Blue Tornado (1991)

While experimenting with a new flight maneuver, Colonel Alex Long and Phil encounter a mysterious light over a mountain range. Phil becomes transfixed, flies into the light and disappears. ... See full summary »

Director:

Antonio Bido (as Tony B. Dobb)

Writers:

Gino Capone, Antonio Bido

Stars:

Dirk Benedict, Ted McGinley, Patsy Kensit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dirk Benedict	...	Alex Long
Ted McGinley	...	Philip
Patsy Kensit	...	Isabella
David Warner	...	Commander
Christopher Ahrens	...	(as Chris Ahrens)
Tony Allen
John Armstead
Eric Bassanesi	...	(as Eric Bass)
Robert Dawson
Jeff Blynn	...	Colonel
Todd Carter
Robert Daniels	...	Grecco
Martin Dansky	...	Radar control technician
Pascal Druant
Mark Gellard

Storyline

While experimenting with a new flight maneuver, Colonel Alex Long and Phil encounter a mysterious light over a mountain range. Phil becomes transfixed, flies into the light and disappears. Alex barely manages to come back and is in shock. The remains of Philip's plane are found later. As inquiries are made, Alex suggests that a UFO could have caused the light. The idea is quickly dismissed and Alex is then accused of having caused Phil to crash and making up the story about the light to cover up his mistake. Alex is temporarily grounded until further notice. Upon researching UFO's, he runs into Isabella, played by Patsy Kensit, who is also doing research on UFO's. She believes his story but no one else does. After the board is unable to prove Alex caused the crash, he can't seem to get the nerve to fly again. He's also outraged that his superiors want to drop the issue as if it never happened. His research with Isabella points to similar UFO sightings around the same mountain range. ...

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Plot Keywords:

ufo | model rocket | aviation | warplane | fighter pilot | 

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Taglines:

They Thought They Owned the Skies - But Death Was the Unseen Enemy

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1991 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Blue Tornado - Männer wie Stahl

Company Credits

Production Co:

Clemi Cinematografica, Titanus

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Solamente Bido (2002)

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Soundtracks

Keep On Living
Composed and performed by B 4 Fever

User Reviews

An English "Top Gun"

Another nice fighter pilot movie this time in England. It might be elsewhere, but all the english accents seem to point it to England. :) The film is credited to be from Italy. It has similar quirks to "Top Gun". Such as: the rock music, the fancy manuevering, and the enemy wearing dark helmets so you can't see their face. There's also shots of Dirk Benedict walking the airstrip with dark sunglasses and his flight jacket. It all starts with Dirk Benedict as Colonel Alex Long, a.k.a. Fireball. He is the "Maverick" type character that is kinda reckless and hates following orders. Dirk has the suave look, but he's no Tom Cruise. His partner, Philip, a.k.a. Thunderball, flies a separate airplane, (unlike Goose in Top Gun) loves the mountains, and has a family, of course, unlike our main character. After Philip is killed, Alex has to deal with Philip's family, and trying to get the nerve to fly again. Sound familiar? The strange thing is, there is no trace of Philip's body. The love section comes way too quick. One minute Alex meets Isabella in the library, and the next they're making out in an observatory. Hello? where is the verbal fencing that normally occurs between the two lead characters? Also there doesn't seem to be any other tension or conflict. No competeting pilots, no superiors that they butt heads with.

And the UFO concept is ok, but is slow to get going. Isabella's only role seems to be to support Alex's UFO theory, that's all. That and being his lover. And the only way to solve this problem is to hike up into the mountains to find out for himself? Seems like "Close Encounters" meets "Top Gun" I have a hard time seeing Benedict in anything else after seeing him in "The A-team" He lacks in this movie mainly due to the poor script writing. There's no growth for him, and the only things that drives him is to pursue the truth about the death of his friend. An ok movie, but not really worth it. The UFO concept is muddled and nothing is really put into it. I would say a 4.5 out of ten for me.