Firefox
Short description
During the Cold War, Soviet engineers have built an advanced fighter aircraft known in the West as Firefox. It is reported to fly faster than sound and to be invisible to radar, and its weapons are controlled by the pilot's thoughts. Fearing that the plane could be used for a surprise attack, British and American intelligence services plan to take it out of the Soviet Union. Their choice for the operation is Mitchell Gant, a former Vietnam War pilot who speaks Russian fluently. With help from Soviet scientists who have defected, he is prepared for the technology and sent into the country to reach the aircraft at its secret base. The film is based on Craig Thomas's novel.
Clint Eastwood directed and produced the film, which came eighth among the forty films he has directed, after Bronco Billy and before Honkytonk Man. He also stars as Gant. The cast includes Freddie Jones as Kenneth Aubrey, David Huffman as Captain Buckholz, Warren Clarke as Pavel Upenskoy, Ronald Lacey as Semelovsky and Kenneth Colley as Colonel Kontarsky, among 56 credited cast members. The screenplay is by Wendell Wellman and Alex Lasker.
Made for 18 million US dollars by Warner Bros. Pictures and Malpaso Productions, the film took about 47 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 5.9 out of 10 from roughly 31,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 out of 10 from 644 votes. A critics' rating of 5.1 out of 10 from 17 reviews places it below both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was released a year after the first flight of the F-117A prototype – the first combat aircraft to use stealth technology. The word itself is never pronounced in the film, but the angular features of the "fire fox" do indeed resemble real stealth aircraft.
- The real MiG-31 entered combat duty as early as 1980 and was a quite traditional interceptor developed in the 1970s. The aircraft from Thomas's book, like the real MiG-31, is a direct descendant of the MiG-25. In his second book about "Fire Fox," Craig Thomas described the aircraft as it was portrayed in the film.
- Leaving the Moscow hotel, Gant buys a Havana cigar, getting used to smoking "to look like a Russian officer".
- A NATO submarine is attempting to surface under Arctic ice with its periscope and antennas extended. In the next frame, after surfacing, neither is visible on the conning tower.
- Initially, Eastwood planned to "film" a Swedish Saab 37 Viggen in the role of the "Russian" aircraft. The Swedes flatly refused, and numerous mock-ups had to be used (a total of 9 mock-ups were made, two of which were capable of flight). The usual combined shooting technology on a blue screen did not suit the filmmakers – the coal-black aircraft, according to the script, had to fly over the snowy plains of the Arctic and against the backdrop of forests, so a special "reverse bluescreen" shooting technology was developed. The footage was later used in the film "Back to the Future Part II."
- High-ranking KGB officers wear standard military uniforms, armed and in boots, including during a reception with the General Secretary.
- The film also featured: the piston-engine A-1 Skyraider (the Vietnam episode), the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the Northrop F-5, the Tu-16, the Tu-154 and others.
- "Moscow Metro" was filmed in Vienna, with German signage and a map of the Vienna Metro visible in the shots. The scene with a worker lighting a cigarette directly in a subway car would have been practically impossible in Moscow in the early eighties.
- A KGB general told the General Secretary that to save fuel, the hijacker should fly as low as possible. In reality, to save fuel, the hijacker should have climbed to a sufficient cruising altitude.
- During the hijacking, the MiG-31 rolling out of the hangar runs over the same security guard twice.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
