Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

So we all know Clint for his westerns, but you should also know him for his political thrillers. 'Firefox' was one of his first political thrillers in the midst of some tough cop/crime action flicks and stupid crap involving an orangutan. Naturally it was based on a novel of the same name which I've never heard of or read, so I am unable to compare the two.The plot: Put simply, Major Mitchell Gant (Clint) is a Nam veteran who can fly anything and can also speak Russian (thanks to his Russian mother). He is brought back into action on a joint Anglo-American mission to steal a highly advanced Russian jet fighter (code name Firefox) which can hit mach 6, is invisible to radar, and can fire missiles controlled by the pilots mind. He is dropped into Russia undercover. He must reach and secure the jet fighter with the help of Russian dissidents. However, the KGB are aware of his presence and are hot on his heels. Yep, its a fictional cold war thriller.The film is kinda split into two halves really, the first part follows Gant as he enters the Soviet Union, meets up with Soviet dissidents, and moves from place to place trying to stay one step ahead of the KGB. The second part follows Gant piloting the Firefox jet as he tries to evade Russian attempts to bring him down whilst trying to flee Russian airspace.For the most part the first half of the film in Russia is slow moving but with solid tension. The film wasn't actually shot in Russia due to actual American-Russian cold war unease so Austria stood in for locations. This is made abundantly clear in a shot showing Gant walking past Red Square in Moscow; its a horrendously obvious and amusing bluescreen shot. It is also kinda amusing watching Clint in this role because if anyone stood out from the crowd as a possible US spy in Moscow, it would be Gant. The man is clearly on the ropes every time he speaks to an official. He's twitchy, sweating, his eyes are darting about the place, he just looks worried. Its so stupid how no Russian official ever pulls him in for further questioning.I can't deny it is quite exciting to watch Gant evade the KGB one scene after another. The sequence where Gant is trying to leave a subway station quickly before a killed guard is discovered is very good. The Russian dissidents were slightly over the top though I thought, a bit too gruff and merciless, but well acted. They also came across as too obvious for my liking, basically everyone looks so damn guilty in this film. At times it did feel like you were watching a film set in Nazi Germany, but I'm assuming its relatively accurate for the period. Seems very odd that people had to show their ID papers constantly, almost everywhere, but hey it was effective.I do think the film would have been even more effective if all Russian characters had spoken in Russian with English subs, ditto for the Americans. Although listening to Clint speak Russian did sound rather off, an understandably difficult task. I'm still not entirely sure if Gant was supposed to be talking Russian (when speaking English) when communicating with various Russian dissidents at certain points in the film. Don't think so but its possible.The second half of the movie sees Gant stealing the Firefox jet from within a Bond-esque Russian military base complete with white coat scientists who get brutally gunned down after exposing themselves as dissidents. The whole sequence isn't quite as thrilling as Bond but instead quite dark and sobering. The jet itself is a very impressive full scale model which looks a bit like the Lockheed Blackbird aircraft. Whilst the air suit Gant wears is a very cool sexy and futuristic all black affair with slick helmet and visor. All the interior cockpit shots and sequences do look very authentic and of course very cool. The constant light and cloud reflections zipping off Gant's visor (along with the cockpit interior) does sell the illusion perfectly.The exterior sequences for the aircraft (and dogfight sequence) were filmed using a new technique from John Dykstra called 'reverse bluescreen'. This essentially enabled the shiny black model aircraft to appear to be flying against clear blue skies and glimmering white snow without bluescreen leakage on the model. This does work but naturally things have moved on somewhat since 1982 so by today's standards it still all looks a bit hokey. Some shots do look good, the flyby effect on land and sea is quite nice as the jet zooms overhead. The odd model shot does look pretty sweet but in all honesty a lot of it looks very fake. The more elaborate the aerial manoeuvre, the more fake looking unfortunately.All in all this is definitely a movie of two halves (have I mentioned that?). The first half is a far more serious affair of infiltration and espionage. Its dark tense and engaging despite how simplistic it all is. On the other hand the second half becomes much more of an action movie with a more jingoistic vibe. Eastwood certainly seems to feel more at home when in the cockpit of an ultra cool armoured killing machine being an all American action hero (who somehow forgets about rear firing missiles despite being the best of the best). Yes in all honesty Eastwood probably wasn't the best choice for the main role here (I know he gave himself the role). He's as wooden as a very wrinkled narrow piece of wood and is clearly outdone by his Russian dissident costar (Warren Clarke), and pretty much all of the Russian military cast.A good solid reliable Eastwood film which ironically would probably have been much better if Eastwood wasn't in the leading role. He is easily the weakest element in his own movie.6.5/10

Don't expect outdated special effects - they are great! Just like with all the spy movies that I've seen, I have no idea what this one is about either, but I stay for the great action scenes, the hot actor and maybe some surprises along the way. And lo and behold, this movie doesn't let me down. The culmination is EVERYTHING! The flying scenes are better than Top Gun, released several years later. It's highly polished visual effects art.

I have made it a mission almost to see every single film the leading actor and director of this has ever done, and I heard about this one, with a title not to be confused with the web browser, directed by Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby). Basically a highly advanced Soviet fighter aircraft, MiG-31, NATO code name "Firefox", has been developed, it is capable of Mach 6 speed, it is invisible to radar, and carries weapons controlled by thought. The British have heard rumours of a plot being devised to steal the jet and use it as a first- strike weapon, former United States Air Force Major Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood), a Vietnam veteran and former POW, is brought in and given the mission to locate and steal the Firefox, and bring it back to friendly territory for analysis. The KGB has got wind of the operation and in pursuit of Gant, he only remains a step ahead of them because of sympathisers, he reaches the air base at Bilyarsk, where the Firefox prototype is under heavy guard, Dr. Pyotr Baranovich (Nigel Hawthorne), one of the scientists, informs Gant that there is a second prototype that must be destroyed. Gant knocks out Soviet pilot Lieutenant Colonel Voskov (Kai Wulff), who was assigned to take the first prototype on its maiden flight, scientists attempt to destroy the second prototype to give Gant the chance to suit up and start the first fighter, but the scientists are killed by the guards and do not destroy the second prototype, but Gant manages to escape the hangar and lifts off. Evading attempts from the Soviets to stop him, Gant barely reaches the Arctic and lands to refuel, he makes a rendezvous with a U.S. submarine, however his refusal to kill Voskov means the Soviet pilot flies the second prototype to seek and destroy him. Gant and Voskov engage in an air battle, Gant barely manages to fire one of the rearward missiles, he destroys Voskov's plane, and satisfied no other Soviet forces chasing him, Gant begins his flight to safety. Also starring Freddie Jones as Kenneth Aubrey, David Huffman as Captain Buckholz, Warren Clarke as Pavel Upenskoy, Ronald Lacey as Semelovsky, Kenneth Colley as Colonel Kontarsky, Klaus Löwitsch as General Vladimirov, Stefan Schnabel as First Secretary, Thomas Hill as General Brown, Clive Merrison as Major Lanyev and Dimitra Arliss as Natalia. Eastwood is okay playing the disillusioned flier and the only man to do the job of stealing the new Russian jet, some the supporting cast are alright, I agree with critics, as director Clint's heart doesn't seem to be fully in it, the flying and attack sequences in the fighter are the most decent moments, but overall it is a boring thriller. Adequate!

I recently reviewed The Dead Zone which, like this, is now 30 years old. I commented that it held up well despite its age. This one doesn't. The plot, if it wasn't ridiculous then, is ridiculous now.The Soviets have developed a revolutionary new jet fighter, called "Firefox." It travels at six times the speed of sound, is invisible to radar and controlled by the thoughts of the pilots. This worries the hell out of the US military as apparently it takes their pilots 2 to 3 seconds to send a message from brain to limb! They decide to send someone on a covert mission into the Soviet Union to steal Firefox. And they choose washed up ex-Vietnam vet Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood), a man with mental health issues and looking every bit the age Eastwood was at this time - 52. Why Gant? He speaks Russian, he knows how to fly and he fits the flight suit. Seriously.For the first hour, the score (by Maurice Jarre) is irritating when it does cut in, the fake Russian accents are laughable, the cinematography average, the acting generally poor and the pacing slow. Other than that it's OK.Once Gant gets to the plane however, the pace picks up. He is then forced to fly the plane to a re-fuelling spot in the Arctic where a US sub is waiting for him. Even though this plane is impossible to detect on radar, he still can't avoid all the other Soviet aircraft and ships. The dogfight with another Firefox in the final ten minutes is the best bit of the film but the effects involving these planes now look dated - like a model being dangled by a string.Visually the film looks at least 30 years past its sell-by date. Reminded me of Thunderbirds from the 1960s.If you're determined to see all Eastwood's work then you'll need to sit through this one. But for everyone else, don't.