Firefox DVD with Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, Warren Clarke (PG) +Movie Reviews

An adequate, unusual techno-thriller from Clint Eastwood

Ryan Harvey | Los Angeles, CA USA | 02/27/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was Clint Eastwood's second dip into the waters of the espionage thriller (the first was the awful "Eiger Sanction" back in 1975), and one of the few films he directed which relies heavily on visual effects. As a director, Eastwood seems uneasy with both modes, which go against the grain of his realistic, tough, and often stoic & silent directorial style. Nonetheless, "Firefox" works better than it should. Eastwood brings understated realism to what might have been a hopelessly hokey Cold War techno thriller, and the visual effects-laden last third is fairly exciting. However, the mixture of elements ultimately produces only an adequate film, a strange entry in Eastwood's long string of hits.The plot is a Tom Clancy story before there were Tom Clancy stories (this is based on a novel by Craig Thomas). The Soviets (remember them?) have developed a super fighter jet, the Firefox, with thought-controlled weapons system. The Firefox threatens the balance of power in the Cold War, so NATO needs to get their hands on it, pronto. The only man who can do it is pilot Mitchell Gant (Eastwood). He speaks fluent Russian, can infiltrate the base with the help of Russian Jewish dissenters (played by Ronald Lacey, Nigel Hawthorne, and Warren Clarke), and has the skill to fly the Firefox. Only problem: Gant is highly unstable from his Vietnam experience, is prone is nasty flashbacks (a problem if you're flying a though- controlled plane!), and has done no undercover work before."Firefox" is overlong at 136 minutes, and tends to drag with far too many scenes of Russian and NATO boardroom arguments. The film works best in the early parts during the scenes with Lacey, Hawthorne, and Clarke, who all give fine, sentimental performances as double agents who know they are doomed but struggle on for what they know is right. In a few place, Eastwood shows traces of the later themes of the consequences of violence that would mature in "Unforgiven" and "Mystic River." Eastwood himself is fairly good in the role, avoiding any "Dirty Harry" clichés or relying too much on his tough guy image, but he does look rather silly in his undercover disguise scenes.Nonetheless, it does seem to take forever until the last third, where the Firefox tries to blaze an almost hopeless escape trail out of the Soviet Union, with another Firefox prototype on its tail. The effects (by John Dysktra of "Star Wars" fame) are zippy and fantastic, but any human element left in the film pretty much bails out at this point. Enjoy the planes, enjoy the speed, enjoy Clint just staring out the window and not moving much. It's fairly exciting, but when it's all over, you'll feel a bit let down.The DVD, like most Warner Bros. discs in the Clint Eastwood Collection, looks very good, and the sound is 5.1. But also like most Warner Bros. discs in the Clint Eastwood Collection, there are no extras."

Superb Sci-Fi Flavored Espionage Film

Michael Daly | Wakefield, MA USA | 12/01/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Though my opinion of Clint Eastwood has lowered with the revelations in Sondra Locke's book, there is no disputing his abilities as an actor and director. One of his finest efforts comes in Firefox, Eastwood's taut, exciting adaptation of Craig Thomas' 1975 novel.Eastwood plays Mitchell Gant, a burned-out Air Force Vietnam vet who is first seen jogging in the Alaskan wilderness. Gant occassionally suffers from bouts of Delayed Stress Syndrome - shown when, as an Air Force helicopter approaches his log cabin home, he flashes back to a harrowing experience of being shot down, captured by Communist soldiers, and being rescued.Mitchell Gant's battle shock, though, is of little concern to the CIA and British MI6, for they want him for the most audacious intelligence mission yet. The titular Firefox is a Soviet superplane, capable of Mach Six, invisible to radar tracking, and possessing thought-controlled weaponry. Mitchell Gant's job - steal it.But to get to it he must be infiltrated into Russia and ferried from Moscow to a Red airbase in the Urals, Bilyarsk. The first half of the film takes up the painstaking task by NATO's Russian contacts to infiltrate Gant to Bilyarsk and the efforts of the KGB detatchment assigned to Firefox security to figure out their plan and stop them. Along the way Eastwood extracts quality performances from the huge cast assembled, notably from Kenneth Colley (Admiral Piett in the Star Wars films) as KGB Colonel Kontarsky. There is some excellent interplay between Gant and the various Russians willing to die to betray the country that has destroyed their lives, most notably when the Firefox project head, Dr. Baranovich, explains why he doesn't resent "the men in London who are ordering me to die" to a thoroughly puzzled Gant.The second half of the film involves a dazzling aerial chase as Gant pilots the Firefox through the world's largest, most powerful air defense. The SFX work is excellent as John Dyxstra (from Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and the later Batman films) uses ultra-high-speed aerial footage to present a splendid view of Mach Two-plus speeds. Gant encounters missiles and eventually a second Firefox (piloted by Kai Wulff as the project's test pilot Yuri Voskov). The ensuing chase is among the finest in film, from thousands of feet in the sky to mere hundreds of feet from the ground. My favorite part is the admittedly implausible chase through a narrow Arctic canyon at Mach Two or more - yeah, it can't be done by jet fighters in real life, but it's still too good to pass up.In all, Firefox remains a classic of the spy and sci-fi genres."

"Gant, can you fly that plane? Really fly it?"

M. Hart | USA | 06/12/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In 1982, while the Cold War was yet raging between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in an exciting action film about espionage called "Firefox". Clint Eastwood plays Major Mitchell Gant, a retired pilot from the U.S. Air Force who suffers from delayed psychological stress disorder from when he fought in the Vietnam War. Being the only pilot qualified to fly Soviet Air Force jets who is also fluent in Russian, SIS agent Kenneth Aubrey (Freddie Jones) has U.S. AF pilot Capt. Arthur Buckholz (David Huffman) recruit Gant to be the primary operative in a U.S.-sponsored espionage mission. The goal is to steal a technologically superior, top-secret prototype jet fighter that is code-named Firefox out of the Soviet Union. Gant, of course, is not particularly interested, but returns to Washington with Capt. Buckholz. There he is given specific training that will enable him to enter the Soviet Union unnoticed. Once in the Soviet Union, Gant meets a Russian who works for the SIS, Pavel Upenskoy (Warren Clarke). The Soviet scientists who reluctantly developed the thought-controlled prototype fighter are a Jewish husband and wife team, Dr. Pyotr Baranovich (Nigel Hawthorne) and Natalia (Dimitra Arliss).The film is fraught with tension, drama and excitement as Gant makes his way to infiltrate the Soviet AF base to steal the prototype fighter. Special effects used in the film were superb for the early 1980's, though some may regard them as being dated by today's standards. Other memorable characters in the film include Soviet General Vladimirov (Klaus Löwitsch), the Communist Party First Secretary (Stefan Schnabel) and Soviet AF pilot Lt. Col. Voskov (Kai Wulff).The film is not perfect, but with a superb Cold War plot, good dialog, engaging characters and good special effects, I rate "Firefox" with 4 out of 5 stars. I am very happy that the film was released on DVD in widescreen format. Not everyone who watches the film will enjoy it, but technophiles, fans of sci-fi & action films and Clint Eastwood fans more than likely will."

"Firefox" is about redemption

Kendal B. Hunter | Provo, UT United States | 03/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a child, I was impressed by this movie's setting--the gritty, greasy depiction of the gritty, greasy life in the Soviet Union's proletariat interior--and the mesmerizing special effects that brought the MiG-31 to life. As an adult, all of this came back to me, with the added awareness of setting, conflict, and dark penumbras.

This is a dark film. So many people die in this movie: the first contact Pavel Upenskoy, the Jew scientists, the Soviet Pilot of the second prototype. Once again, setting is key: this mission is dangerous, death is probable, and failure more than likely. This contrasts with the gala James Bonds movies which (at times) can be life action cartoons, and is a precursor to the high-tension, high-body counts in "24."

The special effects, thought dated, still hold up. Though they are not as sophisticated 2005's film "Stealth" or the opening scenes of "Revenge of the Sith," I could "piece out imperfections with my thoughts . . . And make imaginary puissance." I'm one of these people who still thrills when Buster Crabbe hops into his obviously model spaceship and blast off form Mongo. Good storytelling can overcome bad special effects, as shown by "Ghostbusters."

Additionally, this film exemplifies how a book can be faithfully adapted to screen, without damaging the story or the theatrical presentation. Of course, some of the credit goes to the way Craig Thomas wrote the book. It is minimalist character study of Mitchell Gant's psychodrama within the grim Soviet Union. When Gant sweated, my palms became damp.

Yes, this film is a bit long, but like in "2001," I think the length added to the setting. The only thing that really could be cut is the bickering of the Soviet Air Marshals and the Premiere. However, that would detract form the setting aspect of the story. We see the hoary heads bang heads as they fumble with the hot potato that Gant has lobbed at them. Picture a cross between the Sith Lords and the Three Stooges, and you capture the tragicomic aspect of this psychothriller.

So, in the light of the Velvet Revolution, is this film relevant? I think so. In 1970, we had a double dose of military nostalgia--"Patton" and "MASH." In the midst of Vietnam, what did Korea or WWII have to do with anything? In part, it has to do with the common elements of war, warfare, and the warriors. C. S. Lewis spoke of a thought he had while in the service: "This is what Homer wrote about. This is War."

Similarly, in order to defend life, liberty, and property, (the purpose of the military), we need to inculcate the warriors about the virtue and value of what they are doing. Lewis again has important insight on this issue:

"Those who say that children [or even grownups] must not be frightened may mean two things. They may mean (1) that we must not do anything likely to give the child those haunting, disabling, pathological fears against which ordinary courage is helpless: in fact, phobias. His mind must, if possible, be kept clear of things he can't bear to think of. Or they may mean (2) that we must try to keep out of his mind the knowledge that he is born into a world of death, violence, wounds, adventure, heroism and cowardice, good and evil."

"If they mean the first I agree with them: but not if they mean the second. The second would indeed be to give children a false impression and feed them on escapism in the bad sense. There is something ludicrous in the idea of so educating a generation which is born to the . . . atomic bomb. Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker."

Courage is one of the values that this film portrays, not just with accepting the mission, but most epically as Gant deals with his own personal ghosts of Vietnam. In this sense, "Firefox" is about redemption: Gant, unable to save one Vietnamese girl, is able to save millions of lives by stealing the Firefox and to restore a balance of power between the two nations.

The other part has to do with aesthetics: this is a roping good spy and techno-thriller, and when we are done, we recognize that we have seen a marvelous tale told well. And that is the hallmark of any good story."

I Can't Stop Watching this Film!!!

R. Anderson | Marquette, MI USA | 11/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've seen this film at least seven times, and I enjoyed it just as much each time.
This is a very enjoyable cold war action/spy drama. Tense action carried out in Clint Eastwood style.
If you like Clint Eastwood. You'll like this film. Some have pointed out some continuity errors in the film, but these don't spoil the story. The characters are acted in such a way as to make you care about what happens to them.
It's looely based on the books. The movie ends in a way I won't spoil. But I will say that after you see this movie you should search out the books, Firefox, Firefox Down (they are selling on Amazon; as used for a penny)"

Search - Firefox on DVD

Movie Details

Similar Movies

Similarly Requested DVDs

Member Movie Reviews

Movie Reviews