowboy10uk (Member # 117) on :
Def a fan here, Recently purchased on Blu Ray, but sadly not had the time to sit down and watch it yet. Never thought a Gazelle Heli could look so mean, although from all reports it was a pig to fly with all the extras on.
If you like Aircraft and 80s movies then this is a must. Not too sure, but I think the series is even out on dvd as well. Although I have to ask the age old Question.
Blue Thunder or Airwolf.
Cowboy10uk
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Blue Thunder or Airwolf.
The movie tops both the series'. But Airwolf tops the BT series.
Posted by Nostalgic for the '80's (Member # 37454) on :
Recently re-watched "Blue Thunder". Incredible action film, and both Roy Scheider & Malcolm McDowell were amazing here. Also nice to see Candy Clark (American Graffiti).
The night-time scenes of the helicopter flying around L.A. were great; the action/battle scenes were amazing as well. Extremely well-done.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
Director John Badham had a heckuva year with both Blue Thunder, a spare, completely effective action film, and WarGames, another brilliant suspense film. No one will ever rank Badham as one of the greatest directors, but he was an underrated craftsman with the ability to make a wide variety of films in all genres during his career: these two, Saturday Night Fever, Whose Life is it Anyway?, Stakeout, Point of No Return, and Short Circuit, for example. I like him a lot.
Posted by Logan 5 (Member # 1467) on :
quote:Director John Badham had a heckuva year with both Blue Thunder, a spare, completely effective action film, and WarGames, another brilliant suspense film. No one will ever rank Badham as one of the greatest directors, but he was an underrated craftsman with the ability to make a wide variety of films in all genres during his career: these two, Saturday Night Fever, Whose Life is it Anyway?, Stakeout, Point of No Return, and Short Circuit, for example. I like him a lot.
Me too. He's that least cool of all things - 'dependable'. I like pretty much everything he's done and think all his movies are well excecuted. Almost nobody would ever list him as one of their favourite directors - which is a great shame, because just looking at the list of films you named above it's clear that he deserves better.
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