Plot: What’s it about?
It was with a bit of anticipation that I popped Flight of the Intruder into my DVD player for the first time. This is one of those movies that you can remember seeing the trailer to, but are simply amazed that some 12 years have gone by and now it makes it’s debut on DVD, some 6 years into the format. For me, I remember it as I was working at a movie theater during my Senior year of High School (the movie was released in January, 1991 just about the day we declared war on Iraq for the first time). Naturally, we didn’t know what lay ahead of us as a country and the evils of the Iraqi Empire. Still, this movie was yet another set in Vietnam, so the meaning was a bit lost there; but the timing couldn’t have been better. Being more of the film buff that I am now, I know that John Milius directed the movie (who also directed Red Dawn) and was the screenwriter on such great films as Apocalypse Now and Jaws. So though the movie sported two major stars in Willem Dafoe and Danny Glover (look for early appearances by Tom Sizemore and Ving Rhames); could this movie about an airplane and a war that had been done so many times before still fly?
Sort of. The story is about loss and revenge, mixed in with some really great aerial scenes (though not up to par with Top Gun) and some really bad ones. We meet Lt. Jake Grafton (Brad Johnson) as he and his partner are doing some routine bombing missions. Though their mission is more political than military, a lucky shot by a man on the ground kills Grafton’s partner and he swears revenge. The commanding officer, Frank Camparelli (Danny Glover) tries to play down the incident and chalks it up to things that happen while in war. After a brief excursion on some “R & R” time, we meet a love interest for Grafton in Callie. She is a grieving Navy widow and the two immediately have something in common, they’ve both lost someone they care about in the Navy (and if you couldn’t see that one coming, then check out here). We then meet the gung-ho, somewhat crazy Virgil Cole (Willem Dafoe) who is now in his third tour of Vietnam. He loves the war and even pauses to “smell the scent of a warship” which I couldn’t help but think of Robert Duvall’s line in Apocalypse Now “…I love the smell of Napalm in the morning…”. Grafton and Cole are assigned together and they agree to lead a renegade mission to Hanoi to justify the deaths of not only Grafton’s old partner, but for all the Americans who died in the war.
From there, we can pretty much tell how the movie will end, formulaic and predictable; you can turn the movie off with thirty minutes left to it and probably quote every line of dialog without ever seeing it. I, however, watched the rest of the movie and now want those same thirty minutes of my life back! Only kidding. Though Milius is a very talented writer, that doesn’t always translate well to being a director. Not to say that the movie is entirely his fault, but the editing is dicey and if we can look past the endless cliché’s, then we might find what’s at the heart of the movie. Then again, we might not. Glover was at the peak of his career, between his Lethal Weapon movies and the rest of the cast does an adequate job here as well. Though the movie is a bit corny, and even for a movie that takes place in 1972, it feels dated; just like so many other movies of the early 90’s. After waiting some 12 years to see the film, I can say that while it does look and sound better than it did in 1991; I was somewhat let down by it. Even die hard fans of the movie will most likely be let down by the lack of supplements (none). Recommended for a rental or something to watch on a rainy day…
Video: How does it look?
The 2.35:1 image appeared a bit grainy at first, and as most of the movie is rather dark (it takes place in an around a battleship which aren’t the brightest of places); it did tend to clear up a bit. Some of the flight scenes look great and though they don’t really rival Top Gun; it’s a close second. Fleshtones seem a bit over-saturated and though edge enhancement isn’t too pronounced, it does appear from time to time. The anamorphic enhancement does add to the overall quality as I can only image what the full-frame VHS copies floating around look like. Not the best transfer in the world, but certainly not the worst.
Audio: How does it sound?
As with most other of Paramount’s catalog titles, this has been re-mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound with the original Dolby Surround track included. The track is good at points, and of those we would expect the sound to take hold and not let go. Though dialogue is free of any sort of distortion, the surrounds don’t seem to kick in as much as I thought they might. The LFE does kick in as well and does add to the thrill of some scenes, but on the whole it’s not that great of a track. It’s certainly a step above the original Surround track, but not much more. Don’t expect a lot and you’ll be happy with it.
Supplements: What are the extras?
There are no supplements on this disc.
