BLUE THUNDER
Officer Frank Murphy, an experienced LAPD helicopter pilot, is given command of the advanced new "Blue Thunder" chopper. But he begins to wonder why the LAPD would need a helicopter so powerful and why it is such a secret.
About This Film
Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider) is a "Metropolitan Police Department" air support division pilot and troubled Vietnam War veteran with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His newly assigned observer is novice Richard Lymangood (Daniel Stern). The two patrol Los Angeles at night and give assistance to police forces on the ground.
Murphy is instructed to attend a sunrise demonstration in the Mojave Desert at "Pinkville", and is selected to pilot an advanced helicopter, informally called "The Special" and nicknamed "Blue Thunder", during an evaluation exercise. It is a military-style combat aircraft intended for police use in surveillance and against possible large-scale civic disobedience during the then-upcoming 1984 Olympic games. With powerful armament, and other accoutrements such as thermal infrared scanners, unidirectional microphones and cameras, built-in mobile telephone, computer and modem, and a U-Matic Video Cassette Recorder (VCR), Blue Thunder appears to be a formidable tool in the war on crime. Murphy notes wryly that with enough of these helicopters "you could run the whole damn country."
When the death of city councilwoman Diana McNeely turns out to be more than just a random murder, Murphy begins his own covert investigation. He discovers that a subversive action group is intending instead to use Blue Thunder in a military role to quell disorder under the project codename T.H.O.R. ("Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response"), and is secretly eliminating political opponents to advance its agenda.
Murphy suspects the involvement of his old wartime nemesis, former United States Army Colonel F.E. Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell), the primary test pilot for Blue Thunder and someone who felt Murphy was "unsuitable" for the program. Murphy and Lymangood use Blue Thunder to record a meeting between Cochrane and the other government officials which would implicate them in the conspiracy, but Cochrane looks outside and sees Blue Thunder and realizes what has happened. After landing, Lymangood secures the tape and hides it, but is captured upon returning to his home, interrogated, and then killed while trying to escape. Murphy hijacks Blue Thunder and arranges to have his girlfriend Kate (Candy Clark) retrieve the tape and deliver it to the local news station, using the helicopter to thwart her pursuers. Kate arrives at the news station, but is almost captured by one of the conspirators; the reporter Kate was sent to find intercepts Kate and gets the tape back, while the conspirator is knocked unconscious by a security guard.
Two Air National Guard F-16 fighters are deployed to deal with Murphy, but he manages to shoot one down and evade the other. However, in the process, one missile destroys a barbecue stand in Little Tokyo and a second impacts ARCO Plaza. The operation is then suspended by the mayor. Cochrane, disobeying orders to stand down, ambushes Blue Thunder in a heavily armed Hughes 500 helicopter, and after a tense battle, Murphy is able to shoot him down after executing a 360° loop through use of Blue Thunder's turbine boost function. Murphy then destroys Blue Thunder by landing it in front of an approaching freight train.
In the meantime, the tape is made public and, as a result, the conspirators are arrested.
Murphy is instructed to attend a sunrise demonstration in the Mojave Desert at "Pinkville", and is selected to pilot an advanced helicopter, informally called "The Special" and nicknamed "Blue Thunder", during an evaluation exercise. It is a military-style combat aircraft intended for police use in surveillance and against possible large-scale civic disobedience during the then-upcoming 1984 Olympic games. With powerful armament, and other accoutrements such as thermal infrared scanners, unidirectional microphones and cameras, built-in mobile telephone, computer and modem, and a U-Matic Video Cassette Recorder (VCR), Blue Thunder appears to be a formidable tool in the war on crime. Murphy notes wryly that with enough of these helicopters "you could run the whole damn country."
When the death of city councilwoman Diana McNeely turns out to be more than just a random murder, Murphy begins his own covert investigation. He discovers that a subversive action group is intending instead to use Blue Thunder in a military role to quell disorder under the project codename T.H.O.R. ("Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response"), and is secretly eliminating political opponents to advance its agenda.
Murphy suspects the involvement of his old wartime nemesis, former United States Army Colonel F.E. Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell), the primary test pilot for Blue Thunder and someone who felt Murphy was "unsuitable" for the program. Murphy and Lymangood use Blue Thunder to record a meeting between Cochrane and the other government officials which would implicate them in the conspiracy, but Cochrane looks outside and sees Blue Thunder and realizes what has happened. After landing, Lymangood secures the tape and hides it, but is captured upon returning to his home, interrogated, and then killed while trying to escape. Murphy hijacks Blue Thunder and arranges to have his girlfriend Kate (Candy Clark) retrieve the tape and deliver it to the local news station, using the helicopter to thwart her pursuers. Kate arrives at the news station, but is almost captured by one of the conspirators; the reporter Kate was sent to find intercepts Kate and gets the tape back, while the conspirator is knocked unconscious by a security guard.
Two Air National Guard F-16 fighters are deployed to deal with Murphy, but he manages to shoot one down and evade the other. However, in the process, one missile destroys a barbecue stand in Little Tokyo and a second impacts ARCO Plaza. The operation is then suspended by the mayor. Cochrane, disobeying orders to stand down, ambushes Blue Thunder in a heavily armed Hughes 500 helicopter, and after a tense battle, Murphy is able to shoot him down after executing a 360° loop through use of Blue Thunder's turbine boost function. Murphy then destroys Blue Thunder by landing it in front of an approaching freight train.
In the meantime, the tape is made public and, as a result, the conspirators are arrested.
Film Details
Director
John Badham
Writers
Dan O'Bannon, Don Jakoby
Keywords
Female Nudity
Murder
Female Rear Nudity
Female Topless Nudity
Nudity
Violence
Cult Film
Female Pubic Hair
Explosion
Police
Flashback
Shot To Death
Escape
Shootout
Torture
Gun
Chase
Telephone Call
Pubic Hair
Police Officer
Motorcycle
Dead Body
Revolver
Car Chase
Helicopter
Exploding Car
Psychopath
Corruption
Rear Nudity
Car
Slow Motion Scene
Nude Woman
Police Car
Two Word Title
Boy
Policeman
Bound And Gagged
Title Spoken By Character
Peeping Tom
Arrest
Conspiracy
Night
Train
Villain
Evil Man
Henchman
Interrogation
1980s
Eavesdropping
City
Los Angeles, California
Murder Of A Police Officer
Sabotage
Sociopath
Prologue
Wound
Female Pedal Pumping
Police Officer Killed
Weapon
Color In Title
United States Of America
Bus
Director Cameo
Vietnam War Veteran
Pursuit
Pilot
Darkness
Kicked In The Face
Surveillance
Man Tied Up
Handgun
Gunfire
Office
Live Action
Ends With A Freeze Frame
Colonel
Power
Crash Landing
Assault Rifle
Motor Vehicle
Child
Police Chief
Memory
Tv News
Chased By Police
Slow Motion Shot
War Veteran
Political Corruption
Exploding Building
Training
Aviation
Armed Robbery
Mustached Man
Veteran
Sports Car
Hiding Place
Target Shooting
Dying Young
Helicopter Pilot
Payphone
Run Over By A Car
Interrogation By Torture
Missile
Exploding Helicopter
Airplane Shot Down
Automatic Weapon
Lapd
Observation
Code Name
Aerial Combat
Pager
Aircraft
Demonstration
Helicopter Chase
Gatling Gun
Ptsd Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Police Surveillance
Firearm
Vehicle
Slow Motion
Vietnam Flashback
Hit By A Train
Security
Los Angeles Storm Drain
Automatic Gunfire
Test Pilot
Police Helicopter
Advanced Technology
Aircraft Cockpit
Prototype
Engine Failure
Crime Scene
Los Angeles River
Pulled Over By The Police
Liquor Store
Freight Train
Speeding Vehicle
Warplane
Speeding Car
Handheld Weapon
Observer
Police Motorcycle
Projectile Weapon
Uniformed Police Officer
Military Aircraft
Physical Torture
Fighter Jet
Aviator
Dumpster
Loop
Helicopter Shot Down
Heat Seeking Missile
Overhearing Sex
Freeze Frame During Closing Credits
Totalitarian Tendencies
Los Angeles Police Department
American Police Officer
Acrobatic Flight
Helicopter Gunship
Helicopter Crash
Aircraft Pilot
Rotorcraft
Control
Naked Yoga
Air Support Unit
Pushed From A Helicopter
War Flashback
Vietnam Vet
Ptsd
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Grounded Pilot
Pontiac Trans Am
Answering Machine Message
Job Suspension
Prototype Helicopter
Weapons Testing
Test Site
Driving Against Traffic
Test Flight
Airforce Colonel
Drive In Theatre
Minigun
F 16 Fighter Jet
Shooting Down An Airplane
Reference To Bugs Bunny
City Commissioner
Flying Upside Down
Male Aviator
Military Veteran
Surface To Air Attack
Weapons Fire
Missile Attack
Police Aircraft
Gunship
Police Rotorcraft
Prototype Aircraft
Air To Surface Attack
Ranged Weapon
Helicopter Cockpit
Two Member Team
Police Vehicle
Male Helicopter Pilot
Exploding Aircraft
Nighttime
Moustached Male
Military Aeroplane
Law Enforcement Officer
Exploding Rotorcraft
North America
Jet Aircraft
Ready Room
Thermal Imaging
Male Colonel
Male Veteran
Falling Debris
Police Action
Animosity
Attack Helicopter
Recording The Villain
Jet Fighter
7 Eleven Store
Nude Yoga
Also Known As
Blue Thunder, Tonnerre de feu, El Trueno Azul, Синята мълния, Błękitny grom