An LAPD pilot gets a new helicopter and a conspiracy plot to solve in John Badham’s 1983 surprisingly awesome cop action classic, coming to 4k UHD from Arrow Video.
Blue Thunder, from 1983, is a movie that shouldn’t work as well as it does. It straddles that fine line between absolutely thrilling and engaging, while also silly, yet it never comes off as goofy. It’s only on paper that one would think that. While director John Badham has had continual work on either side, such as 1979’s Dracula (the one that made your mom lust for Frank Langella) and 1990’s Bird on a Wire, with continual credits including Supernatural up to 4 years ago, mostly in TV, this sentiment was his 1980s drive: just look at WarGames and Short Circuit: two films that make you go “huh?” on description but work like gangbusters. The story of a police helicopter pilot who uses his new tricked-out helicopter to uncover a government conspiracy? Pshaw, you say. But it works. Badham can only make it work, but make it iconic. While Blue Thunder might not have a cultural liaison line like “Johnny five alive!” or “Do you want to play Thermal Nuclear War?”, Blue Thunder stands for its uniqueness [TV show adaptation and rip-off Airwolf notwithstanding].
Not only does it work, but Blue Thunder, named for the helicopter, works surprisingly well. Alien and Return of the Living Dead’s Dan O’Bannon, working with Lifeforce and Arachnopobia’s Don Jakoby, created a script that uses genre tropes to great effect. The basics of the plot are well-worn: a police officer finds information that he shouldn’t imbroiling himself, his friends, and family in danger as it tracks the conspiracy all the way to the top (of course). (Notes within the film about the surveillance state abound) But what if instead of a standard method, wrong place at the wrong time, a phone call meant to, or what have you… Is it thanks to trying out new-fangled equipment on a fancy new-fangled helicopter? Thus, everything that would normally happen like chases, surveillance, and shootouts can now happen IN THE AIR! Love it.
Badham lands the feel with the choice of actors. Roy Scheider, Jaws’s own Chief Brody, leads with another cop character (he made a career of them, to the point he said he’d do this if he never had to wear a uniform… and to get out of Jaws 3). Schieder lends a grounding credence in every role, exuding Real Dramatic Actor, transforming B-movie into legit. On the flip is Malcolm McDowell as his adversary. McDowell’s knowing, smarmy charm says “B-Movie,” and he’s just as important. The mix and connection of the two set our balanced tone. Check out a young Daniel Stern. Not one of his first, for he already did Breaking Away and Diner, but still early enough to be “oh him, but fresh!”. Loved Candy Clark’s unhinged go, especially in driving!
The helicopter action is utterly thrilling. Whether high flying or strafing in and out of the grid of Los Angeles, fighting evil pilot Malcolm McDowell (a man terrified of flying, but did it anyway because he loved working on the movie so much), it’s heart racing. Badham creates impressive and wowing dogfights. Most of it was real people in real helicopters, although some models were used (but they look so good, it takes the commentary to point out what’s not). In many of the shots, it was Scheider, Stern, and five seconds away from throwing up McDowell themselves, lending a truth of being there. I’ll admit I love a good process shot as much as I love a great matte painting, as it lends to YES A MOVIE that I just love (not unlike my comments on Innerspace this week, featuring Dennis Quaid, who WAS in Jaws 3). Badham’s amazing camera work includes shooting so much of it at night. A moving object like a giant helicopter in a Los Angeles night, all of it looking clear and gorgeous? Amazing. Add in astounding, hair-blasting-back sound design from the first frame, and it comes together for a hell of a ride.
John Badham’s Blue Thunder is, simply, a freakin’ awesome movie. Roy Schieder and Malcolm McDowell play off one another excellently, and it translates to the air action. O’Bannon and Jakoby’s script gives a knowing quality to the standard cop conspiracy plot, allowing the helicopter stuff to soar without bogging down, but also not empty. John Badham put together a hell of a film.
The Package
Arrow puts Blue Thunder in the air with a single disc 4K UHD (no Blu-ray option). Disc art features the titular helicopter. It and the booklet are placed in a black 4k case featuring a reversible sleeve with original art on one side and new art by Chris Skinner on the other. The O-ring cardboard sleeve uses the new art.
The Presentation
Blue Thunder flies with a gorgeous 4k restoration from the original negative. Recall in the review where I talked of using LA at Night to great effect, which shows off how well this looks, highlighting the sharp visuals and picture. It’s a fast film of flying with no blurring or bleeding. Just a fantastic look, noted as a Dolby Vision presentation. The audio is 2.0 stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix, and it’s awesome too. My setup needs an upgrade, but even with that, it was notable in how well it worked. Subtitles are in English.
The Features
Arrow Video puts together a solid collection of archival and newly created features. Everything from the 2006/2009 DVD/Blu-ray releases has been ported.
Commentary (2006)
John Badham, editor Frank Morris, and motion control supervisor Hoyt Yeatman have a great chat over all that went into making it, with each man digging into their speciality. Very technical. Loved hearing the details.
Flight Risk (new)
Director John Badham, who at 90 is still rocking not unlike fellow nonagenarian John Boorman on the recent update of Excalibur, comes off like a man decades younger. He reminisces about wonderful stories of the film and how it fits with his career. A fun little chat. (14m)
A Rollercoaster Ride (new)
Candy Clark gives an entertaining return to her time in the film, especially in the stunt work of the wild driving scenes. She’s a lot of fun. 13m
Catching Up (new)
Malcolm McDowell! Man, do I love McDowell. He talks about how much fun he had on flick (a running comment across the features) and tells a slightly different version of getting him flying stories. With a career such as his, I’m sure he has stories for days. Good to hear him open up about this film 13m
Ride With the Angels (2006)
A very well put together BTS/look-back. Archival, so Arrow’s work is done for them! But really, it’s a detailed view of all aspects (and since writer Dan O’Bannon passed 17 years ago, we get his voice on it all). (45m)
The Special (2006)
All about the helicopter itself, the production design that went into it, and making the cumbersome thing not only fly, but fly well to be awesome on screen. (8m)
Promotional featurette (1983)
A press-kid style, cheesy but damn, I love them, featurette. (9m)
Extended Scene
The longer version of Clark’s car chase. (1m30s)
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
15 promotional images
Booklet
A bound 36-page booklet has the standard production stills, a new essay “She Don’t Look Normal, She Don’t Fly Normal, ‘Cause She Ain’t Normal!: Blue Thunder and the Rise of Technology in 80s Action Pictures” by Dennis Capicik and original production notes. The essay is good, a bit surface. I loved the production notes; these get further in detail than they often do. Appreciated.
Final Thoughts
Blue Thunder, one of two 1983 films for John Badham, is a high-flying helicopter ride, a glorious mix of a standard police-conspiracy flick and a stunt show. Both legit and cheesy, it holds the line and is fully entertaining in all ways. Arrow’s new set is gorgeous with a great selection of features, old and new. Arrow releases Blue Thunder 4k UHD in early May.