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Blue Thunder

  • 19831983
  • RR
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
21K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
7,162
878
Blue Thunder (1983)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:31
2 Videos
99+ Photos
ActionCrimeDrama
The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
21K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
7,162
878
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • John Badham
    • Writers
      • Dan O'Bannon
      • Don Jakoby
      • Dean Riesner(uncredited)
    • Stars
      • Roy Scheider
      • Warren Oates
      • Candy Clark
    Top credits
    • Director
      • John Badham
    • Writers
      • Dan O'Bannon
      • Don Jakoby
      • Dean Riesner(uncredited)
    • Stars
      • Roy Scheider
      • Warren Oates
      • Candy Clark
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 105User reviews
    • 81Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 3 nominations total

    Videos2

    Blue Thunder
    Trailer 1:31
    Blue Thunder
    Blue Thunder
    Trailer 3:07
    Blue Thunder

    Photos142

    Roy Scheider in Blue Thunder (1983)
    Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern in Blue Thunder (1983)
    Malcolm McDowell in Blue Thunder (1983)
    Blue Thunder (1983)
    Blue Thunder (1983)
    Roy Scheider and Candy Clark in Blue Thunder (1983)
    Blue Thunder (1983)
    Blue Thunder (1983)
    Blue Thunder (1983)
    Blue Thunder (1983)
    Blue Thunder (1983)
    Roy Scheider and Warren Oates in Blue Thunder (1983)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Roy Scheider
    Roy Scheider
    • Officer Frank Murphy
    Warren Oates
    Warren Oates
    • Capt. Jack Braddock
    Candy Clark
    Candy Clark
    • Kate
    Daniel Stern
    Daniel Stern
    • Officer Richard Lymangood
    Paul Roebling
    • Icelan
    David Sheiner
    David Sheiner
    • Fletcher
    Joe Santos
    Joe Santos
    • Montoya
    Malcolm McDowell
    Malcolm McDowell
    • Col. F.E. Cochrane
    Ed Bernard
    • Sgt. Short
    Jason Bernard
    Jason Bernard
    • Mayor
    Mario Machado
    Mario Machado
    • Mario Machado
    James Murtaugh
    James Murtaugh
    • Alf Hewitt
    Pat McNamara
    Pat McNamara
    • Matusek
    Jack Murdock
    Jack Murdock
    • Kress
    Clifford A. Pellow
    • Allen
    • (as Clifford Pellow)
    Paul Lambert
    Paul Lambert
    • Holmes
    Phil Feldman
    • Col. Coe
    John Garber
    • Tough Mechanic
    • Director
      • John Badham
    • Writers
      • Dan O'Bannon
      • Don Jakoby
      • Dean Riesner(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      One reason Roy Scheider made this film was so that he would be unavailable to get cast in Jaws 3-D (1983).
    • Goofs
      Cochrane sabotages Murphy's Bell jet ranger by removing the cotter pin and loosening the nut on the throttle-control linkage bolt so it can slip out. Aviation bolts are always installed head-end up as a safety precaution to keep the bolt in place should the nut come off.
    • Quotes

      Jack Braddock: But there's a bright side to this, and a moral. I think morals are good for you, I love morals, and the moral of this story is: If you're walkin' on eggs, don't hop.

    • Crazy credits
      There are no opening credits after the title is shown.
    • Alternate versions
      When "Blue Thunder" was first released on video in Sweden, the scene where Kate drives to the the TV station with the videotape, involved a crazy stunt when she drives into a narrow alley and meets a police car that comes the other way. To avoid a disaster, Kate flips her car on its side, hits its roof on a wall and flips back again. In later video versions, the stunt is gone. We only see the car when it enters the alley and then we see her driving on the freeway with a strange damage on the roof.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Blue Thunder/Return of the Jedi/Breathless/La Traviata (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      Theme From Blue Thunder (Murphy's Law)
      (uncredited)

      Written by Arthur B. Rubinstein

      Performed by Arthur B. Rubinstein, Cynthia Morrow, Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli (as the Beepers)

      Produced by Evan Pace

      Associate Produced by Reno Romano

    User reviews105

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    Somebody is watching you, me, and them.
    One of the things that really caught my attention about this film was the brief blurb at the beginning which stated something to the effect of "All of the surveillance equipment depicted in this film exists and is in use in the United States." Knowing what I do of technology, I am not surprised that those capabilities existed back then. However, I received a powerful demonstration of the stealth technology called "whisper mode" in the film, a couple of years after seeing it. I live near a major U.S. Army firing range, and our local airport hosts a considerable amount of military traffic. At this particular time, I was renting a house about one kilometer from the airport. I went out for a walk late one Sunday night, and, shortly after leaving the house, I heard a noise I could not identify. It was a loud hissing sound, 'which seemed very close at hand, but I could not locate the source, until I looked up. Passing overhead at about 200 meters was a Chinook helicopter, the type with two rotors, and fuselage that looks kind of like a banana. Normally, the rotor noise on these cargo helicopters will rattle windows, but this baby was tip-toeing out of town very quietly. If I had been indoors, I never would have heard it. This made me completely rethink the sequence where the helicopter was hovering right outside of a building, and the people inside couldn't hear it! I took it for artistic license at the time, but the demonstration I witnessed of "whisper mode" made it seem entirely feasible.

    This film appealed to me strongly, for several reasons. I am a techno freak, to begin with, and I love anything that flies. Also, the characters in the movie are amazingly human, kooky, (especially the lead characters wife,) and easy to identify with. And the kind of shenanigans the Feds were trying to pull seem all too realistic to me, in light of some of the things that they have been caught doing! And I loved the response of sending a couple of F-15's armed with missiles after the renegade, when he is stooging around in downtown Los Angeles. Missiles are not known for being highly selective when they are of the heat seeking type, and urban areas are rich with thermal signatures which can confuse the tiny brain packed into an air-to-air missile. The filmmakers actually downplayed the havoc that could result from launching such weapons in a downtown area.

    I found the film to be an enjoyable, realistic, thought provoking experience, which I would recommend to most people. The hardware is not the star, thanks to the excellent work of Roy Scheider and his supporting cast, and the dialog is tight and realistic. When informed that one of the suspects in a liquor store robbery is wearing a Hawiian shirt and a cowboy hat, Scheider's character says, "What ever happened to being inconspicuous?"
    helpful•72
    7
    • scootwhoman
    • Feb 23, 2006

    FAQ4

    • Why was Commissioner Diane McNealy assaulted?
    • What are the differences between the DVD Version and the VHS/Laserdisc Versions?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 13, 1983 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Sony Pictures (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Plavi grom
    • Filming locations
      • City of Los Angeles Piper Technical Center - 555 Ramirez Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Rastar Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $22,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $42,313,354
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $8,258,149
      • May 15, 1983
    • Gross worldwide
      • $42,313,354
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 49 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

    Related news

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