"Firefox," adapted from Craig Thomas' '77 novel and directed by Clint Eastwood in '82, is the name of an experimental military airplane that not only is fast, but it is capable of eluding radar. Additionally, the pilot wears a helmet that reads his thoughts and automatically does the assigned task. "Blue Thunder," directed by John Badham in '83, is an experimental police helicopter that is equipped to perform surveilance, both by sound and sight. If the pilot is wearing the helmet and turns his head, the weapons turn in the same direction.
Michael Gant (Clint Eastwood) in "Firefox" and Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider, one of my favorite actors) in "Blue Thunder" were both exceptional pilots (Murphy was able to fly a loop with a helicopter, which is supposed to be impossible, but of course Murphy did it at the end). Both, as mentioned above, dealt with trauma from being in the Vietnam War. Gant's job was to steal the Firefox from the governmental baddies; Murphy stole the Blue Thunder after learning the evil plans of the governmental baddies.
And here's where these two super-pilots take their sophisticated machines in two opposit directions. Or to put it a different way, what is the role of OUR government? "Firefox" is a cold-war era espionage adventure where our government (the good guys) sent Gant to Russia to steal the Firefox before the Russians could use it. "Blue Thunder" is described as neo-noir, where our government (the bad guys) were planning on using the Blue Thunder for surveilance and quelling domestic unrest, so Murphy steals it and destroys it after an exciting but somewhat implausible climatic dogfight.
The difference affected the movies. "Firefox" received a PG rating in the pre PG-13 era, and possibly could have kept that rating after PG-13 came into being. "Blue Thunder" got an R, and like most movies, could have been a better PG (or PG-13) movie than with the R. The enemy in "Blue Thunder" was an officer in the military Murphy had dealt with. In Firefox, the antagonists were the Russian military and government, where the two sides treated each other with respect and without personal animosity. For example, during the final dogfight between Gant and an equal Russian pilot, Gant lost control of the plane due to his PTSD, the Russian gave him a thumbs up when he was able to regain control. You wouldn't be surprised for Eastwood to direct a pro-US movie. Likewise, it wasn't a surprise for Badham to have an anti-war movie - in addition to "Blue Thunder," '83 saw the release of "Wargames," also directed by Badham and also wary of our government.
From here, I'm making comments of the movies more from an artistic perspective than my previous look at worldview.
As I mentioned before, "Firefox" was based on a novel. Which was better? Good question. The movie had three divisions: 1) Gant's recruitment and training, 2) Gant arriving in Russia and getting to the plane, and 3) flying the plane out of Russia. In the book, the first section was a brief prologue, with the ten chapters equally dealing with the other parts. In this, I think the book was stronger - the first section was a little slow for an adventure. However, two of Gant's allies in getting to the plane died after seeing they did their job; the book had those two die not knowing if they succeeded.
Let me move to the characters of the movies. "Blue Thunder" was my fifth Roy Scheider movie, including "The French Connection" and "Jaws", and I consider myself a fan. I only saw three Eastwood movies before "Firefox," and I didn't enjoy them as much as the Scheider films. I liked their portrayals. Both movies also introduced me to actors I've grown to like: Freddie Jones as Gant's recruiter (I loved seeing his joy when Gant succeeded in stealing the plane) and Daniel Stern (Marv in "Home Alone) as Murphy's observer and partner.
As far as story-telling, I will admit "Blue Thunder" had a more interesting start, though both movies smoothly moved into the main plot. After that, I think "Firefox" was better. Part of it was being loyal to the book. However, it also was more realistic in parts than "Blue Thunder." They did end off with the character heading into the horizon (Gant flying the plane into friendly airspace, Murphy walking beside the train track with the demolished Blue Thunder in smoke behind him).
Which did I enjoy more? Let me answer it this way. I watched "Firefox" four times - twice in its theatrical run, once on TV, and a few years ago on DVD. I might watch it again. I've never thought of watching "Blue Thunder" a second time.
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