Blue Thunder (1983)

The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.

Director:

John Badham

Writers:

Dan O'Bannon, Don Jakoby,

Stars:

Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roy Scheider	...	Officer Frank Murphy
Warren Oates	...	Capt. Jack Braddock
Candy Clark	...	Kate
Daniel Stern	...	Officer Richard Lymangood
Paul Roebling	...	Icelan
David Sheiner	...	Fletcher
Joe Santos	...	Montoya
Malcolm McDowell	...	Col. F.E. Cochrane
Ed Bernard	...	Sgt. Short
Jason Bernard	...	Mayor
Mario Machado	...	Himself
James Murtaugh	...	Alf Hewitt
Pat McNamara	...	Matusek
Jack Murdock	...	Kress
Clifford A. Pellow	...	Allen (as Clifford Pellow)

Storyline

Blue Thunder is a specially modified helicopter. It is for police work, but is armed and designed to counter street insurgencies. Its makers want to show what it will do, but have to train Los Angeles Police pilot Frank Murphy to fly and use it in order to allow it to operate in the city. Murphy and the project pilot have differences going back to Vietnam. The conflict between them continues to heat up as Murphy begins to suspect that Blue Thunder is more than has been disclosed.

---

Plot Keywords:

police | helicopter | pilot | police helicopter | surveillance | 

---

Taglines:

He's Out There...

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Relámpago azul

Filming Locations:

876 South Main Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$42,300,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Rastar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After the original draft of the script was re-written, the character of Cochrane was added as a foil to Murphy and added the back story of Vietnam and their rivalry. Originally Bryan Brown was cast to play Cochran, but had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict with the mini-series, The Thorn Birds. Malcolm McDowell was cast at they very last minute and was not aware that he had to fly a helicopter as the Cochrane character has to in the film because of his fear of flying. Regardless of this he still took the role and did fly inside the helicopter.

---

Goofs

The frame is reversed during a brief overhead shot when second police car approaches the drive-in theatre; traffic is shown keeping left, and the cruiser passes a light-colored vehicle on its right, but in the striped median.

---

Quotes

[Murphy walks out to the pad]
Jack Braddock: Well Murph, feeling any pressure?
Frank Murphy: Yeah. About 15 pounds per square inch at sea level.

---

Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits after the title is shown.

---

Connections

Followed by Blue Thunder (1984)

User Reviews

FireFox Meet's AirWolf! Excellent Stuff!

'BLUE THUNDER' Is a cracking leave your brain behind entertainment that never let's up! 'Roy Scheider' Plays Frank Murphy,A former Vietnam Veteran,who is a helicopter pilot,for the Los Angeles police department,who becomes handpicked to pilot the eponymous 'blue thunder' which is a state of the art chopper designed for supreme law enforcement, Unfortunately for Murphy the test pilot behind this superb flying machine is Malcolm Mc Dowell,who also was on duty in Nam with Scheider, and serves as the film's all too English baddie! A young Daniel Stern, is a rookie who is assigned with Scheider, together the pair unravel a deadly conspiracy,involving said helicopter which climaxes with a superb aerial chase through the packed streets of Los Angeles,