Con Air Review (Updated)

Con Air


Release Date: 17th July 1997 - Australia


Production Companies
Touchstone Pictures (presents)
Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion

Pictures Australia 


Genre: Action

Rating: MA15+ (Not Suitable for Young Children)

Runtime: 115 minutes

Budget: $75,000,000

Box Office Gross:

$224,012,234 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Cameron Poe, recently

paroled, hitches a ride

home to his wife and

daughter on a plane

carrying some of the most

notorious criminals ever.

But all of a sudden, he finds

himself involved in a mid-

air hijacking orchestrated by

Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom.

As Cameron struggles to 

prevent these dangerous

prisoners from killing 

everyone on board while

they speed along the 

famous Las Vegas Strip,

a government agent on

the ground tries to stop

his overzealous superiors

from destroying the plane!

Cast
Nicolas Cage - Cameron Poe
John Cusack - Vince Larkin
John Malkovich - Cyrus

'The Virus' Grissom
Ving Rhames - Diamond Dog
Steve Buscemi - Garland

'The Mareitta Mangler' Greene

Colm Meaney - Duncan Malloy

Mykelti Williamson - Baby-O

Rachel Ticotin - Guard Sally Bishop
Monica Potter - Tricia Poe

Nick Chinlund - Billy Bedlam

Renoly Santiago - Ramon 'Sally-Can't Dance' Martinez

Dave Chapelle - Pinball

Steve Eastin - Guard Falzon

Danny Trejo - Johnny-23

M.C. Gainey - Swamp Thing

Landry Allbright - Casey Poe

Brendan Kelly - Conrad

Jesse Borrego - Francisco Cindino

Carl N. Ciarfalio - Con #1

Jerry Mongo Brownlee - Ajax

Jose Zuniga - Sims

Ned Bellamy - Chopper Pilot

John Marshall Jones - Gator 

John Roselius - Skip Devers

Fredric Lane - Pilot

Martin McSorley - Co-Pilot

Dylan Haggerty - Starkey

Dan Bell - Fuel Jockey

Robert Stephenson - Ted, The Pilot

Scott Ditty - Bus Guard

Tommy Bush - Sherriff

Lauren Pratt - Debbie (6 Yrs Old)

Steve Hulin - Ronnie

Don Charles McGovern - Smoke

Angela Featherstone - Ginny

Doug Hutchinson - Donald

Jeris Poindexter - Watts

David Ramsey - Londell

Conrad Goode - Viking

Emilio Rivera - Carlos

Mario Roberts - Mongoose (Stunt)

Tyrone Granderson Jones - Blade

Earl Billings - Guard

Greg Collins - Guard

Billy Devlin - Guard

Mark Ginther - Guard

Joseph Patrick Kelly - Guard

Jeff Olson - Uncle Bob

Dawn Bluford - Female Baggage Handler

Charlie Paddock - Transportation Officer #1

Randee Barnes - Stickman

Don Davis - Man in Car

Barbara Sharma - Woman in Car

Tommy Rosales - Cindino Gunman (Stunt)

Eddie Perez - Cindino Gunman (Stunt)

Scott McCoy - Cindino Gunman (Stunt)

Brian Hayes Currie - Cop in Vegas

Ashley Smock - Huey Pilot

Crew
Director - Simon West

Writer - Scott Rosenberg

Associate Producer/Stunt Coordinator - Kenny Bates 

Executive Producers - Chad Oman,

Jonathan Hensleigh, Jim Kouf and Lynn Bigelow

Executive Producer/Unit Production Manager -

Peter Bogart

Producer - Jerry Bruckheimer

Casting Directors - Matthew Barry,

Jeanne McCarthy and Victoria Thomas

Technical Consultants - Harry & Katherine

Humphries 

Art Directors - Chas Butcher,

Edward T. McAvoy and Seven L. Nielsen (Uncredited)

Visual Consultant - Deborah Evans

Set Decorator - Debra Echard 

Costume Designer - Bobbie Read

Special Makeup Effects - Thomas R. Burman

and Bari Dreiband-Burman 

Director of Photography - David Tattersall

Director of Photography: Second Unit - Ueli Steiger

Director of Photography: Aerial Unit - Dean Lyras 

Aerial Cameramen: Aerial Unit -

Ron Goodman and Hans Bjerno 

Production Supervisors - Carl Griffin

and Mark Indig

First Assistant Director - Mike Topoozian

Second Assistant Director - Bob Wagner 

Second Unit Director - Peter Bloomfield 

Stunt Co-Coordinator - Steve Pirceni 

Special Effects Coordinator - Chuck E. Stewart

Visual Effects Supervisor - David Goldberg

Visual Effects Supervisor: Buena Vista Imaging -

Mark Dornfeld 

Visual Effects Producer: DQI - Rae Griffith

Visual Effects Consultant: DQI - Larry Whitaker

CG Supervisor; DQI - Darin Hollings 

Computer Graphics - Gregory L. McMurry

Film Editors - Chris Lebonzon, Steve Mirkovich

and Glen Scantlebury

Supervising Sound Editor - George Watters II

Sound Design - Christopher Boyes and David Farmer
Assistant Sound Design - Shannon Mills

and Matthew Wood

Special Sound Effects - John P. Fasal

Sound Mixer - Art Rochester 

Re-Recording Mixers - Kevin O'Connell

and Greg P. Russell

Additional Re-Recording Mixer - Gregory H. Watkins 

Supervising ADR Editor - Juno J. Ellis 

Supervising Dialogue Editor - Teri E. Dorman 

Music - Mark Mancina and Trevor Rabin

Music Supervisor - Kathy Nelson

Supervising Music Editor - Bob Badami 

Awards

1998 Academy Awards

Best Sound - Kevin O'Connell,

Greg P. Russell and Art Rochester (Nominated)

Best Original Song "How Do I Live" -

Diane Warren (Nominated)


Review

CON AIR was the first movie solely produced by Jerry Bruckheimer after the death of his production partner, Don Simpson. This matinee action movie takes you airborne and is enough to get ridiculous in its non-stop action, corniness, and pure insanity. The film's plot is believable, but it follows the typical action clichés found in every other feature in its genre.

It is also the directorial debut of Simon West, who had an early career producing music videos and commercials in the U.K. before he journeyed to Hollywood. He was fantastic at directing CON AIR and took great pride in its storyline, action sequences, and editing. I liked how Scott Rosenberg's humorous scriptwriting fits into the movie, as each of these moments delivered like a punch in the gut, and it worked. I can't be too harsh on this movie for being too violent in its excessive gore imagery, as parents abide it. Surprisingly, it features extensive property damage and a large body count in some scenes.

Nicolas Cage was in his second collaboration with the producer, taking on the role of a recently pardoned ex-military figure involved in a skyjacking plot orchestrated by his fellow convicts. A remarkable actor with a mountable presence to steer a good performance, but not enough to pull a fake accent. John Malkovich was a deliberate standout actor, hamming it up as Cyrus the Virus, the insane mastermind behind the skyjacking. Joining Cage and Malkovich are fellow cast members Steve Buscemi, the Hannibal Lecter-type comic relief, and John Cusack, the agent out to get Cyrus and foil his dastardly scheme.

At its best, CON AIR was a colourful and explosive popcorn film, widely considered a must-see for anyone who hasn't seen it before.

Star rating: (7/10) Good Movie

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