Review of Firefox

Introduction

Before Tom Clancy and Dale Brown, the current high flyers in military fiction (or Mills and Boon for men as my friend describes them), there was Craig Thomas, who wrote about the British intelligence services in the Cold War, the demise of which didn`t really leave his storylines much scope for further development.

Firefox is based on the first of a pair of Craig Thomas novels, and unfortunately the second book, Firefox Down was never made into a movie, as it is superior in many ways.

The film stays reasonably true to the book, which sees the Russians develop a new fighter plane, the Mig 31, codename Firefox, that technically surpasses anything built in the West and is equipped with a revolutionary thought-controlled weapons system. Worried that this new plane, if produced in great numbers, might alter the balance of air superiority, the West (in this case Britain and America) decide to try and steal the prototype, and the man for the job is retired American fighter pilot Mitchell Gant.

The West smuggle Gant into Moscow, and he has to get to the airbase, steal the plane, evade the Russian airforce, re-fuel on an ice flow and escape. All in a day`s work for Mr Eastwood.

Video

Yet again, Warner Home Video deliver excellent picture quality from an old movie, in this case 20 years old, which has been remastered well and shows little sign of dirt or noise, the only indication of the movie`s age is the dubious compositing of the Firefox over the live action in places.

Visually, the movie is pretty good, with good use made of locations to keep things looking authentic. The action sequences are fast and furious, and despite reservations over the quality of the special effects, very entertaining.

Audio

The soundtrack has been remixed into Dolby Digital 5.1, and for a change, some effort has been put into making an old movie sound good, with plenty of use made of the surround channels and bass track. Flying sequences have long given sound engineers the opportunity to play with multi-channel sound, and this movie is no exception, with the rear speakers being used generously, which added a great deal to my enjoyment of the film.

The dialogue is clear and understandable throughout.

Features

Extras consist of the movie`s trailer, presented in anamorphic widescreen, and a documentary entitled "Clint Eastwood: Director" that looks at Clint`s career and has little to do with Firefox itself - having said that, it`s quite interesting.

A nice additional extra would have been footage from the Firefox laservideo arcade game, which blew me away when I first saw it in the early eighties.

The disc is packaged in one of Warner`s vile snapper cases.

Conclusion

I had fond memories of Firefox and must admit to thoroughly enjoying watching it again, which is the first time that I`ve seen it in widescreen. The addition of the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound remix also adds a great deal to the film.

As usual in Hollywood blockbuster star vehicles, there are plot holes and a sheen of "as-if" coats the movie, but Eastwood delivers a typically Eastwood performance and the film is always entertaining, building to a nice climax when the Russians realise that their prize asset has been stolen.

Overall, Firefox is an entertaining espionage yarn with good video and sound, which is very well presented on this DVD.