High-Octane
Summary
Air America isn’t perfect as it juggles genres with mixed results but it still has some choice one-liners, a winning cast and some decent set-pieces to be worth a watch. The 4K looks and sounds great and the features are enjoyably honest.
Plot: Set in the 1960s, Billy Covington (Robert Downey Jr.) is a big-city chopper pilot who reports traffic conditions for a radio station but ends up losing his license due to a traffic incident on the freeway. Longing to do some real flying, Billy is recruited by the government for a secret and safe (he thinks) civilian airline in Laos. Knowing that by agreeing to do it he’ll get his license back, he signs up. Upon arrival in Laos, he soon befriends ace pilot Gene Ryack (Mel Gibson) and realises that Air America isn’t quite what it seems, instead of transporting civilians, it’s food, money, ammunition and napalm that are the real cargo and the pilots are risking their lives daily.
Review: I recently picked up the 4K of Air America as I hadn’t watched it for several years; I remember seeing it in the theatre when it came out, but it’s not one I return to often.
I think this viewing is when I enjoyed Air America the most as I’m old enough to understand the story better. Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. are at their best as they crack one-liners while flying planes and helicopters around Vietnam during the war. I’ve always felt that the movie couldn’t quite make up its mind what genre it’s wanting to be – Drama? Political Commentary? Comedy? Action? All of the above? It still manages to entertain due to the fantastic ensemble cast and some set-pieces the like of which we just don’t see anymore. I can’t remember the last time I saw a film of this scale using real planes with real explosions, so everything looks like it takes place in the real world rather a colour graded, green screen world like so many movies today.
It has a great music score and some choice songs too even if the addition of CCR is predictable. The supporting cast includes Nancy Travis, Tim Thomerson, Art LaFleur, Lane Smith, Burt Kwouk and Ken Jenkins; everyone seems to be having a blast and after watching the special features they all seemed to embrace their roles. I didn’t know about all the controversy when the film came out as I was too young to get it, but apparently there were all kinds of complaints about how it made America look.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Revisiting Air America,
- Short Interviews with cast and crew,
- The storyboards of Air America,
- Feature Clips,
- Flight Log,
- Making Of Featurette,
- Theatrical Trailer,
- Trailer 2024,
- Commentary by screenwriter John Eskow
The special features on the 4K are fascinating as they don’t hold back from discussing all the controversy and it’s great to see Tim Thomerson and the late Art LaFleur discussing working on the film. It’s too bad there isn’t anything new featuring Gibson and Downey, but this is still entertaining and if you don’t already own the movie this is worth getting. It looks and sounds amazing with the planes sounding like they are flying right over your head and the explosions nearly blew my speakers.
Overall, Air America isn’t packed with action for the first half, but when it kicks in it’s pretty spectacular and the kind of stuff we just don’t see anymore. Gibson and Downey make for a dynamic duo and the script has some entertaining one-liners too. It doesn’t always land in terms of story, and I feel like it can’t make up its mind what genre it’s trying to be but this is still a fun time. The 4K looks and sounds great and the features are informative and engaging making this worth picking up if you’re a fan.