Review of Air America

Introduction

Unlike Vietnam, American involvement in the war in Laos was covert and understated. Nevertheless, American agencies were very active in Laos during the conflict, none more so than the CIA who organized and trained anti-communist guerrillas. The CIA also sponsored a group of civilian aviators (Air America) who flew air support missions.

Made in 1990, Air America attempts to do for the flyboys of Air American what M*A*S*H did for the medics of Korea. The movie is primarily a star vehicle for Mel Gibson who plays a veteran pilot Gene Ryack. Gene has been in Asia for many years and has effectively "gone native". Robert Downey Jr. is Billy Covington a new recruit with an unhealthy disrespect for authority (like all the pilots). The movie eschews any real analysis of the events in Laos in favour of following the buddy-buddy relationship between Gene and Billy.

Video

Video is 2:35:1 Anamorphic and looks pretty good. There is some sparkling visible on darker scenes but generally the video is of a very acceptable quality. The lush green of the jungle setting is well presented, the shanty villages have a rich earthy look and fleshtones are fine.

There is little to complain about other than the fact that there is little real invention on display in the cinematography. The movie could have looked so much better.

Audio

The audio is presented as a DD 2.0 track and is functional without having any sonic merit whatsoever. It`s slightly compressed and dull and limits the impact of any sound effects. Dialogue is reasonably clear but, given that it consists of clichéd drivel, this is a dubious virtue.

The only redeeming feature of the soundtrack is the choice of songs. These are mostly upbeat period songs with a leaning towards Motown pop. It`s always a pleasure to encounter the sweet Chicago Soul of "Rescue Me" by Fontella Bass. Shame that it backs one of the silliest scenes of the movie.

Features

Features are limited to a dull Picture Gallery (does ANYONE use these?), two trailers (which aside from aspect ratio are exactly the same), and a documentary which is a rehash of the trailer with some inane interview footage spliced in.

Conclusion

The movie attempts to replicate the laughter in the face of the horror of war theme of M*A*S*H. In fact, at one point Gibson says, "If you can`t laugh at war, what`s the point in taking part." However, it fails miserably to match up to M*A*S*H`s high standard ending up as a limp and forgettable 100 minutes.

Gibson is amiable as Gene but does little more than riff off his mad, (not really) bad and dangerous to know Martin Riggs character. Gibson has proved himself to be a capable actor but often indulges in tosh like this. Shame.

An even bigger shame is watching Downey squander his talent on vehicles like this. While Gibson may be a good actor, Downey is a superb one. He`s always watchable and this is no exception but he deserves better. Shame he was destined for worse.

As light undemanding entertainment, this will pass the time. But it never really engages you and it is highly unlikely to be watched more than once.