Like Burt Lancaster before him, veteran star Clint Eastwood would often subscribe to that "one for the studio, one for me" policy. The same year that he made the more low key and personal "Honkytonk Man", he made this fairly decent espionage thriller, based on the novel by Craig Thomas. Clint also directs & produces, and stars as Mitchell Gant, a burnt-out former soldier / P.O.W. haunted by his Vietnam War experiences. He's recruited for an extremely risky mission: go behind enemy lines in Moscow, and steal the Soviets' cutting-edge new fighting plane out from under their noses. Needless to say, the mission doesn't always go smoothly.
The movie is overlong, and for a while it's just not as tense (or involving) as it could and should be. But it's still an entertaining story, reasonably well told, with Clint in fine form. It really picks up once the Firefox is in the air. Then it gets pretty exciting, despite the presence of some dodgy effects. The location shooting, widescreen photography (by frequent Clint collaborator Bruce Surtees), and music (by Maurice Jarre) are all first rate.
The real value with "Firefox" lies in an exemplary supporting cast. Freddie Jones may be rather eccentric, but he's consistently amusing in the part of a key exposition provider. Familiar faces such as Ronald Lacey & Wolf Kahler (both from "Raiders of the Lost Ark"), Kenneth Colley (Admiral Piett in two of the "Star Wars" movies), Nigel Hawthorne ("The Madness of King George"), David Huffman ("Blood Beach"), Dimitra Arliss ("The Sting"), and Stefan Schnabel ("The 27th Day") help to make the material more engrossing than it might have been in less capable hands. Keep your eyes peeled for John "Cliff Clavin" Ratzenberger in a small role as one of the men from the submarine.
This may not be a great film, by any means, but this viewer thinks that it shows its audience a good enough time.
Seven out of 10.
The movie is overlong, and for a while it's just not as tense (or involving) as it could and should be. But it's still an entertaining story, reasonably well told, with Clint in fine form. It really picks up once the Firefox is in the air. Then it gets pretty exciting, despite the presence of some dodgy effects. The location shooting, widescreen photography (by frequent Clint collaborator Bruce Surtees), and music (by Maurice Jarre) are all first rate.
The real value with "Firefox" lies in an exemplary supporting cast. Freddie Jones may be rather eccentric, but he's consistently amusing in the part of a key exposition provider. Familiar faces such as Ronald Lacey & Wolf Kahler (both from "Raiders of the Lost Ark"), Kenneth Colley (Admiral Piett in two of the "Star Wars" movies), Nigel Hawthorne ("The Madness of King George"), David Huffman ("Blood Beach"), Dimitra Arliss ("The Sting"), and Stefan Schnabel ("The 27th Day") help to make the material more engrossing than it might have been in less capable hands. Keep your eyes peeled for John "Cliff Clavin" Ratzenberger in a small role as one of the men from the submarine.
This may not be a great film, by any means, but this viewer thinks that it shows its audience a good enough time.
Seven out of 10.