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

Tom Cruise turned down the role of Billy Covington.

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Goofs

Whilst flying the helicopter prior to, during and after rescuing Billy from the airstrip 'Tango 7', the yellow paint on the interior framing of the cockpit door to Ryack's right appears and disappears from shot to shot.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in FOX 25th Anniversary Special (2012)

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Soundtracks

"California Dreamin'"
written by John Phillips and Michelle Gillian
Performed by The Mamas and the Papas

User Reviews

A fun, leave-your-brains-at-the-door movie

I regard this as a classic war movie! It's fun, good acting, more fun, and factually correct, well up to a point of course! What I like about it, and what I feel makes it original, is that not many films were made about Laos, and also its a cheerful take on war, pretty original for that too I'd say. A good movie i could watch again and again. Excellent music too! 5/5 stars.