The flying eye

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Movie
German title The flying eye
Original title Blue Thunder
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1983
length 109 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director John Badham
script Dan O'Bannon ,
Don Jakoby
production Gordon Carroll
music Arthur B. Rubinstein
camera John A. Alonzo
cut Frank Morriss ,
Edward M. Abroms
occupation

The flying eye (original title: Blue Thunder ) is an American action film that John Badham shot in 1983 for Columbia Pictures . An offshoot of the film was the television series The Flying Eye by ABC . The film with Roy Scheider in the leading role opened in theaters in the Federal Republic of Germany on February 5, 1983 and was released before the start in the United States on May 13, 1983.

action

Officer Frank Murphy is a Vietnam War veteran , part of the Los Angeles Police Department's helicopter squadron and is known to be an excellent pilot. He and his partner, the young police officer Lymangood, are selected as the crew for the new super helicopter "Blue Thunder", which is supposed to secure the airspace over Los Angeles and represent a new quality in the fight against crime. Counter-terrorism in connection with the 1984 Olympic Games is cited as one of the reasons for improving security . Blue Thunder, nicknamed The Flying Eye , is equipped with highly sensitive directional microphones , various camera systems and a six-barreled 20-millimeter Gatling cannon . Also involved in the project is the unscrupulous Colonel F. E. Cochrane, whom Murphy knows from the time of the Vietnam War. Both are enemies, and Cochrane advises immediately to depose Murphy.

Murphy had investigated the murder of a politician a few days earlier without the knowledge of his superiors. She was killed in an alleged robbery, but there is some evidence that she was on the trail of a political conspiracy. Cochrane sabotages Murphys and Lymangoods helicopter, almost killing them.

During a later routine flight with Blue Thunder , Murphy and Lymangood test the helicopter's monitoring functions and accidentally record a conversation between Cochrane and high-ranking politicians. They want to stir up riots in LA's immigrant district and thus give themselves the opportunity to demonstrate Blue Thunders skills under "real conditions". Cochrane notices the eavesdropping action, whereupon the two officers get caught in the crosshairs themselves. Lymangood hides the videotape and is murdered. Murphy kidnaps Blue Thunder. With the help of his girlfriend Kate, he succeeds in handing the videotape over to Mario Machado on a television station , who brings the conspiracy to the public. A henchman tries to shoot Kate in the building of the television station.

Murphy is first attacked by two helicopters belonging to his own police force, both of which he incapacitates. Then the mayor agrees to the use of two F-16 fighter jets of the US Air Force to. Their mission also ends in a fiasco, and the mayor breaks off the action. Col. Cochrane - who, contrary to the orders of the mayor, controls a combat helicopter without a release, now intervenes in the action. After a showdown that Col. Cochrane does not survive, Murphy destroys the miracle helicopter while the conspirators are arrested.

Idea for the film

According to the scriptwriters Dan O'Bannon ( Alien ) and Don Jakoby, the idea for “Blue Thunder” came to them when they lived in an apartment in Los Angeles and constantly heard the aircraft noise of helicopters. So the two develop a script that should deal with the dangers of total surveillance (" Big Brother ") and the military armament of a police agency. With the technical support of the Los Angeles Police Department, this script was further developed and finally the material was filmed under the auspices of Columbia.

Trivia

A replica of the Blue Thunder is part of the studio tour from Disney's Hollywood Studios, Florida
  • The film is dedicated to Warren Oates , who died of a heart attack shortly after filming.
  • The abbreviation JAFO on Lymangood's hat stands in the original for Just Another Fucking Observer , in the German translation Young ass flies, Oh God .
  • Sound clips from the film are used in the short film Murphy .
  • In the first episode of MacGyver , MacGyver is brought to the scene with Blue Thunder.
  • To test his concentration, Murphy uses the countdown function of his watch several times. The clock used in the countdowns is a Casio AA-85.
  • Both helicopter prototypes were used in the ABC series "America" ​​as Russian attack helicopters (together with two modified Alouette II) in a scene in which the population is panicked by low-level attacks. For this purpose, the cameras originally on the right and left of the fuselage were replaced by stub wings with rocket launchers, and the machines were painted black and given red Cyrillic characters.
  • Officer Frank Murphy drove a 1981 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Turbo , contrary to what was stated in the film.
  • In 1987 the computer game of the same name for Action Max was released on VHS with scenes from the film.

technology

In the film and the series, Blue Thunder is a high-tech weapon with the ability to record even quiet noises at great distances, to record or sight people through walls using a thermal imaging camera and to fly almost silently thanks to the "whisper mode".

In fact, the helicopter is just a heavily modified Aérospatiale Gazelle . The Gatling cannon used is so heavy that the light Gazelle had to be equipped with a counterweight in the rear fuselage; otherwise normal flight operations would have been almost impossible. The fuselage shell, which is bulletproof in the film, consists of light sheet metal and plastic sheets, as otherwise the helicopter would have become too heavy.

Two copies of Blue Thunder were built for the film, one served as a replacement. In addition, a flightless dummy was built for close-ups of the actors. Blue Thunder actually had a flight license from the highest US aviation authority, the FAA , since without this license no license would have been granted for the flight scenes over Los Angeles. The dummy went to the Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios in Florida and was part of a tour there until 2009, the actual helicopters were sold to a company in New Mexico . There one was converted for another film, dismantled after filming and, like the second copy, sold on in individual parts. Blue Thunder made a small guest appearance in the pilot episode of MacGyver ("Explosion underground").

The design later served as a template for toy helicopters ("Mission Helicopter", model no. 153 and 330) from Matchbox , but without any further reference to Blue Thunder.

Cochrane flies a Hughes OH-6 attack helicopter, the military variant of the civilian Hughes MD500 , in showdown .

reception

criticism

The film received mostly positive reviews, earning an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 19 reviews.

“The flying eye” circles rapidly and with insane action around a high-tech trauma of our time: the total surveillance state, in which conversations can be listened to through walls and images can be seen through walls using thermographic devices. Entertainment professional John Badham invested six million dollars in the development of a modern, agile helicopter - only to sacrifice it in a spectacular showdown: a freight train flattens the 'Blue Thunder'. Incidentally, the idea of ​​' Alien ' author Dan O'Bannon met a tragic fate: It was muddled into cheap TV series: 'Blue Thunder' ('84) and ' Airwolf ' (1984–86). "

- TV movie

Awards

Edward M. Abroms and Frank Morriss were nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Editing in 1984. The film was also nominated for the Saturn Award in the categories of “Best Science Fiction Film ” and “Best Actor” . Candy Clark , who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress , received the Saturn Award for portraying Murphy's friend Kate.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Watches in Movies: Blue Thunder (1983) In: watchesinmovies.info. (English).
  2. ↑ The flying eye at Rotten Tomatoes (English)