Plot: A top secret stealth fighter is stolen. Only Navy Test Pilot Vince Connors can recover the plane and bring it back in one piece. Battling terrorists, and flying with deadly nerve gas, he has to evade his mentor, now the enemy’s top pilot.
Black Thunder stars Michael Dudikoff and Richard Norton and is a (sort of) cross between Blue Thunder and Broken Arrow. Norton plays skilled pilot Ratcher who while out in a simulated flight against a new stealth plane known as Nova, he encounters technical difficulties and crashes. The Nova plane gets stolen by terrorists so Vince Conners (Dudikoff) is called in to retrieve the plane and prevent World War III.
The movie also co-stars Gary Hudson who plays Conner’s co-pilot Jannick who is seen as a loose cannon, but he’s a good pilot and provides a few laughs in a generally serious movie.
I have to say I think Black Thunder is an awesome little film; it packs in a lot to the 90 minute runtime which flies by (pardon the pun) and is also contains my favourite plane of all time – the Blackbird. There is wall to wall action with aerial dogfights, shoot-outs, awesome explosions and even some fights too.
In terms of flaws it is predictable who the real villain is and it’s too bad we don’t get a hand to hand showdown at the end, but it wasn’t that kind of film. The way it ended was perfect and worked for the story they were telling. At times some of the dialogue reminded me of The Simpsons especially when Barbes (Michael Cavanaugh) says “Get me Vince Conners” which for some reason felt overly serious.
Tidbit: Some of the footage is from Dudikoff’s other movies Crash Dive and Strategic Command.
There is some hilariously unnecessary nudity which gives the movie an extra gold star as it adds nothing to the story except boobs.
Although the main theme is a little repetitive it’s still an awesome score which really adds to the excitement of the action and sticks in your head after viewing too.
Overall, Black Thunder is one of my favourite Michael Dudikoff movies; it is well paced, packed with action and is the kind of film I could rewatch on a regular basis.