This '80s Action Thriller Buried On Netflix Is More Relevant Than Ever
by Jeremy Smith · /FilmWe may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Want to see Roy Scheider battle the police state? Head to Netflix right now.
When the United States rediscovered its patriotic swagger in the early 1980s, Hollywood studios were hot to flaunt dazzling military technology that would give the country an overpowering military edge over the U.S.S.R., China and those feisty upstarts in the principality of Liechtenstein. Because, clearly, what was needed in the Vietnam War was more ordinance and weaponry.
Nevertheless, the military-industrial complex was slapping some pretty fancy killing machines, and if you were 10-years-old like I was at the time, this was all supremely cool. Hollywood took it all a step further and dreamt up futuristic jets in films like 1982's "Firefox," a Clint Eastwood actioner in which the star has to hijack a Russian-manufactured, mind-controlled fighter jet capable of hypersonic speed. Alas, aside from the John Dykstra-designed aerial combat, the movie was a bit of a bore.
One year later, director John Badham blew "Firefox" out of the sky with "Blue Thunder," now streaming on Netflix, a bracing action-thriller centered on an absurdly tricked-out police helicopter getting a test run from LAPD chopper pilot Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider). Blue Thunder is a prototype for a fleet of similar helicopters intended to put down potential rioting during the upcoming 1984 Summer Olympics. In general, the aircraft is built for a war zone, but it also possesses a sophisticated surveillance apparatus that can snoop on random civilians without their knowledge. Whoever controls the Blue Thunder fleet is privy to the private lives of Los Angelenos (and, should the program proliferate, anyone in the United States).
Fortunately, Murphy has a conscience. When he learns there's a paramilitary operation working to kill off all political opponents of the Blue Thunder program, he turns the organization's wildly lethal weapon against it.
Blue Thunder is an action-packed cautionary tale about police militarization
If you've read Radley Balko's "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Force," you know that "Blue Thunder" is practically nonfiction (save for the program taking a risk on a disciplinary problem like Murphy, who suffers from PTSD, to help develop their multimillion dollar helicopter). There was serious escalation during the Ferguson protests, and now we have United States representatives getting sprayed with chemical irritants while standing up for their constituents' rights to peaceably assemble.
I won't spoil the ending of "Blue Thunder," but at the time (again, I was 10), I was more worried about the fate of this bitchin' piece of law enforcement overreach instead than its oppressive abuse of a defenseless populace. 43 years later, Badham's film stands out because its title helicopter, which was so cool that it spawned a short-lived ABC series that extolled the heroic virtues of the aircraft, was a force of evil. No police force in this country should be able to eavesdrop on and/or kill its citizens with such brazenness. "Blue Thunder" was considered a visual f/x joyride in 1983 (abetted by some spectacular miniature work), but it's matured into a prescient cautionary tale. And it's a sensationally exciting action movie devoid of CG. Everything in "Blue Thunder" looks real. It's an invigoratingly subversive gem that speaks louder than ever. Do it as a double feature with the militaristic cop dystopia of "Robocop."