Black Thunder

Of course I had never heard about the 1998 movie "Black Thunder", as I happened to stumble upon it by random chance here in 2024. And seeing that it was starring Michael Dudikoff, of course I opted to check out what the original "American Ninja" had to offer.

Truth be told, though, I wasn't exactly harboring the biggest of expectations to the movie. But still, it might be possible that I had missed out on a stellar movie experience from writer William C. Martell and director Rick Jacobson.

The storyline in the movie was fair, and it was certainly a watchable movie. Writer William C. Martell put together a script that was okay. It was, sort of, an archetypical late 1990s action movie, with a single man against insurmountable odds and still coming out victorious.

The acting performances in the movie were fair. Nothing outstanding or thrilling, but then again I wasn't really expecting this to be a Shakespearian experience. Aside from Michael Dudikoff, I was only familiar with Richard Norton, Michael Cavanaugh and Nancy Valen.

Visually, then the movie was actually adequate.

Watchable for what it was, but I doubt that I will ever return to watch "Black Thunder" a second time.

My rating of director Rick Jacobson's 1998 movie "Black Thunder" lands on a five out of ten stars.

The top secret prototype called Nova Stealth fighter has been hijacked by a Libyan spy during testing , as the Pentagon launches warning ; the aircraft shouldn't come into enemy hands. There is only one man who can retrieve the plane ; the test-pilot Vince Conners (Michael Dudikoff) . Vince is assigned by general (Michael Cavanaugh) to carry out the dangerous mission and set out in pursuit the stolen plane by means of a stealth jet nicknamed ¨Black Bird¨ SR 71 . He and his pal hot-dog pilot Jannick (Gary Hudson )pursue the Nova to Libya but when they land at the place their objective failure . ¨. Jannick has been trapped and top gun Conners is on the run. Without friends or allies they have to attempt to encounter the Nova without falling into the hostile hands of the military regime and before Libyian terrorists utilize the aircraft to blow up a meeting of the United Nations in Paris, with nerve gas , using bombs with chemical and nuclear power . Vince links with an equally rebellious fighter woman (Nancy Valen ) and blasts away at the ending . Meanwhile terrorist groups are united for buying atomic weapons to realize a nuclear massacre and world big alarm . But also Connors receives help from USS Sarasota carrier commandant (Frederic Forrester) and his assistant (Catherine Bell).

Lower-budget extended adventures produced by Robert Corman about a maverick pilot and his partner undergoing risked feats on air and earth . A standard actioner plenty action , struggles , shootouts and spectacular dogfighting . Dudikoff shows professionalism as crack fighter pilot assigned to get back an invisible jet . Comic touches by Gary Hudson provide some relief from the flights and explosions here . Acceptable aerial photography and functional musical score. The motion picture is regularly directed by Rick Jacobson . He is an usual director of TV movies as ¨Xena¨, ¨Hercules¨, ¨Cleopatra 2525¨, ¨Baywatch¨ and the successful ¨Spartacus¨; and occasionally directs for cinema as ¨Bad guys¨ , ¨A bold affair¨ and ¨Strategic command¨ in which play similar actors than ¨Black Thunder¨ . It's a predictable movie but often exciting . Rating : Passable , 5.

Not too bad for a typical Dudikoff film. Nancy Valen is always a treat but has a terrible "Libyan" accent. Artistic license is taken frequently with basic geography and flight times but if you can ignore that it's a harmless way to waste an hour and a half. Watch for the same guy dodging the same Jeep twice and two soldiers getting blown up twice (actually just recycled footage).

Lots of action in this Michael Dudikoff thriller. Plot wasn't too bad and the acting wasn't that bad either. Lots of recycled footage but it was still a pretty good movie. 7/10 stars, I'd recommend this movie to everyone.

Typical B grade action movie, probably made with a desperately tight budget & in a record time! The series of flight action scenes are tailored for the adrenaline junkey, but they were clearly extracted from other film footage. Don't expect too much on the acting side of things...it is well below par. For me, the worst portion of the movie came via the ridiculous and suicidally dumb Libyan soldiers, charging the opposition openly and without proper cover. How stupid can you get, Mr Director ? And how is it possible for two guys with hand-pistols and limited ammunition to fight off several soldiers with machine-guns and other automatic weapons...doesn't make sense. Even more so, the director finds enough time between gunfire exchanges to allow the "hero" to say farewell to one of his wounded buddies...ridiculous.

On the positive side, I must say, I've heard alot about Landon Hall, and the scene (or scenes)where she struts her stuff, makes this film worth the while. She's simply gorgeous. Rent this if (a) you're a fighter plane enthusiast or (b) a Landon Hall fan. As simple as that.