You won't be disappointed!

the audience applauded

Beautiful, moving film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER is a long-forgotten Vietnam War drama by CONAN THE BARBARIAN director John Milius. It's about a group of pilots flying bombing missions over the country, initially simply in the line of duty, but then things get personal. Yep, it's another film in the same 'flying' genre as many others like TOP GUN, STEALTH, and the like, and this one suffers from having slightly lacklustre action sequences but a decent cast to make up for it. Aside from the wooden Brad Johnson as the lead, we get treated to solid turns from the likes of Willem Dafoe and Danny Glover, alongside youthful appearances from Tom Sizemore, Ving Rhames, and David Schwimmer. It's not one of the director's best, but it keeps you watching all the same, even if it does go on a little too long.

"Flight of the Intruder" had the potential to be a very good war film, about the Vietnam War. It seems odd that the billing for the movie doesn't show it as a war movie, but as an action, thriller and drama film. The story is about war, the people involved and how it affects them. That is according to Stephen Coonts, author of the book by the same name. The story is fiction but it's based on his experience and nine years of U.S. Navy service, including two combat cruises as a Grumman A-6 Intruder pilot. When Coonts tried to get his book published, 30 publishers wouldn't even look at it. Four others rejected it and two others hadn't responded. Finally, the Naval Institute Arm (connected informally with the U.S. Naval Academy) published it. The Institute had a big success with the earlier publication of "The Hunt for Red October" that went on to be a smash hit movie. This book also became a big hit and was a best seller. Unfortunately, the movie didn't fare as well. Paramount hired John Millius to direct the film. He had a string of very good screenplays and films directed with war themes. Those included "Red Dawn" of 1984, screenplay and direction; screenplay for "Apocalypse Now" of 1979; writing and direction of "Farewell to the King" of 1989; and many more. Apparently, Paramount tried to run everything and kept interfering with the film. The result was a movie with plot holes, poor editing, scene changes, continuity goofs and other problems. The studio should have let Millius run the show – he had the track record to turn out very good films of this type. The critics noted the deficiencies and generally panned the film. It failed to recover its $30 million cost at the box office.Originally, Richard Gere was to play the part of Virgil Cole that finally went to Willem Dafoe. And, Millius had tried to get Richard Dreyfus for the role of the commander, Camparelli. Danny Glover wound up in that role. Dafoe is OK, but Glover just doesn't quite seem to fit. His acting, especially as the tough squadron leader, isn't really convincing. It seems forced or contrived. Maybe it's the persona of his character, Roger Murtaugh, from the "Lethal Weapon" films that sticks in one's mind. But, even with these flaws, "Flight of the Intruder" is better than the critics give credit. The film differs from the book in some places, but it is a realistic portrayal of Navy service during the Vietnam War. The flying scenes are very good, the shipboard scenes at sea are nice and the film has considerable action. The movie was filmed in Hawaii with full U.S. Navy cooperation. Here are a couple humorous lines from the filmLt. Commander Mad Jack "Doc" is flying to Subic Bay as a passenger with Lt. Sammy Lundeen. A crew member instructs him on ejection. Doc, "Do I say roger or…. just do it or what?" Sammy Lundeen, "You even say 'huh,' you'll be talking to yourself… 'cause I'll be gone."Sammy Lundeen, "Here, Doc, take some oxygen." Doc, "Keep your hands on the wheel."

I found the movie interesting. It is probably loosely based on the exploits of Lyle Bull and Charles Hunter who on 30 October 1967 flew a solo flight over Hanoi and received the Navy Cross. Here is part of the citation for Bull: Lieutenant Bull assisted in the planning and execution of an extremely dangerous, single-plane, night, radar bombing attack on the strategically located and heavily defended Hanoi railroad ferry slip in North Vietnam. Although the entire Hanoi defensive effort was concentrated upon his lone bomber, he flawlessly assisted his pilot in navigating the aircraft to the target area and commencing an attack. Seconds before bomb release, six enemy surface-to-air missiles were observed to be tracking on his plane. Undaunted by this threat to his personal safety, Lieutenant Bull assisted his pilot in taking swift and effective action to avoid the missiles and complete the attack, releasing all weapons in the target area with extreme accuracy. After release, four more missiles were fired at his aircraft in addition to the intense anti-aircraft-artillery fire.

I don't know why this film gets such rave reviews. I went into it with no expectations other than to enjoy it. I wasn't expecting Top Gun, and fortunately I didn't get that. I didn't get much enjoyment, either.Actually, I did have some expectations, because it has Willem Dafoe and Rosanna Arquette in the cast, so how could it be bad? It could be bad because of over-the-top direction and screenplay, that's how. This is easily the worst performance by Dafoe I've ever seen. So he must have been acting according to directions. Arquette was just wasted. She should have said "no".So, imho, this film was ruined by being eye-rollingly corny, which appears to be what a lot of people want, and they identify it as "realism". To me, realism is the sort of thing we got in "Behind Enemy Lines", which is a textbook example of how to make a film of this genre. See Top Gun again instead. It's shallow, but at least it's entertaining.