My favorite line comes after the failed test: Fletcher: One civilian dead for every ten terrorists. That's an acceptable ratio. Frank Murphy: [Leaning closer to Braddock] Unless you're one of the civilians!
I watched it as a child with the original Movie Ruiner, my dad. An Israeli Air Force Lt Col that was a Bell 205 and later C130 navigator. I remember clearly his comments during the movie, 'that's non sense, can't do that'...
Thank you for doing a MRM on one of my favorite movies! A few interesting points: The AH-64 Apache was approved for production the same year this movie was in production (1982). Most of its capabilities were not publicly known, so the production designer, Phillip Harrison, extrapolated from speculative magazine articles like Popular Mechanics. I'd say he did very well! The "Harrison Fire Control Helmet" demonstrated to Murphy in the movie is named for Phillip Harrison. The original concept for the movie was "'Taxi Driver' in the air". Murphy was supposed to grow increasingly psychotic until he snaps. The production realized quickly that they would need extensive help from the LAPD to film this movie, so a cop going psychotic was not going to fly, so to speak. There are still remnants of this original idea in the movie--for example, Murphy's total disregard for the lives of people in the buildings and on the ground during the air battle. The aerial stunt coordinator was Jim Gavin, a LONG time stunt pilot who has worked on a million movies and TV shows. He and his crew were all Vietnam chopper pilots. Gavin would teach the actors how to fly during the course of the production, and Roy Scheider got good enough to actually control the helicopter. Roy Scheider was in the Air Force, and washed out of pilot training because he was, in his words, "a lousy navigator". The LAPD cooperated extensively on the production, even taking the director and others on actual ride alongs in their helicopters. The liquor store robbery scene with the guy in the orange shirt and cowboy hat was cribbed directly from an actual call that happened during one of the ride along flights. The only exception to the LAPDs cooperation was that they forbade the producers from calling it the "LAPD Helicopter Division," which is why the unit is called the "Astro Division" in the movie. The writer, Dan O'Bannon, was annoyed by the story changes to his original concept. He wrote the aerial battle over Los Angeles to be as complex and dangerous as he could make it, thinking they would never be able to get permission to shoot it, and would abandon the project. Malcolm McDowell was deathly afraid to fly. He signed on to the picture on the guarantee that they should shoot all his cockpit scenes on the ground with rear projection and green screen. When he saw Roy Scheider and Danny Stern eagerly hopping aboard, he felt bad and reluctantly volunteered to go up. Between scenes, he would have to put his head between his knees because he was so sick. The real ships were modified at a shop in Costa Mesa, California. The FAA had to monitor and approve each modification. They ended up adding over 200lbs to each helicopter, and they did, indeed, struggle under the weight. The scene where Blue Thunder does a loop is an R/C model. The chickens dropped in the street when the F-16 missile destroys the BBQ chicken shack were all real roasted chickens, which were much cheaper than rubber ones. One the shot was finished, an army of homeless people swarmed in to grab all the chickens.
Great insight. I’ve read a lot about the history and filming of Blue Thunder and you taught me some stuff I never knew. Oddly, I work about 2 miles from Circus Liquor. The place where the robbery scene was filmed.
Jim Gavin is legendary and it's never surprising to see him working on the best photographed flight scenes. One thing I remember about trivia from this film was his focused attention to all things safety in the wake of the the "Twilight Zone" incident. Even as a kid, I recognized him on screen as the likely "real pilot", as he showed up on camera so often, because of the sheer number of titles he worked on. Incredible body of work. The aerial photography on Blue Thunder is just amazing. Great movie, and Roy Scheider is fantastic as Murphy.
One of my favorite movies! Lots of random trivia: - RC helicopter and F16s were used for many scenes - Malcolm McDowell was terrified of flying - they had to speed up the footage of many of the flying scenes as blue thunder was so slow Also thought it was funny that they were flying this top secret helicopter around the city in daylight for a check ride .
I saw this movie before I'd ever seen an Apache or knew it was in development. When I was 11, my uncle told me one day "there's this movie about a helicopter that automatically aims a gun wherever the pilot is looking!" and I was hooked from that point forward. And it's absolutely the reason why I love the Apache today. When I fly Apache in DCS, I'm really pretending it's BT. The first time I flew with a friend, he was back seater and pulled off an accidental barrel roll and I involuntarily yelled "what's up Blue Thunder!" I guess my point is you can't ruin this movie for me. 😀
My dad's a Mi35 operator (Indian air force) I showed him this video and he was impressed. His thoughts were exactly the same as yours, he is really particular bout his helicopters so gotta say You know your choppers
Hollywood never seems to get the proper sounds of helicopters and guns/weaponry right. That first generation fenestron tail rotor was a screamer. It got a bit better in the EC series, but still loud. I still have a lean towards the 222, it had its share of operational headaches, but really loved working on it.
The F-16 stick came off a Mohawk observer aircraft, and was also used for the vipers in the origional Battlestar Galactica. You were right, the sight on the F-16 is from an F-5.
It always cracks me up that Malcolm McDowell kept finding himself assuming prominent roles in aviation movies, despite the fact that the actor was morbidly terrified of flying. Seven years earlier, he played a squadron commander in 1976's "Aces High", which still ranks as the best WWI aviation film to date.
I absolutely loved this movie as a kid. I met Jim Gavin (Blue Thunder pilot) while working on MH-53E SeaDragons as a Mech in the Navy (HM-15) and Peter McKernan and Frank Sweet (Airwolf pilots) and Roger “T.C.” Mosley at a fly-in while in flight school in Tulsa, Oklahoma years ago. Those guys were really cool and very skilled pilots. But I’m putting my vote into the hat on Blue Thunder and the Hughes 500 from Magnum PI!!! Okay, I’ll give Riptide’s “Screaming Mimi” an honorable mention!
This was hands down one of my favorite movies as a kid! I also watched airwolf religiously, but after growing up I tried to go back and watch airwolf and couldn't get into it, blue thunder still holds up for me. Just in case you are curious there is a UA-camr (Nightflyyer)who did the f16 scenes in the movie flying rc f16's.
I remember my girlfriend at the time was wanting to see this because her dad flew helicopters 🚁 in Dallas and she took me to see it. I paid she drove. I’m glad you got it out of UA-cam jail!
Blue Thunder was modeled after the early AH-1 Cobra, Hence the square armored glass. Yes that was a light bulb he removed from the button. Its a shame that JAFO turned to a life of crime and tormented a small boy that was "Home Alone". And the F-16 not only sounded like Battlestar Galactica Vipers as they flew by but their control sticks were identical to them as well.
@@sparrowlt If you watch some of the stock footage from BSG some sticks still have the original labels. You can clearly see them in the pilot episode especially.
Funny note: Blue Thunder was made into a TV show around the same time AirWolf was on TV. Obviously, AirWolf was a more popular show. Interestingly, the BlueThunder TV show cast included James Farentino from "The Final Countdown" and his JAFO was Dana Carvey / Church Lady from SNL.
I saw that show in like 2016 after I found a copy of the show at a Best Buy. The movie was dark and serious, the areal sceans of the helicopter were good, but the show was too light hearted, and tame. Almost a kids show.
On the TV show they added the center barrel on the cannon that was single shot accurate. When it fired it sounded like a .38 special. They funny part of the show was it supported the reason why police should be flying around in privacy invading gunships with devastating hardware, while the movie made the argument this was a bad thing.
Just came across this. I recently went to a week long training with LAPD Air Support. They are very proud of this movie. It was a class of about 50 people and I was only 1 of maybe 5 people that had heard of this movie or seen it. I am currently 42. It was actually cool walking around the Hooper Heliport.
Roy Shreider was a great actor . Blue Thunder and an Apache are very similar so the machine is very realistic . I watched Airwolf also and while very cool in one episode it was at 80,000 feet at Mach something so far fetched . The ep 1 - 2 hour Airwolf movie was pretty good as movies of that type go .
In the late 80s-2004 I was a Flight Attendant and had Roy Scheider was one of the nicest celebrities I ever had on a flight. It would take too long to tell the whole story but let’s just say he went out of his way to do something nice for one of our crew.
Can you imagine if Police SWAT managed to buy old Air National Guard Apaches under the 1033 Program? Everyone lost their minds when the cops showed up at the Fergusson riots in MRAPs.
Yes the 80,000feet bit was far fetched but in theory the mach 1 plus bit is possible . As the body would act as a lift body .and disengaging the rotor would stop them over speeding. The big problem would whether they would get ripped off whilst disengaged. . So yes it isn't actually possible but the theory is sound. . We won't mention the weapon load out tho. Shhh
@@animaltvi I get the lifting body thing , hadn't considered that . So where's all the fuel go that powers 4 gas turbines lol It was a cool show and actually the episode I remember where it went 80K I thought was a cool idea " ghost in the machine " kind of thing where it kept trying to start WW3 and though I enjoyed it I remember thinking _NOPE_ when the scene at altitude played . Plus the Bell 222 is pretty bad azz in real life .
I love silent mode. And I love Warren Oates line " I had twenty years in this outfit, when your idea of a good time was sittin' in front of the TV tube, watchin' Bugs Bunny and gnawing on your Fudgsicle!." I actually use that with my help.
The actor who plays Murphy was in the Airforce but washed out due to navigation issues so he was familiar with helicopters. The stunt pilots on this film were all Ex Vietnam pilots including a guy by the name of Neil Gaven.
Scheider served three years in the United States Air Force as a first lieutenant in Air Operations from 1955 to 1958. He then became a captain in the Air Force Reserve Command until 1964.
Mover, I flew with LAPD Air Support Div as a Sgt for 9 yrs. I flew with the best JAFO to work our unit, Jim Mahon (RIP). He coined the term JAFO (Just A Fucking Observer) & the directors decided to use it.
The flight sticks used for the F-16 in Blue Thunder were not F-16 sticks but came out of a military turboprop plane. I forgot the name of the plane. But they were also used in the Colonial Vipers in the original Battlestar Galactica.
Mover this is great!! Suspending our disbelief and taking at face value the “capabilities” of each helicopter, Airwolf was the faster, sleeker looking, more heavily armed, but Blue Thunder’s sheer ugliness and that big cigar-looking gun on the front and all the other stuff hanging off of it from all angles, to me, that was my favorite. My brother and I probably nearly came to blows as kids arguing over this. Gonna have to agree to disagree. Airwolf is the “better” helicopter”, but Blue Thunder will always look more badass to me! Thanks for another great “Mover Ruins Movies”!
Aww Mover. I have to disagree. For me, Blue Thunder was the original. It is a thing of beauty and best of all, the audio is incredible. It actually sounds like a helicopter....unlike Airwolf.
This helicopter is actually an Aerospatiale Gazelle that was stripped , and all the turbine intakes , hard points , as well as all those canopy windows . The displays , and the computer on board was props . The flying sequences @ the end were really filmed over the streets of L.A . Airwolf ( while a pretty Bell 222), was believable until they “ sped up “ the video .
Me too, there’s always going to be those who like a sleek organic Ferrari look but give me a cybertruck! And it looks a lot cuter - sort of elf-like with the little ear protrusions and so that’s going to be a lot less intimidating for a police vehicle that needs to deal with the public in regular duty eg. Traffic control, event monitoring, etc. Plus the air wolf goes way too fast, the slower pace of blue thunder builds suspense and I can follow the action. Wish bubba smith and Butkus has been in the movie though.
It’s funny as I love the look and the concept of Blue Thunder . I wish you would have discussed the scene where he was hovering around the skyscraper on whisper mode, and was using the mic’s and flir to see inside the building windows . I wonder if sound cancelling speakers in panels could eliminate a lot of the rotor noise ? Air Wolf is pretty cool by its own right though . The forestry dept had a Bell 222 land in town on occasion. It was a beautiful looking helicopter , but it member never had retracts , which makes the 6:15 chopper imo
As much as I agree that Airwolf is objectively prettier (it's a 222 so that's a given), I like that they tried to make Blue Thunder more down to earth, at least in it's design. I can almost see elements of a proto-RAH-66, what with the 'stealth elements', Fenestron tail rotor, and the mini-20mm cannon. Also maybe they're implying that the weird thermal lock display in the F-16 is supposed to be like a feed from the AIM-9's thermal sensor? IDK
the thermal thing im sure was to make audiences understand "fully" that the missiles were tracking the helicopter heat and then how that worked out so Murphy could decoy them with other heat sources... I would done the realistic sidewinder growling and the diamond on the HUD over BT but im guessing the producers probably toyght audiences might not get that.. despite characters having said before they could attack BT with heatseekers "surgically like a tummor". Also funny is that that left "display" on the Viper A isnt even a display at all.. it only displays numbers and text
I think the CH-53 is like one of out of three helicopters in the world that can perform a loop. All others can start a loop but after a certain point, instead of completing the loop, the helicopter rolls right side up.
The scene where the F16 explodes by the gun fire was made with a real RC modell airplane. The person who build and flew it has a youtube channel by the name NightFlyyer. There you can find a videoabout how the scene was made.
My Dad flew little birds (OH-6) in Vietnam. I was about 13 when the movie came out. My Dad was thrilled, but we watched Airwolf on TV together. I did get my private pilots license for a fixed wing in college in 1990. Took my Dad up with me and he loved it. It was just a Cesnia 150, but flying a tail dragger is tough. I was 20 at the time.
Sorry, but a C-150 is a not a tail dragger. You must be thinking of a C-120 (no flaps) or C-140 (has flaps). I know, I owned a C-120. and I started with a C-150 and then bought the C-120 to finish my PPL. A tail dragger is much harder to learn take offs and landings than a trigear plane. EDIT: I did a little research and found that there are tail dragger C-150s available! Sorry, my bad! I learned something new tonight!!
SGD 5K2 Most my of my hours was in a C-172 In college, but I converted to a C-150 which was converted to a tail dragger. It had flaps, and the engine was also a 100 hp conversation. My check ride was in the converted 150 because I finished up with a family member who owned one and was an IP. Kept down the cost. I had to have extra hours just do to the transition. The check ride was not with my family member, but a FAA instructor who knew the airplane. Where I am from, everyone knew everyone regarding aviation. My father- in-law had a 140 which was a true tail dragger. I kept up with my license until It was too expensive to fly. Now, I fly drones from r my surveying practice.
@@paulweatherford5544 I don't fly regularly anymore except the rare times when I'm with a pilot friend. I do fly RC float, sailplanes and anything else that I can get my hands on. Even a drone sometimes. Been flying RC since 1963 or so and controline before that.
SGD 5K2 I’m a little younger than you. I am drawn to the channel as Mover has a full and fair free life so to speak. I surrendered my license a long time ago. I enjoyed flying in my youth but it was expensive. All good. I enjoy aviation videos.
I loved how they had to have Malcolm McDowell scream right before he died, thats the way a villian should die. Have you ever thought of doing a reaction to WWII fighter gun camera footage? I'd love to get your expert input.
14:20 Always struck me as silly that the SWAT chopper actually follows him around the drain canals, under the bridges and whatnot. Like... why? They could just fly above the bridges and shoot from there or wait for him to come out.
@11:58 I used to visit the LAPD SWAT armory as a kid. I even got to climb around in the Ram. SWAT had all sorts of fun toys including MP5s, M16s, AT4, and a very large weapon for the RAM or helicopter (.50BMG or 20mm, I don't remember). During the San Diego police chase of the stolen M60 tank, the SD police ask dispatch to call LAPD because they knew LAPD had an anti tank weapon.
For the loops, Blue Thunder was an RC model and you can tell because you can see smaller stabilizing blades between the TWO main rotor blades. The model was changed to a 2 blade rotor system instead of 3.
Yes! Love Blue Thunder. Thanks for reviewing it. I was 22 and a rookie cop when it came out. We started calling our ride-a-longs JAFO, until some brass saw the movie too. Lol
I like the look of Blue Thunder helicopter. The large slab glass reminds me of early Hind helicopters while the rest is very Cobra like. So much collateral damage. LOL.
Agree with you 100% Mover. The Lady (Airwolf) remains my favorite and has very nice lines. Blue Thunder is very ugly, but I grew up in the 80's, and Blue Thunder remains a nostalgic guilty pleasure of mine. Love the theme.
its uglier but that was the point.. Blue Thunder was designed after the Apache and Cobras and to look as pure military as posible.. so it was ugly but functional.. all square due to armor panels.. sensor pods and weapons hanging from outside.. Airwolf on the other hand was designed to be able to disguise itself in civilian traffic .. (wolf with a sheep skin logo) so it also looked much nicer while less realistic as a combat helo
@@sparrowlt I should clarify. By ugly, I mean beautiful ugly. Blue Thunder is one of my all time favorite movies of the 80's. To this day I still watch it from time to time. I also own Airwolf season 1 - 3 on DVD. I agree that BT is much more realistic in its armament. Airwolf is pure fantasy. But I've been in love with Airwolf from the first time I laid eyes on her as she rose from behind the ridge and flew towards the camera.
Blue thunder was intended to be a scary beast in the wrong hands. Imagine the helicopter in it's "urban pacification" role during a protest gone bad. Airwolf i intended to be a pretty but violent killer whale that only eats bad guys.
,, Absolutely love your input on Blue thunder movie. As a chopper pilot back in the 90s. I think Hollywood did pretty good on the stunt chase scenes. However, it would be awesome if you could, Check out another helicopter classic. And, Share your thoughts on. The movie is , Capricorn One (1977). There's a lot to really dig into. 2 Hughes 500s/ A Lear 25/ 1 Bi- plane. This Movie is what got me into aviation.
Blue Thunder is a heavily modified Gazelle, and the cues of it being a Gazelle are as follows: #1- The tail rotor is the Fenstrom type, #2- The main rotor is a three bladed design, #3- The aircraft has an exposed drive shaft for the tail rotor, and #4- The chopper has a single engine with a very promonant exhaust, along with externally mounted oil coolers.
Great review. I worked for the Army's Aviation Command in the late 80's and through most of the 90's. When I started, I learned that the we didn't have "whisper mode", so no Forest Lawn for you....Although, the NOTAR and some of the SF helicopters could sneak up on you; I had a NOTAR sneak up on me when I was sitting on the steps of MDHC in Mesa while watching the CAF B-17 doing touch & go's at Falcon Field. The Apache had an impressive targeting package, but only had the single barrel 30mm "Chain Gun." I personally liked Blue Thunder a little better than Airwolf, but both fueled my love of helicopters. Probably my favorite scene was the "raining chickens" scene. My favorite movie quote is when the bad guy is saying Murphy checks his sanity with a wristwatch, and Warren Oates says, "What do you check yours with, a dipstick?"
Great, underrated movie... loved the soundtrack as well! Just great and fun stunt flying. More realistic than slick cool Airwolf :) (except the hugely nose-heavy cannon..) Fun to hear how accurate things were, though nobody would ever approve shootdowns over populated LA! collateral damage...
As the JetRanger plummets towards the construction site hut, its altimeter show decent through 2000 ft....??? Jim Gavin is my hero. His name is at the end of nearly every great action film from the 80s that needed a pilot. He lived in the 'pre health and safety' era and must have had so much fun. Often acted as a pilot too which must have made it a lot easier for continuity. This film was very underrated at the time I think. RIP Jim Gavin & Warren Oates
I wish Moover had seen this one back in the day. Because some context helps. "Basically an Apache". Well yeah. But in 1983 the only people who knew what an Apache looked like read Aviation and Space Technology News Leakly. The Apache didn't enter service until 1986. It was just approved for production in '83. So this movie was actually the publics first exposure to ideas that we would later become so familiar with from the Apache. That heads up display, gun aiming helmet for example. In '83 that was still "future tech" as far as everyone knew. The whole backstory of the worry about Terrorists ahead of the LA Olympics was a thing. Munich was still fresh in everybody's minds. And yeah actually Airwolf did rush to market to capitalize on the huge reaction to this movie. They actually made a Blue Thunder TV show as well. But Airwolf beat it to air and was better. The Blue Thunder show was just a cop show. It lasted half a season.
I really appreciate someone finally putting some spotlight on this movie, although I do not agree with some of the things you say; I mean, I'm not gonna pretend I know squat about flying, but I do know a thing or two about script-writing and I've read one of the earlier drafts for this one too =) To address the elephant first; yes Airwolf was a better TV series, but Blue Thunder was a better movie and frankly the first two AW episodes, aka the TV pilot was shit storywise imho. Funny enough the original design for the Thunder was to be to be very slick, advanced and aerodynamic, but due to technical limitations they ended up building a new canopy for a Gazelle and from what I've read the thing was a real hog when it came to flying, which makes it a testament to how good the stunt team actually was. And since Apache was made around the same time, it added to the realism and helped with the marketing, even if it made BT ugly. My biggest gripe with the movie story-wise was Murphy being selected as the 'civilian' test pilot due to his mental issues and service history BUTT, it checks itself from a plot perspective, because in the end it channels him to do the one thing he could the movie finale. MINOR SPOILER: As for the climax itself, Murph was shown to avoid civilian casualties from the start, and he wasn't really the one who fired these missiles, so it was arguably a case of self-defense, plus if he really was that blood thirsty, why didn't he kill the pilot? He was right there, defenseless. On a side note, I've always thought it was kinda lame that after facing planes the final boss is another helicopter, but in the end that battle is way more personal, and therefore better. And yes Cochrane was meant to be a prick =3 And Malcolm McDowell played him beautifully.
From what I remember Murph was selected was so the project would fail. And why Cochrane tried to kill him on that check ride. It was a project someone wanted to fail. From what I remember from the series. It was some big conspiracy thing.
Finally, the Blue Thunder video is out of UA-cam jail. 😆 Congratulations Mover, you never disappoint you are such a role model, like it or not. Kick the tires and light the fires! 🔥
I forgot about this film! I think the helicopter actually looks really cool :) Nice flying scenes, I can't believe he used civilian buildings to evade the missiles!
The stunt pilot and coordinator was legendary stunt pilot James W Gavin, who also did the crazy helicopter flying in 'Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry' (1974). He did lots helicopter flying in movies and TV shows, including numerous Clint Eastwood films.
I loved Blue Thunder growing up, Air wolf I feel takes place in the Power Rangers universe because its waaay too unrealistic. You'll probably hate my fan made movie with the Vic Viper vs Air wolf dog fight. I also got a Top Gun vs Firefox.
I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on the anime Yukikaze, all about pilots and aircraft. Yes, there are some silly scenes (like a plane flying backwards), but it also uses a lot of jargon and expects the audience to know or do their own research.
Malcolm Mcdowell is TERRIFIED of flying yet they got him up in the chopper. In the scenes where he looks nervous and on edge in the helicopters its because he was. He HATES flying. LOL. Props to him for getting up there tho.
Agreed, the helicopter flying in Deadly Encounter is amazing! Some of the best ever!! Rumor has it they had to film in Mexico because the FAA said…. NO WAY! Lol Watch the movie and you’ll see why.
The big difference between Airwolf and Blue Thunder is that Blue Thunder had cultural impact. No one could watch Airwolf and believe that a supersonic helicopter was flying around. Blue Thunder actually got conspiracy theorists worrying about mysterious "black helicopters" spying on the public -- which was a testament to how realistic it was. They pulled in consultants to make sure that everything on the chopper was technically possible at that time (with the exception of Whisper Mode).
"At least they didn't try and say it was supersonic" So here's a thing about the Blue Thunder spinoff TV series. Columbia had actually been toying with doing a sequel to the movie, until they heard CBS were doing Airwolf and they were *not* happy with CBS for "ripping them off", so they went ahead with a TV show even though the movie's writers (Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby) told them "It won't work as a series". Airwolf made it to air just ahead of Blue Thunder, and rather quickly it was apparent that Airwolf was the better show, so Columbia and ABC began very obviously trying to compete with Airwolf and you can see this actually translating into changes to the Blue Thunder helicopter week by week as they 'borrowed' elements from Airwolf. By episode 3, Blue Thunder's helmet visor has gone from being a standard manual pull-down visor to an automatic that slides down when the gun turret is activated. Chaney starts referring to the Turbine Boost as "Turbo Thrust" and its use was usually accompanied by an unconvincing shot of a jet of flame belching out of Blue Thunder's main turbine. Last but not least, in the final episode when Chaney is showing off features "...you can only find in Blue Thunder" (his words), he states that the ship can do speeds " ...close to Mach 1". Which is patently ridiculous but at this point the writing was already on the wall for the show (hell Dana Carvey didn't even show up for the last episode). (Also, someone at Columbia had a real hard-on for the Seiko Voice Note wristwatch; not only are Bubba and Ski wearing them in Blue Thunder, but all four Ghostbusters wore them in the original movie)
"He's definitely not doing 600 knots at 150 feet." Or, well, at any altitude. Also, what sort of warhead did that AIM-9 have? Or were they storing thousands of gallons of fuel inside the bar-b-q shop? And final gripe - in the helo dogfight, when he loses visual, why didn't he just look for him from above the buildings?
When I saw that with my dad in the theater, I remember him laughing about the sheer destruction caused by one Sidewinder. He said "They aren't firing Phoenixes!"
The only redeeming feature of _Airwolf_ was the theme music. Fight me. Okay, I actually enjoyed the show for the characters, but the helicopter demanded far too much suspension of disbelief, and its capabilities seemed to change weekly based on plot convenience.
17:51 That's the exact same flight stick used for the Colonial Vipers in the pilot for the original Battlestar Galactica versus the one you see in closeups with FIRE, TURBO, and IM in the series.
Hello! i have used your face in one of my videos, in some kind of merchandising joke, i hope u don't mind! Cya, thx for everything! you do an awesome work!
blue thunder was meant to look practical not elegant as air-wolf was. also it was meant to look manacing. btw- jafo is shorthand for just another f#@&ing observer. the movie was innovative in it's time and was quite popular. the closest in appearance to it is the apache ah64.
The pilot was Frank Murphy, former Vietnam Huey Pilot, so its entirely plausible he understands tactics and some basic concept of how to evade missiles. His nemesis was british raised, but migrated to the US and is a Lt Col. in the US Army, he is wearing a US Uniform the entire time. Blue Thunder had a M61 Vulcan, where as the AH-1H thru W has a M197 20mm Tri-barrel Gatling. 7:04 - it tells you in the movie what JAFO meant. lol 10:15 yeah, he pulled the bulb out for some random indicator, the fuses are in the very next sequence on the right rear bulkhead behind his left shoulder. 10:45 - 150 Kts for a SA-342 Gazelle is not really fast. their max cruise at sea level is 143kts with economical at 126 kts, VNE being 190 11:05 - yes, if you watch the behind the scenes special feature, the pilots said it was nose heavier than iron plates on the nose and stubborn to all hell and back during shoots. Notice during the loop the rotor system changes on both aircraft. The MD-500 went to some kind of 2-blade system that matches the now 2-blade Gazelle. These were actually model R/C Helicopters to get the "loop" scene, since neither aircraft was a rigid rotor system like the Lynx or the Bo-105. Source: Behind the Scenes special feature. Yes Airwolf is KING.
It’s amazing how the pilots really flew the aircraft and not cg must appreciate the skill and balls to do that lol. Can’t imagine doing that in these days.
I love so much about this movie... the camera angles, the editing, the writing, the acting, the music... love love love it. Chile rellenos and margaritas for everybody!
I wouldn't say Blue Thunder is an ugly helictoper. I loved the looks of it. But Airwolf is just Airwolf, the coolest thing ever made for television. I think they made a Blue Thunder TV show after this movie but it flopped. Roy Scheider was an awesome actor, miss him. And details are very good, great work from the team. And I think it's possible to hit an F-16 with canons like this. I mean there are stationary AA guns and they worked pretty good when we look at Vietnam so why not hitting one with an helicopter. And talking about Vietnam: what about the movie "Flight of the Intruder" next?
I think it's more of a question of range. The F-16 looked to be well over a mile away, so the M61 on Blue Thunder wouldn't be able to hit at that range.
I got so excited when I saw this in my feed. One of my favorite series on one of my favorite channels covering one of my favorite movies from my childhood
The stick for the "F-16" is from a Grumman OV-1 Mohawk. They used the same stick for the Vipers in the original Battlestar Galactica. It had the same markings for a few episodes before they changed the markings for the Vipers.
The stick on the F-16 is from an OV-1 Mohawk. It was leftover from the Battlestar Galactica series, where it was used as the control stick for the Viper. So, yes, an artifact from the OG BSG Viper was used to simulate a control stick of a plane that was nicknamed the Viper because of BSG. The circle is complete.
I would have been 6 or 7 when this came out. I vividly remember going to see if with my parents in the theater. And shortly into the movie having my eyes covered by my Mom and us leaving the theater and not coming back. I don't think I have ever tried to watch it again until now. Seeing the yoga scene makes that all make sense now.
Another note, at the time of the movie and until recent days, March AFB never had F-16s based there. The Guard unit had fighters, although they were still F-4 Phantoms. Dean Paul Martin, actor Dean Martin's son, passed away in a F-4 when he tragically crashed in the San Bernardino mountains in 1987. And agreed, as I worked on fighters for a bunch of my career, the ejection seat in the F-16 had a center ejection pull on the MK-18 seat; the side pull in the movie is more like the F-15's ACES II ejection seat.
I loved this in the 80s! Haven’t seen it since but still remember that loop at the end! My dad was a pilot and almost choked watching a helicopter supposedly loop 🤣🤣
"Tonnerre de Feu" was one of my favourite movies as a kid, our family was posted to France to buy helicopters for the OZ government from Aerospatiale. It was a big deal to do a 360 back then - nice memories - thanks :-)
A TV show spinoff did come out a year later in 1984. It only lasted 11 episodes and starred James Farentino (The Final Countdown), Dana Carvey (SNL), Bubba Smith (NFL player & Police Academy movies), and Dick Butkus (NFL player).
My favorite line comes after the failed test:
Fletcher: One civilian dead for every ten terrorists. That's an acceptable ratio.
Frank Murphy: [Leaning closer to Braddock] Unless you're one of the civilians!
I was hoping Mover was going to play that clip.
The best line ever written in a script is in this movie:
"You're supposed to be stupid; don't abuse the privilege!"
When your walking on eggs, dont hop.
This thing is more nose heavy than the Ayatollah.
You know, I hear he checks his sanity with a wristwatch?
What do you check _yours_ with, a dipstick?
F-16 pilot after blowing up civilian restaurant in downtown L.A.: "HOLY SHIT."
MOVER: "That's a valid reaction."
🤣🤣🤣
Al that chicken, wasted, still makes me sad...and hungry.
_we're going to jail dude_
@@nabilbudiman 🤣🤣🤣
Koreatown
@@ninjabearpress2574 Was not wasted. Homeless people scooped them all up after the scene. Real roasted chicken.
I watched it as a child with the original Movie Ruiner, my dad. An Israeli Air Force Lt Col that was a Bell 205 and later C130 navigator. I remember clearly his comments during the movie, 'that's non sense, can't do that'...
Thank you for doing a MRM on one of my favorite movies! A few interesting points:
The AH-64 Apache was approved for production the same year this movie was in production (1982). Most of its capabilities were not publicly known, so the production designer, Phillip Harrison, extrapolated from speculative magazine articles like Popular Mechanics. I'd say he did very well! The "Harrison Fire Control Helmet" demonstrated to Murphy in the movie is named for Phillip Harrison.
The original concept for the movie was "'Taxi Driver' in the air". Murphy was supposed to grow increasingly psychotic until he snaps. The production realized quickly that they would need extensive help from the LAPD to film this movie, so a cop going psychotic was not going to fly, so to speak. There are still remnants of this original idea in the movie--for example, Murphy's total disregard for the lives of people in the buildings and on the ground during the air battle.
The aerial stunt coordinator was Jim Gavin, a LONG time stunt pilot who has worked on a million movies and TV shows. He and his crew were all Vietnam chopper pilots. Gavin would teach the actors how to fly during the course of the production, and Roy Scheider got good enough to actually control the helicopter.
Roy Scheider was in the Air Force, and washed out of pilot training because he was, in his words, "a lousy navigator".
The LAPD cooperated extensively on the production, even taking the director and others on actual ride alongs in their helicopters. The liquor store robbery scene with the guy in the orange shirt and cowboy hat was cribbed directly from an actual call that happened during one of the ride along flights. The only exception to the LAPDs cooperation was that they forbade the producers from calling it the "LAPD Helicopter Division," which is why the unit is called the "Astro Division" in the movie.
The writer, Dan O'Bannon, was annoyed by the story changes to his original concept. He wrote the aerial battle over Los Angeles to be as complex and dangerous as he could make it, thinking they would never be able to get permission to shoot it, and would abandon the project.
Malcolm McDowell was deathly afraid to fly. He signed on to the picture on the guarantee that they should shoot all his cockpit scenes on the ground with rear projection and green screen. When he saw Roy Scheider and Danny Stern eagerly hopping aboard, he felt bad and reluctantly volunteered to go up. Between scenes, he would have to put his head between his knees because he was so sick.
The real ships were modified at a shop in Costa Mesa, California. The FAA had to monitor and approve each modification. They ended up adding over 200lbs to each helicopter, and they did, indeed, struggle under the weight. The scene where Blue Thunder does a loop is an R/C model.
The chickens dropped in the street when the F-16 missile destroys the BBQ chicken shack were all real roasted chickens, which were much cheaper than rubber ones. One the shot was finished, an army of homeless people swarmed in to grab all the chickens.
Interesting , thanks Jack .
Great insight. I’ve read a lot about the history and filming of Blue Thunder and you taught me some stuff I never knew. Oddly, I work about 2 miles from Circus Liquor. The place where the robbery scene was filmed.
This are great factoids! And the part about the chickens doesn't surprise me.
Jim Gavin is legendary and it's never surprising to see him working on the best photographed flight scenes. One thing I remember about trivia from this film was his focused attention to all things safety in the wake of the the "Twilight Zone" incident. Even as a kid, I recognized him on screen as the likely "real pilot", as he showed up on camera so often, because of the sheer number of titles he worked on. Incredible body of work. The aerial photography on Blue Thunder is just amazing. Great movie, and Roy Scheider is fantastic as Murphy.
Whoaaa
One of my favorite movies! Lots of random trivia:
- RC helicopter and F16s were used for many scenes
- Malcolm McDowell was terrified of flying
- they had to speed up the footage of many of the flying scenes as blue thunder was so slow
Also thought it was funny that they were flying this top secret helicopter around the city in daylight for a check ride .
Props to the writers for having the presence of mind to throw the yoga scene in there. It's sort of like throwing a "Shelby" tag on a Mustang.
I was saddened by the loss of the chicken shack.
Her tan was so even too.
I saw this movie before I'd ever seen an Apache or knew it was in development. When I was 11, my uncle told me one day "there's this movie about a helicopter that automatically aims a gun wherever the pilot is looking!" and I was hooked from that point forward. And it's absolutely the reason why I love the Apache today. When I fly Apache in DCS, I'm really pretending it's BT. The first time I flew with a friend, he was back seater and pulled off an accidental barrel roll and I involuntarily yelled "what's up Blue Thunder!" I guess my point is you can't ruin this movie for me. 😀
My dad's a Mi35 operator (Indian air force)
I showed him this video and he was impressed. His thoughts were exactly the same as yours, he is really particular bout his helicopters so gotta say
You know your choppers
Hollywood never seems to get the proper sounds of helicopters and guns/weaponry right. That first generation fenestron tail rotor was a screamer. It got a bit better in the EC series, but still loud. I still have a lean towards the 222, it had its share of operational headaches, but really loved working on it.
The F-16 stick came off a Mohawk observer aircraft, and was also used for the vipers in the origional Battlestar Galactica. You were right, the sight on the F-16 is from an F-5.
It always cracks me up that Malcolm McDowell kept finding himself assuming prominent roles in aviation movies, despite the fact that the actor was morbidly terrified of flying.
Seven years earlier, he played a squadron commander in 1976's "Aces High", which still ranks as the best WWI aviation film to date.
I absolutely loved this movie as a kid. I met Jim Gavin (Blue Thunder pilot) while working on MH-53E SeaDragons as a Mech in the Navy (HM-15) and Peter McKernan and Frank Sweet (Airwolf pilots) and Roger “T.C.” Mosley at a fly-in while in flight school in Tulsa, Oklahoma years ago.
Those guys were really cool and very skilled pilots. But I’m putting my vote into the hat on Blue Thunder and the Hughes 500 from Magnum PI!!!
Okay, I’ll give Riptide’s “Screaming Mimi” an honorable mention!
This was hands down one of my favorite movies as a kid! I also watched airwolf religiously, but after growing up I tried to go back and watch airwolf and couldn't get into it, blue thunder still holds up for me. Just in case you are curious there is a UA-camr (Nightflyyer)who did the f16 scenes in the movie flying rc f16's.
Blue Thunder is an absolute icon of the 80’s!!!! LOVE IT!
I watched Blue Thunder in Chicago during my first Navy Reserve ACDUTRA after getting off active duty on the USS Eisenhower. It was a helluva ride.
I remember my girlfriend at the time was wanting to see this because her dad flew helicopters 🚁 in Dallas and she took me to see it. I paid she drove. I’m glad you got it out of UA-cam jail!
Blue Thunder was modeled after the early AH-1 Cobra, Hence the square armored glass. Yes that was a light bulb he removed from the button. Its a shame that JAFO turned to a life of crime and tormented a small boy that was "Home Alone". And the F-16 not only sounded like Battlestar Galactica Vipers as they flew by but their control sticks were identical to them as well.
the stick is from a OV-1 Mohawk
@@sparrowlt well then that's where Galactic got them from...
@@vf111sundowner Galactica at least relabeled the buttons (TURBO, FIRE, IM) .. here they left it as it is (STORES, CAMERA AUTO, CAMERA PULSE)
@@sparrowlt If you watch some of the stock footage from BSG some sticks still have the original labels. You can clearly see them in the pilot episode especially.
😂 you beat me to it, yep I remember that control stick from Battlestar too. Haha.
Funny note: Blue Thunder was made into a TV show around the same time AirWolf was on TV. Obviously, AirWolf was a more popular show. Interestingly, the BlueThunder TV show cast included James Farentino from "The Final Countdown" and his JAFO was Dana Carvey / Church Lady from SNL.
And Bubba Smith and Dick Butkus. It was so bad it was good.
There was some great flying in the TV show too, though. Lots of cool planes, too.
@@bouncebynum Yeah... that's part of why the series was cut, as Airwolf used RC models... which was a lot cheaper.
I saw that show in like 2016 after I found a copy of the show at a Best Buy. The movie was dark and serious, the areal sceans of the helicopter were good, but the show was too light hearted, and tame. Almost a kids show.
On the TV show they added the center barrel on the cannon that was single shot accurate. When it fired it sounded like a .38 special.
They funny part of the show was it supported the reason why police should be flying around in privacy invading gunships with devastating hardware, while the movie made the argument this was a bad thing.
Just came across this. I recently went to a week long training with LAPD Air Support. They are very proud of this movie. It was a class of about 50 people and I was only 1 of maybe 5 people that had heard of this movie or seen it. I am currently 42. It was actually cool walking around the Hooper Heliport.
Roy Shreider was a great actor . Blue Thunder and an Apache are very similar so the machine is very realistic . I watched Airwolf also and while very cool in one episode it was at 80,000 feet at Mach something so far fetched . The ep 1 - 2 hour Airwolf movie was pretty good as movies of that type go .
In the late 80s-2004 I was a Flight Attendant and had Roy Scheider was one of the nicest celebrities I ever had on a flight. It would take too long to tell the whole story but let’s just say he went out of his way to do something nice for one of our crew.
Can you imagine if Police SWAT managed to buy old Air National Guard Apaches under the 1033 Program? Everyone lost their minds when the cops showed up at the Fergusson riots in MRAPs.
9:20 how did they keep the stunt men safe from the rotor blades when staging a full sized helicopter crash?
Yes the 80,000feet bit was far fetched but in theory the mach 1 plus bit is possible . As the body would act as a lift body .and disengaging the rotor would stop them over speeding. The big problem would whether they would get ripped off whilst disengaged. . So yes it isn't actually possible but the theory is sound. . We won't mention the weapon load out tho. Shhh
@@animaltvi I get the lifting body thing , hadn't considered that . So where's all the fuel go that powers 4 gas turbines lol It was a cool show and actually the episode I remember where it went 80K I thought was a cool idea " ghost in the machine " kind of thing where it kept trying to start WW3 and though I enjoyed it I remember thinking _NOPE_ when the scene at altitude played . Plus the Bell 222 is pretty bad azz in real life .
I love silent mode. And I love Warren Oates line " I had twenty years in this outfit, when your idea of a good time was sittin' in front of the TV tube, watchin' Bugs Bunny and gnawing on your Fudgsicle!." I actually use that with my help.
The actor who plays Murphy was in the Airforce but washed out due to navigation issues so he was familiar with helicopters.
The stunt pilots on this film were all Ex Vietnam pilots including a guy by the name of Neil Gaven.
Scheider served three years in the United States Air Force as a first lieutenant in Air Operations from 1955 to 1958. He then became a captain in the Air Force Reserve Command until 1964.
I love this movie so much! :)
Mover, I flew with LAPD Air Support Div as a Sgt for 9 yrs. I flew with the best JAFO to work our unit, Jim Mahon (RIP). He coined the term JAFO (Just A Fucking Observer) & the directors decided to use it.
Blue Thunder is awesome. That helicopter still looks cool. Production wise this movie is amazing. With that said, Catch you later!
As a child I loved this movie. I would watch it again and again with my motorcycle helmet on and pretend I was flying a helicopter.
The flight sticks used for the F-16 in Blue Thunder were not F-16 sticks but came out of a military turboprop plane. I forgot the name of the plane. But they were also used in the Colonial Vipers in the original Battlestar Galactica.
Mover this is great!! Suspending our disbelief and taking at face value the “capabilities” of each helicopter, Airwolf was the faster, sleeker looking, more heavily armed, but Blue Thunder’s sheer ugliness and that big cigar-looking gun on the front and all the other stuff hanging off of it from all angles, to me, that was my favorite. My brother and I probably nearly came to blows as kids arguing over this. Gonna have to agree to disagree. Airwolf is the “better” helicopter”, but Blue Thunder will always look more badass to me! Thanks for another great “Mover Ruins Movies”!
One of the best movies out there: If you're walkin' on eggs, don't hop!
Aww Mover. I have to disagree. For me, Blue Thunder was the original. It is a thing of beauty and best of all, the audio is incredible. It actually sounds like a helicopter....unlike Airwolf.
Yeah, Airwolf always seemed to me to be a crappy TV imitation of Blue Thunder. (I haven't seen an Airwolf movie, didn't even know there was one.)
Yeah
I forgot about this movie. I remember watching it and loving it.
This helicopter is actually an Aerospatiale Gazelle that was stripped , and all the turbine intakes , hard points , as well as all those canopy windows . The displays , and the computer on board was props . The flying sequences @ the end were really filmed over the streets of L.A . Airwolf ( while a pretty Bell 222), was believable until they “ sped up “ the video .
He thinks it’s ugly, I mean it is passable for an Apache. And the exaggerated canopy seems practical.
Me too, there’s always going to be those who like a sleek organic Ferrari look but give me a cybertruck! And it looks a lot cuter - sort of elf-like with the little ear protrusions and so that’s going to be a lot less intimidating for a police vehicle that needs to deal with the public in regular duty eg. Traffic control, event monitoring, etc.
Plus the air wolf goes way too fast, the slower pace of blue thunder builds suspense and I can follow the action. Wish bubba smith and Butkus has been in the movie though.
I was born in '81. I remember watching Air Wolf with my dad. Loved that show!
I remember this when it first came out. I really liked the yoga scene too 👍👍.
It’s funny as I love the look and the concept of Blue Thunder . I wish you would have discussed the scene where he was hovering around the skyscraper on whisper mode, and was using the mic’s and flir to see inside the building windows . I wonder if sound cancelling speakers in panels could eliminate a lot of the rotor noise ?
Air Wolf is pretty cool by its own right though . The forestry dept had a Bell 222 land in town on occasion. It was a beautiful looking helicopter , but it member never had retracts , which makes the 6:15 chopper imo
As much as I agree that Airwolf is objectively prettier (it's a 222 so that's a given), I like that they tried to make Blue Thunder more down to earth, at least in it's design. I can almost see elements of a proto-RAH-66, what with the 'stealth elements', Fenestron tail rotor, and the mini-20mm cannon. Also maybe they're implying that the weird thermal lock display in the F-16 is supposed to be like a feed from the AIM-9's thermal sensor? IDK
the thermal thing im sure was to make audiences understand "fully" that the missiles were tracking the helicopter heat and then how that worked out so Murphy could decoy them with other heat sources... I would done the realistic sidewinder growling and the diamond on the HUD over BT but im guessing the producers probably toyght audiences might not get that.. despite characters having said before they could attack BT with heatseekers "surgically like a tummor".
Also funny is that that left "display" on the Viper A isnt even a display at all.. it only displays numbers and text
I think the CH-53 is like one of out of three helicopters in the world that can perform a loop. All others can start a loop but after a certain point, instead of completing the loop, the helicopter rolls right side up.
The scene where the F16 explodes by the gun fire was made with a real RC modell airplane. The person who build and flew it has a youtube channel by the name NightFlyyer. There you can find a videoabout how the scene was made.
My Dad flew little birds (OH-6) in Vietnam. I was about 13 when the movie came out. My Dad was thrilled, but we watched Airwolf on TV together. I did get my private pilots license for a fixed wing in college in 1990. Took my Dad up with me and he loved it. It was just a Cesnia 150, but flying a tail dragger is tough. I was 20 at the time.
Sorry, but a C-150 is a not a tail dragger. You must be thinking of a C-120 (no flaps) or C-140 (has flaps). I know, I owned a C-120. and I started with a C-150 and then bought the C-120 to finish my PPL. A tail dragger is much harder to learn take offs and landings than a trigear plane. EDIT: I did a little research and found that there are tail dragger C-150s available! Sorry, my bad! I learned something new tonight!!
SGD 5K2 Most my of my hours was in a C-172 In college, but I converted to a C-150 which was converted to a tail dragger. It had flaps, and the engine was also a 100 hp conversation. My check ride was in the converted 150 because I finished up with a family member who owned one and was an IP. Kept down the cost. I had to have extra hours just do to the transition. The check ride was not with my family member, but a FAA instructor who knew the airplane. Where I am from, everyone knew everyone regarding aviation. My father- in-law had a 140 which was a true tail dragger. I kept up with my license until It was too expensive to fly. Now, I fly drones from r my surveying practice.
@@paulweatherford5544 I don't fly regularly anymore except the rare times when I'm with a pilot friend. I do fly RC float, sailplanes and anything else that I can get my hands on. Even a drone sometimes. Been flying RC since 1963 or so and controline before that.
SGD 5K2 I’m a little younger than you. I am drawn to the channel as Mover has a full and fair free life so to speak. I surrendered my license a long time ago. I enjoyed flying in my youth but it was expensive. All good. I enjoy aviation videos.
*Blue Thunder* and *WarGames* were each directed by John Badham, and both were released in 1983. Several actors appear in both films
I'm amazed you never seen this until now. Not as good as Airwolf. Now you're ready for Streethawk!
Nobody is ready for streethawk. That was awful.
@@animaltvi Not when your a growing teen 😅 i started driving bikes later then
Can’t forget about Automan. Lol!
Firefox (1982)
@@johnmaddox447 that’s a good one!
I loved how they had to have Malcolm McDowell scream right before he died, thats the way a villian should die. Have you ever thought of doing a reaction to WWII fighter gun camera footage? I'd love to get your expert input.
I love that he covers his face - like that's gonna help! 😅
@@andrewhickinbottom1051 LOL exactly!
One of my fav movies, Roy is great in this.
Apparently he did this movie in order to skip Jaws 3.... good call.
Good commenting! Note: the bolt that got loos on the JetRanger was mounted wrong. Inverted. 😉
That was the idea.
Blue Thunder was my jam back in the '80's!
14:20 Always struck me as silly that the SWAT chopper actually follows him around the drain canals, under the bridges and whatnot. Like... why? They could just fly above the bridges and shoot from there or wait for him to come out.
Also...up-armored attack helicopter...taking fire and damage from 5.56s..............................ok.
The Gazelle is no ugly helicopter.. true it’s no 222 but it’s beautiful in its own 🚁
@11:58 I used to visit the LAPD SWAT armory as a kid. I even got to climb around in the Ram. SWAT had all sorts of fun toys including MP5s, M16s, AT4, and a very large weapon for the RAM or helicopter (.50BMG or 20mm, I don't remember). During the San Diego police chase of the stolen M60 tank, the SD police ask dispatch to call LAPD because they knew LAPD had an anti tank weapon.
what is the ram ? the V-100 APC ?
@@nabilbudiman Yes. When LAPD put the boom on the front, it became a battering ram to get through steel doors.
@@TheWabbitSeason ah that's what I thought, did they already put the smiley face on the battering ram back in the 80s ?
Chief Brody said where was this thing when I was dealing with monster sharks on the other side of the country.
Firefox (1982) used the same set up for Gazelles standing in for Mi-24s during the submarine sequence. Airwolf had the advantage of Ernest Borgnine.
MRM Firefox?
Both helos were also used in the miniseries "Amerika".
The helicooters used in Firefox were all models....there's pics of Eastood holding one floating around.
For the loops, Blue Thunder was an RC model and you can tell because you can see smaller stabilizing blades between the TWO main rotor blades. The model was changed to a 2 blade rotor system instead of 3.
The interior of the "Hind" in Firefox is the Blue Thunder's cockpit--the GIB is sitting sideways.
Yes! Love Blue Thunder. Thanks for reviewing it. I was 22 and a rookie cop when it came out. We started calling our ride-a-longs JAFO, until some brass saw the movie too. Lol
I like the look of Blue Thunder helicopter. The large slab glass reminds me of early Hind helicopters while the rest is very Cobra like.
So much collateral damage. LOL.
Ha, the side stick in the F-16 at time index 17:38 is from a Viper... from Battlestar Galactica. 😆
Agree with you 100% Mover. The Lady (Airwolf) remains my favorite and has very nice lines. Blue Thunder is very ugly, but I grew up in the 80's, and Blue Thunder remains a nostalgic guilty pleasure of mine. Love the theme.
its uglier but that was the point.. Blue Thunder was designed after the Apache and Cobras and to look as pure military as posible.. so it was ugly but functional.. all square due to armor panels.. sensor pods and weapons hanging from outside.. Airwolf on the other hand was designed to be able to disguise itself in civilian traffic .. (wolf with a sheep skin logo) so it also looked much nicer while less realistic as a combat helo
@@sparrowlt I should clarify. By ugly, I mean beautiful ugly. Blue Thunder is one of my all time favorite movies of the 80's. To this day I still watch it from time to time. I also own Airwolf season 1 - 3 on DVD. I agree that BT is much more realistic in its armament. Airwolf is pure fantasy. But I've been in love with Airwolf from the first time I laid eyes on her as she rose from behind the ridge and flew towards the camera.
@@sparrowlt Airwolf was a Agusta/Bell helicopter ,no modification at all for the movie/tv series just a passenger helicopter with its two tone colour.
@@amuxpatch2798 it was moded adding wider body extensions for the extra engines and weapon pods and had extra body over the rear windows..
Blue thunder was intended to be a scary beast in the wrong hands. Imagine the helicopter in it's "urban pacification" role during a protest gone bad. Airwolf i intended to be a pretty but violent killer whale that only eats bad guys.
,, Absolutely love your input on Blue thunder movie. As a chopper pilot back in the 90s. I think Hollywood did pretty good on the stunt chase scenes. However, it would be awesome if you could, Check out another helicopter classic. And, Share your thoughts on. The movie is , Capricorn One (1977). There's a lot to really dig into. 2 Hughes 500s/ A Lear 25/ 1 Bi- plane. This Movie is what got me into aviation.
Blue Thunder is a heavily modified Gazelle, and the cues of it being a Gazelle are as follows: #1- The tail rotor is the Fenstrom type, #2- The main rotor is a three bladed design, #3- The aircraft has an exposed drive shaft for the tail rotor, and #4- The chopper has a single engine with a very promonant exhaust, along with externally mounted oil coolers.
Fenestron...
Yeah....CW mentioned it was a Gazelle
we all know
Great review. I worked for the Army's Aviation Command in the late 80's and through most of the 90's. When I started, I learned that the we didn't have "whisper mode", so no Forest Lawn for you....Although, the NOTAR and some of the SF helicopters could sneak up on you; I had a NOTAR sneak up on me when I was sitting on the steps of MDHC in Mesa while watching the CAF B-17 doing touch & go's at Falcon Field. The Apache had an impressive targeting package, but only had the single barrel 30mm "Chain Gun." I personally liked Blue Thunder a little better than Airwolf, but both fueled my love of helicopters. Probably my favorite scene was the "raining chickens" scene. My favorite movie quote is when the bad guy is saying Murphy checks his sanity with a wristwatch, and Warren Oates says, "What do you check yours with, a dipstick?"
Great, underrated movie... loved the soundtrack as well! Just great and fun stunt flying. More realistic than slick cool Airwolf :) (except the hugely nose-heavy cannon..)
Fun to hear how accurate things were, though nobody would ever approve shootdowns over populated LA! collateral damage...
Bad ASS movie!!
As the JetRanger plummets towards the construction site hut, its altimeter show decent through 2000 ft....???
Jim Gavin is my hero. His name is at the end of nearly every great action film from the 80s that needed a pilot. He lived in the 'pre health and safety' era and must have had so much fun. Often acted as a pilot too which must have made it a lot easier for continuity.
This film was very underrated at the time I think.
RIP Jim Gavin & Warren Oates
The stick is a OV-1 stick which was used in Battle Star Galactica Vipers 😉
So it's correct Viper stick anyway :D
@@6XENO9 "hey..you said get me a Viper stick... so i did"
I wish Moover had seen this one back in the day. Because some context helps. "Basically an Apache". Well yeah. But in 1983 the only people who knew what an Apache looked like read Aviation and Space Technology News Leakly. The Apache didn't enter service until 1986. It was just approved for production in '83. So this movie was actually the publics first exposure to ideas that we would later become so familiar with from the Apache. That heads up display, gun aiming helmet for example. In '83 that was still "future tech" as far as everyone knew. The whole backstory of the worry about Terrorists ahead of the LA Olympics was a thing. Munich was still fresh in everybody's minds. And yeah actually Airwolf did rush to market to capitalize on the huge reaction to this movie. They actually made a Blue Thunder TV show as well. But Airwolf beat it to air and was better. The Blue Thunder show was just a cop show. It lasted half a season.
I really appreciate someone finally putting some spotlight on this movie, although I do not agree with some of the things you say; I mean, I'm not gonna pretend I know squat about flying, but I do know a thing or two about script-writing and I've read one of the earlier drafts for this one too =)
To address the elephant first; yes Airwolf was a better TV series, but Blue Thunder was a better movie and frankly the first two AW episodes, aka the TV pilot was shit storywise imho.
Funny enough the original design for the Thunder was to be to be very slick, advanced and aerodynamic, but due to technical limitations they ended up building a new canopy for a Gazelle and from what I've read the thing was a real hog when it came to flying, which makes it a testament to how good the stunt team actually was. And since Apache was made around the same time, it added to the realism and helped with the marketing, even if it made BT ugly.
My biggest gripe with the movie story-wise was Murphy being selected as the 'civilian' test pilot due to his mental issues and service history BUTT, it checks itself from a plot perspective, because in the end it channels him to do the one thing he could the movie finale.
MINOR SPOILER:
As for the climax itself, Murph was shown to avoid civilian casualties from the start, and he wasn't really the one who fired these missiles, so it was arguably a case of self-defense, plus if he really was that blood thirsty, why didn't he kill the pilot? He was right there, defenseless.
On a side note, I've always thought it was kinda lame that after facing planes the final boss is another helicopter, but in the end that battle is way more personal, and therefore better.
And yes Cochrane was meant to be a prick =3 And Malcolm McDowell played him beautifully.
From what I remember Murph was selected was so the project would fail. And why Cochrane tried to kill him on that check ride. It was a project someone wanted to fail. From what I remember from the series. It was some big conspiracy thing.
man those rivers thing in la has seen much action over the years
Finally, the Blue Thunder video is out of UA-cam jail. 😆 Congratulations Mover, you never disappoint you are such a role model, like it or not. Kick the tires and light the fires! 🔥
.....you stole my line
As an 11 year old, I loved this movie. Always fun seeing it talked about.
I forgot about this film! I think the helicopter actually looks really cool :) Nice flying scenes, I can't believe he used civilian buildings to evade the missiles!
According to some sources (imdb) Roy Scheider opposed to this scene as a law enforcement type wouldn't do that.
But Hollywood I guess, splosions!
@@KapiteinKrentebol I think we know now that law enforcement types are capable of anything
The stunt pilot and coordinator was legendary stunt pilot James W Gavin, who also did the crazy helicopter flying in 'Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry' (1974). He did lots helicopter flying in movies and TV shows, including numerous Clint Eastwood films.
Would love to see Mover trying to ruin the old, British tv-show Piece of Cake, with lots of Spitfires doing Spitfire stuff
Ray Hanna and the bridge scene
Or the Battle of Britain has some of the best flying scenes in any movie
Thanks Mover! Loved "Blue Thunder" back in the day..
Roy Scheider would have killed so many Great White sharks with that mamma jamma.
I saw it in the theatre. I was 14. Roy Scheider was awesome. And this was right up my alley as a kid.
I loved Blue Thunder growing up, Air wolf I feel takes place in the Power Rangers universe because its waaay too unrealistic. You'll probably hate my fan made movie with the Vic Viper vs Air wolf dog fight. I also got a Top Gun vs Firefox.
1983….. I was already retired from the USAF for four years! You’re so young, Mover!
I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on the anime Yukikaze, all about pilots and aircraft. Yes, there are some silly scenes (like a plane flying backwards), but it also uses a lot of jargon and expects the audience to know or do their own research.
Best fighter anime ever, besides Macross Plus of course ❤
Or ‘Skycrawlers’!
@@Winter413based
Malcolm Mcdowell is TERRIFIED of flying yet they got him up in the chopper. In the scenes where he looks nervous and on edge in the helicopters its because he was. He HATES flying. LOL. Props to him for getting up there tho.
Check out a movie called “Deadly Encounter”.
Full of some of the best helicopter stunt flying ever.
BTW. The huges 500c is the hero!
1982 Movie with great helicopter stunts!
Agreed, the helicopter flying in Deadly Encounter is amazing! Some of the best ever!! Rumor has it they had to film in Mexico because the FAA said…. NO WAY! Lol
Watch the movie and you’ll see why.
The big difference between Airwolf and Blue Thunder is that Blue Thunder had cultural impact. No one could watch Airwolf and believe that a supersonic helicopter was flying around. Blue Thunder actually got conspiracy theorists worrying about mysterious "black helicopters" spying on the public -- which was a testament to how realistic it was. They pulled in consultants to make sure that everything on the chopper was technically possible at that time (with the exception of Whisper Mode).
Pretty sure that Airwolf came about because of Blue Thunder.
you are correct. Blue Thunder showed there was a market for a show with awesome helicpopter stunts.
"At least they didn't try and say it was supersonic"
So here's a thing about the Blue Thunder spinoff TV series. Columbia had actually been toying with doing a sequel to the movie, until they heard CBS were doing Airwolf and they were *not* happy with CBS for "ripping them off", so they went ahead with a TV show even though the movie's writers (Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby) told them "It won't work as a series". Airwolf made it to air just ahead of Blue Thunder, and rather quickly it was apparent that Airwolf was the better show, so Columbia and ABC began very obviously trying to compete with Airwolf and you can see this actually translating into changes to the Blue Thunder helicopter week by week as they 'borrowed' elements from Airwolf. By episode 3, Blue Thunder's helmet visor has gone from being a standard manual pull-down visor to an automatic that slides down when the gun turret is activated. Chaney starts referring to the Turbine Boost as "Turbo Thrust" and its use was usually accompanied by an unconvincing shot of a jet of flame belching out of Blue Thunder's main turbine. Last but not least, in the final episode when Chaney is showing off features "...you can only find in Blue Thunder" (his words), he states that the ship can do speeds " ...close to Mach 1". Which is patently ridiculous but at this point the writing was already on the wall for the show (hell Dana Carvey didn't even show up for the last episode).
(Also, someone at Columbia had a real hard-on for the Seiko Voice Note wristwatch; not only are Bubba and Ski wearing them in Blue Thunder, but all four Ghostbusters wore them in the original movie)
"He's definitely not doing 600 knots at 150 feet." Or, well, at any altitude. Also, what sort of warhead did that AIM-9 have? Or were they storing thousands of gallons of fuel inside the bar-b-q shop? And final gripe - in the helo dogfight, when he loses visual, why didn't he just look for him from above the buildings?
I was thinking the same about the Sidewinders
When I saw that with my dad in the theater, I remember him laughing about the sheer destruction caused by one Sidewinder. He said "They aren't firing Phoenixes!"
BBQ, lol, so you think. Early meth lab.
In the first scene the F16s look like they have AIM-9P versions but when he fires the left wing sidewinder it looks like it is an AIM-9L
The only redeeming feature of _Airwolf_ was the theme music. Fight me.
Okay, I actually enjoyed the show for the characters, but the helicopter demanded far too much suspension of disbelief, and its capabilities seemed to change weekly based on plot convenience.
17:51 That's the exact same flight stick used for the Colonial Vipers in the pilot for the original Battlestar Galactica versus the one you see in closeups with FIRE, TURBO, and IM in the series.
One more thing. The SWAT guys do know he is in a armored helicopter right. Lol
I find that part to be realistic. SWAT guys would shoot just to get to shoot. 😂
@@CWLemoine "Hey, guys. Here's some M60s. The helicopter is armored, but just maybe you'll hit something unarmored."
"Oh, hell yes."
Hello! i have used your face in one of my videos, in some kind of merchandising joke, i hope u don't mind! Cya, thx for everything! you do an awesome work!
blue thunder was meant to look practical not elegant as air-wolf was. also it was meant to look manacing. btw- jafo is shorthand for just another f#@&ing observer. the movie was innovative in it's time and was quite popular. the closest in appearance to it is the apache ah64.
The pilot was Frank Murphy, former Vietnam Huey Pilot, so its entirely plausible he understands tactics and some basic concept of how to evade missiles. His nemesis was british raised, but migrated to the US and is a Lt Col. in the US Army, he is wearing a US Uniform the entire time.
Blue Thunder had a M61 Vulcan, where as the AH-1H thru W has a M197 20mm Tri-barrel Gatling.
7:04 - it tells you in the movie what JAFO meant. lol
10:15 yeah, he pulled the bulb out for some random indicator, the fuses are in the very next sequence on the right rear bulkhead behind his left shoulder.
10:45 - 150 Kts for a SA-342 Gazelle is not really fast. their max cruise at sea level is 143kts with economical at 126 kts, VNE being 190
11:05 - yes, if you watch the behind the scenes special feature, the pilots said it was nose heavier than iron plates on the nose and stubborn to all hell and back during shoots.
Notice during the loop the rotor system changes on both aircraft.
The MD-500 went to some kind of 2-blade system that matches the now 2-blade Gazelle. These were actually model R/C Helicopters to get the "loop" scene, since neither aircraft was a rigid rotor system like the Lynx or the Bo-105. Source: Behind the Scenes special feature.
Yes Airwolf is KING.
I'll take Blue Thunder over your "imaginary bottom slung Mavericks and fast only because they sped the film" Airwolf anyday 😀
Blue Thunder is a French helicopter which called Gazette,, this was used by British Army and Royal Navy.
It’s amazing how the pilots really flew the aircraft and not cg must appreciate the skill and balls to do that lol. Can’t imagine doing that in these days.
I love so much about this movie... the camera angles, the editing, the writing, the acting, the music... love love love it. Chile rellenos and margaritas for everybody!
I wouldn't say Blue Thunder is an ugly helictoper. I loved the looks of it. But Airwolf is just Airwolf, the coolest thing ever made for television.
I think they made a Blue Thunder TV show after this movie but it flopped.
Roy Scheider was an awesome actor, miss him. And details are very good, great work from the team. And I think it's possible to hit an F-16 with canons like this. I mean there are stationary AA guns and they worked pretty good when we look at Vietnam so why not hitting one with an helicopter. And talking about Vietnam: what about the movie "Flight of the Intruder" next?
I think it's more of a question of range. The F-16 looked to be well over a mile away, so the M61 on Blue Thunder wouldn't be able to hit at that range.
@@PolarizedMechsRange is a question there, I agree. We don't really know the range.
I got so excited when I saw this in my feed. One of my favorite series on one of my favorite channels covering one of my favorite movies from my childhood
This was a ridiculous movie especially when compared to the Airwolf series of documentaries.
Best comment. LOL.
'83 a good year :) Good movie for it's time.
Yes C.W., you are the awesomeness of 1983!
And remember, "If you are walking on eggs, don't hop."
The stick for the "F-16" is from a Grumman OV-1 Mohawk. They used the same stick for the Vipers in the original Battlestar Galactica. It had the same markings for a few episodes before they changed the markings for the Vipers.
The stick on the F-16 is from an OV-1 Mohawk. It was leftover from the Battlestar Galactica series, where it was used as the control stick for the Viper.
So, yes, an artifact from the OG BSG Viper was used to simulate a control stick of a plane that was nicknamed the Viper because of BSG. The circle is complete.
I would have been 6 or 7 when this came out. I vividly remember going to see if with my parents in the theater. And shortly into the movie having my eyes covered by my Mom and us leaving the theater and not coming back. I don't think I have ever tried to watch it again until now. Seeing the yoga scene makes that all make sense now.
Another note, at the time of the movie and until recent days, March AFB never had F-16s based there. The Guard unit had fighters, although they were still F-4 Phantoms.
Dean Paul Martin, actor Dean Martin's son, passed away in a F-4 when he tragically crashed in the San Bernardino mountains in 1987.
And agreed, as I worked on fighters for a bunch of my career, the ejection seat in the F-16 had a center ejection pull on the MK-18 seat; the side pull in the movie is more like the F-15's ACES II ejection seat.
So they could have made the movie even better? With Rhinos over LA? After all - everything is better wit Rhinos...
I love when you pause to point out what's wrong. I do the same thing. Mover you are legit the best bro. Keep it coming!
I loved this in the 80s! Haven’t seen it since but still remember that loop at the end!
My dad was a pilot and almost choked watching a helicopter supposedly loop 🤣🤣
"Tonnerre de Feu" was one of my favourite movies as a kid, our family was posted to France to buy helicopters for the OZ government from Aerospatiale. It was a big deal to do a 360 back then - nice memories - thanks :-)
A TV show spinoff did come out a year later in 1984. It only lasted 11 episodes and starred James Farentino (The Final Countdown), Dana Carvey (SNL), Bubba Smith (NFL player & Police Academy movies), and Dick Butkus (NFL player).