Con Air (1997)

Newly paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner transport plane when the passengers seize control.

Director:

Simon West

Writer:

Scott Rosenberg

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colm Meaney	...	Agent Duncan Malloy
Mykelti Williamson	...	'Baby-O' O'Dell
Nick Chinlund	...	William 'Billy Bedlam' Bedford
Renoly Santiago	...	Sally-Can't Dance (as Renoly)
John Malkovich	...	Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom
Ving Rhames	...	Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones
Dave Chappelle	...	'Pinball' Parker
Rachel Ticotin	...	Guard Sally Bishop
Steve Eastin	...	Guard Falzon
Steve Buscemi	...	Garland Greene - 'The Marietta Mangler'
Danny Trejo	...	Johnny-23
M.C. Gainey	...	Swamp Thing
Landry Allbright	...	Casey Poe
John Cusack	...	Agent Vince Larkin
Monica Potter	...	Tricia Poe

Storyline

Cameron Poe, a highly decorated Army Ranger, comes home to Alabama to his wife Tricia, only to run into a few drunken regulars at the bar where she works. Cameron accidentally kills one of the drunks, and is sent to a federal penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter for seven years. He becomes eligible for parole and can now go home to his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, Cameron has to share a prison airplane with some of the country's most dangerous criminals, who take control of the plane and are now planning to escape the country. Cameron has to find a way to stop them while playing along. Meanwhile, United States Marshal Vince Larkin is trying to help Cameron get free and stop the criminals, led by Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom.

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Plot Keywords:

airplane hijacking | usa | united states | convict | escape | 

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Taglines:

They were deadly on the ground. Now they have wings.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the trailer for this movie, the flying scene where the 2 AH-1 Cobras escort Jailbird 1 during their landing in the Las Vegas strip included the dialog "Where are they going to land this thing?" spoken by one of the Cobra pilots, and the response by John Cusack's character: "How about the blackjack tables". Neither dialog was included in the final cut.

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Goofs

Cameron Poe takes the photograph of his daughter back from Guard Falson. A while later, Cameron shakes him and demands the photograph. But he didn't really want the photograph; this was a cover for planting the tape.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Officer at Leaving Ceremony: Army Rangers have a proud history. Since the 1700s, Rangers have led the way in every major confrontation in which the United States has been involved. You men are a credit to that fine heritage, and I'm sorry to see you go. But you've served your country well, and you've displayed the ability to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete its mission, never leaving behind a fallen comrade no matter what the odds or the enemy. I thank you. America thanks you. And I wish you luck ...

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Alternate Versions

In the Finnish DVD version the death of Cyrus is slightly edited. The scene cuts away right before the rock-smashing weight hits his head.

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Connections

Referenced in Prozhektorperiskhilton: John Malkovich/Ingeborga Dapkunaite (2011)

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Soundtracks

Theme from A Summer Place
(Instrumental)
Written by Max Steiner
Performed by Percy Faith and His Orchestra
Conducted by Percy Faith (uncredited)
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

The ultimate guy movie!

Macho's in a non-stop action movie with lot's of explosions. This is ladies and gentlemen; the ultimate guy movie.

The movie is filled with crazy over the top characters such as Pinball, Johnny-23, The Marietta Mangler and Sally-can't-dance. It has some of the best casting in a movie I have ever seen. The actors are all simply perfect for their roles. Especially John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi are excellent as always and their characters are the best of the movie even though Buscemi's character wasn't really needed at all. The introduction of the prisoners at the beginning of the movie is completely over the top but I love it! It possibly is one of my favorite scene's in cinema history when we first meet Cyrus the Virus and Diamond Dog, the music really sets the mood in that scene.

Of course the story is not important, it's all about explosions, shootings, fist fights and everything in between. But dislike other action movies "Con Air" actually has a story that I like, even though it's completely over the top. Although I think that the movie might had been better of without the Poe's family scene's and storyline, even though I still sort of like the emotional scene's between them. Also I think that Nicholas Cage is a bit too much of a good guy in the movie, not only does he help his friend on board, he even finds time to try and save all the cops their lives and that of the bunny present for his daughter.

A good thing is the excellent soundtrack by Trevor Rabin and Mark Mancina that gives the movie an extra 'cool' feeling.

One little point of critic is that the editing isn't always great. But I can live with that...

Perfect entertainment in a crazy over the top non-stop action movie! There are better action movies out there but not much.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

6 June 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Con Air

Filming Locations:

2nd Street Tunnel between Hill and Figueroa, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,131,738, 8 June 1997

Gross USA:

$101,117,573

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$224,012,234

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Kouf/Bigelow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min 123 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1