Firefox : L'Arme absolue

During the height of the Cold War, the Soviet military develops a super high-tech fighter aircraft - it flies fast, has deadly weapons, and has technology that allows the pilot to control guided missiles with his mind. Basically any army with this baby in its arsenal will have air superiority. Clint is assigned to steal it from the heart of Soviet territory for the USA.

The plot is fairly generic and in this day and age most Cold War thrillers have seem to have lost much of their edge, but this is nonetheless an entertaining film from Eastwood. It is not one of his best and not one that he will be remembered for, but no one can deny the slickness of the plane of the title. The final section of the film, which admittedly does take a while to get to, has Clint flying around and raising hell is a fun ride and on par with the final chase in "Where Eagles Dare" in terms of entertainment. However, the buildup has enough suspense to make the whole movie worth a watch. 7/10

Rated PG: violence

... and by my count this line was spoken at least seven times here.

This is a cold war thriller from Clint Eastwood about a Vietnam vet fighter pilot sent undercover and across the iron curtain to steal a new Soviet super-plane. The first two-thirds of the film are a treat, with a lot of tense scenes of Clint and his sympathetic Russian contacts narrowly escaping capture. The last section is where the film loses steam, with a lot of repetitious, dated fx shots of the jet in action.

Warren Clarke is memorable as Clint's chief contact. Also featured are Freddie Jones, Ronald Lacey, Nigel Hawthorne, and Kenneth Colley. As you may have noticed, there are no women listed; this is the rare film with no substantial female presence at all. The real star, though, other than Clint, is the fictional MiG31 "Firefox" fighter jet, invisible to radar, capable of Mach 6 speeds as well as full nuclear armament. The film also borders on science fiction with the jet's thought-controlled weapon systems.

It is a 50/50 proposition as to whether you will like this one. For me it was fun to see Eastwood stretch his directorial skills in a different direction, and even more fun if you actually remember the cold war...or were even alive during the cold war for that matter.

Firefox isn't your usual Eastwood film, he's almost branching out into Star Wars territory here with this Sci-Fi heavy Cold War Spy thriller. The effects like every 80's film have dated badly but for a movie made in 1982 they are rather good. Eastwood directs himself in what is a pretty average performance by his own high standards. The majority of the cast is made up by British character actors. Warren Clarke is really good but Freddie Jones and Nigel Hawthorne are pretty hammy. Also Raiders of the Lost Ark fans can spot Ronald Lacey playing Semelovsky a Jewish scientist. The first half of the film is a spy thriller and can be pretty nail biting at times as Clint gets his papers checked at regular intervals. Also he's suffering from the same post Vietnam War disorder that John Rambo had in First Blood and that really adds to the tension. The second half is more like Star Wars and is really great stuff. So better ice up at a cold one and enjoy Firefox for what it is, Cold War entertainment at it's best.

"Firefox", while definitely dated, is a good Cold War spy thriller that falls far short of being great. Clint Eastwood plays Mitchell Gant, a burned-out Vietnam fighter pilot who's enlisted to steal a high-tech, heavily-armed, stealth Soviet fighter plane right out of its Siberian hangar. The first half of the film is a John le Carre type thriller – Clint sneaking into Moscow, assuming a Soviet pilot's identity, and making his way to the experimental Firefox fighter craft. The second half, when he climbs into the cockpit of the Firefox, is where the real fun begins.

While entertaining, the film isn't particularly great – apart from Clint's gritty performance as Mitchell Gant, none of the other actors manage to stand out in any way. The jet fighter sequences also haven't stood the test of time – they looked great in the Eighties, but now they just look dated and unrealistic. Certain scenes in the film are little more than padding, buying breathing room between action scenes and doing little else. There's enough tension and action scattered throughout the film to make `Firefox' fun, but there's much better Cold War movies than this (`The Russia House' and `The Hunt for Red October' easily come to mind), and there's certainly much better Clint Eastwood movies than this. B-/C+

Clint Eastwood plays Michael Gant, a burnt out veteran sent into the Soviet Union on a desperate mission to steal the greatest warplane ever built.

Minimal training, mental problems, murderous allies, constant danger. His only qualification - he speaks Russian, he knows how to fly and he fits the flight suit.

What I like most about Firefox is how it really puts you in Clint Eastwood's shoes. His character Gant is no super spy - he's a war veteran suffering severe mental problems as a result of his POW experiences. At every twist and turn of the plot the movie captures his tension and fear. His inexperience and mistakes endanger him repeatedly. His only protection - a thin, unravelling web of deception and a fickle KGB desire to observe a little before pouncing.

A must see for fans of atmospheric espionage films and Clint Eastwood.