Air America (1990)

A young pilot finds himself recruited into a covert and corrupt CIA airlift organization operating in Vietnam War Era Laos.

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers:

Christopher Robbins (book), John Eskow (screenplay),

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., Nancy Travis

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Gene
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Billy
Nancy Travis	...	Corinne Landreaux
Ken Jenkins	...	Major Donald Lemond
David Marshall Grant	...	Rob Diehl
Lane Smith	...	Senator Davenport
Art LaFleur	...	Jack Neely (as Art La Fleur)
Ned Eisenberg	...	Pirelli
Marshall Bell	...	O.V.
David Bowe	...	Saunders
Burt Kwouk	...	General Lu Soong
Tim Thomerson	...	Babo
Harvey Jason	...	Nino
Sinjai Plengpanit	...	Gene's Wife (as Sinjai Hongthai)
Natta Nantatanti	...	Gene's Daughter

Storyline

Air America was the CIA's private airline operating in Laos during the Vietnam War, running anything and everything from soldiers to foodstuffs for local villagers. After losing his pilot's license, Billy Covington is recruited into it, and ends up in the middle of a bunch of lunatic pilots, gun-running by his friend Gene Ryack, and opium smuggling by his own superiors.

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Plot Keywords:

pilot | cia | soldier | vietnam | vietnam war | 

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Taglines:

The Few. The Proud. The Totally Insane.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Lao

Release Date:

10 August 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Air America: locos por el peligro

Filming Locations:

Santa Ventura Studios, Ventura, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$31,053,601 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carolco Pictures, IndieProd Company Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "golden BB" that Jack Neely talks about is a slang term referring to a single rifle shot that is so well-placed it can bring down a plane or other aircraft. Such shot is demonstrated in the opening of the film.

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie while Nancy Travis (Corinne) is waiting to load the villagers she is wearing a white shirt with an OD over shirt unbuttoned. Once she is on the plane, only a minute later, she is wearing a tan colored shirt.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Richard Nixon: There are *no* American combat forces in Laos.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Radar Secret Service (1993)

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Soundtracks

"Come Fly With Me"
Written by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn
Performed by Frank Sinatra

User Reviews

An interesting little film...

... because, whilst it doesn't have anything overly outstanding about it, it manages to be very entertaining. Perhaps it's just because the pairing of Gibson and Downey, Jr. appeals to me. Whatever it is, I found the setup interesting, the comedy funny and the action nicely staged.

I'm tempted to say that its lukewarm reception was down to poor marketing, but I'm not sure that's true. Maybe I just have to accept that I quite like a movie that the majority think is bad.

I don't know what it is with Gibson and 'non-Lethal-Weapon' action comedies, but "Bird on a Wire" seems to be regarded as another commercial failure, and I enjoyed that one too. Time to take me off to the funny farm... ?