Falcon Down (2001)

U.S. Air force officer Hank Thomas attempts to expose a military cover-up after a civiian airliner crashes.

Director:

Phillip J. Roth

Writers:

Jonathan Raymond, Terri Neish (screenplay),

Stars:

Dale Midkiff, William Shatner, Judd Nelson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dale Midkiff	...	Captain Hank Thomas
William Shatner	...	Major Robert Carson
Judd Nelson	...	Harold Peters
Jennifer Rubin	...	Sharon Williams
Cliff Robertson	...	Buzz Thomas
Mark Kiely	...	Roger the Rat
Dean Biasucci	...	Roth Jankins
Sandra Robinson	...	Barbara Edwards (as Sandra Fergeson)
Natasha Roth	...	Alisia Edwards
Allison Dunbar	...	Connie Eldridge
Que Kelly	...	Weapons Specialist
Donald Li	...	Captain Chow
William Zabka	...	Security Guard John
Bo Eason	...	Security Guard
Jeff Rank	...	Harmon Yaznah

Storyline

Three years after Hank Thomas was thrown out of the air force because his best friend was killed in a military experiment/exercise led by Major Carson who caused the crash of TWA flight 800, he is approached by a group of CIA agents led by Harold Peters and Sharon Williams and Carson. They tell him that a microwave beam weapon killed his friend and those on TWA flight 800 and has now been attached to a super-sonic fighter plane called the Flacon. The falcon project has just been canceled by the military and the company that built it plans to steal it from its base at Area 51 and then sell it to the Chinese for $10 billion and that they need Hank's help to steal the plane and fly it to Alaska to have it dismantled before the company steals it. Hank and the CIA agents are secretly parachuted into Area 51 and in a gun battle get to the Falcon's hanger and steal it. But soon the Air Force is in pursuit as the plane makes its way to Alaska and events make Hank realize that the four CIA ...

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Plot Keywords:

cia agent | military | mercenary | cover up | u.s. air force | 

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Genres:

Action | Thriller | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Cantonese

Release Date:

12 February 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

El secuestro del halcon

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Unified Film Organization (UFO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The design of the Falcon is very close to that of the U.S. Air Force experimental XB-70 Valkyrie supersonic bomber. The actual project was abandoned after the loss of one of the prototypes in an accident.

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Goofs

TWA flight 800 had "Trans World" on the side of the 747, not "Trans Global" as seen in the film.

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Connections

References First Blood (1982)

User Reviews

Not quite a barf...

Being a huge science fiction fan I picked this movie to balance out my wife's romantic comedy pick. Ironically, in spite of all the expectations of a terrible B grade movie, I was pleasantly surprised in some areas. OK, so there was a laughable storyline. Was this a blatant ripoff of that terrible 70's movie FIREFOX with Clint Eastwood? And if so, why would anybody choose to ripoff such a disaster to begin with? Dale Midkiff couldn't act his way out of a paperbag, much less this movie. The CGI special effects were embarrassingly bad and were barely a step above 1950's Buck Roger's flying saucers. BUT here's the good stuff. Judd Nelson is actually pretty good in this film. Maybe I'm so used to seeing him in his typical schoolboy role, but he really does a reasonable convincing job as the conspirator. And any opportunity to watch William Shatner is always good. The set design was surprisingly good for a movie that probably didn't have much for sets. A very interesting design for the flight deck, especially from an aircraft buff like myself. And a nice design for the aircraft itself, reminiscent of the old Valkyrie experimental airplanes that were mothballed by the airforce after a few disastrous test flights.