Firefox (1982)    Warner Bros./Action-Thriller    RT: 136 minutes    Rated PG (language, violence)    Director: Clint Eastwood    Screenplay: Alex Lasker and Wendell Wellman    Music: Maurice Jarre    Cinematography: Bruce Surtees    Release date: June 18, 1982 (US)    Cast: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke, Ronald Lacey, Kenneth Colley, Klaus Lowitsch, Nigel Hawthorne. Box Office: $46.7M (US)

Rating: *** ½

 Firefox wants to be two movies, a methodical espionage thriller and a rip-roaring action flick. Surprisingly, it succeeds at both and makes for one of the most robust (and underappreciated) action-thrillers of the 80s. It came out in the summer of ’82 against such heavy hitters as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Rocky III, Poltergeist and some little movie called E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (ever hear of it?). Despite the presence of superstar Clint Eastwood, Firefox got lost in the shuffle and failed to attain blockbuster status at the box office. Admittedly, it does move pretty slowly in the first 90 minutes. Audiences wanted something with more action and less talking.

 Based on the 1977 best seller by Craig Thomas, Eastwood stars as Mitchell Gant, a former Air Force pilot who’s approached by government officials to take part in a joint British-American operation. They want him to sneak into the USSR and steal a highly advanced fighter plane known as the “Firefox”. It has three main features that interest the Americans- 1) it can reach a speed of Mach 6 without damage to the aircraft, 2) it’s invisible to radar and 3) its weapons systems is controlled by thought.

 Gant suffers terrible psychological aftereffects resulting from his time as a POW during the Vietnam War (flashbacks, nightmares, etc.), but he’s one of the very few men capable of successfully completing the mission. It helps that he can speak Russian (his mother was Russian). With the help of Jewish dissidents and sympathizers, Gant manages to sneak into the Soviet Union and make it to the hangar where the plane is kept.

 Naturally, the KGB catches wind of the operation and tries to catch him before he can get to the plane, but since we’re talking about Clint Eastwood here, it’s a foregone conclusion that he WILL reach his objective.

 Up until this point, Firefox hasn’t offered too much in the way of action. It’s closer in spirit to The Eiger Sanction than Dirty Harry. Then director Eastwood the director pulls out all the stops.  Once Firefox takes off, the movie does too. Gant speeds his way to safety, by way of the Arctic, with the enemy trying to find a way to stop him before he reaches American airspace. The movie’s climax features an incredible dogfight between Gant and a Soviet pilot flying a SECOND prototype of the Firefox. This sequence looks very much like the climactic dogfight in the first Star Wars movie.

 By today’s standards, some of the special effects look pretty hokey, but that does nothing to diminish my total enjoyment of this kick-ass action movie. The first part of Firefox is very suspenseful, especially as Gant attempts to dodge the KGB as he makes his way to a rendezvous through the nighttime streets of Moscow. There’s one nail-biting sequence where he attempts to leave a subway station before the KGB discovers the body of a Russian agent that Gant killed with his bare hands. Remember the action takes place while the Cold War was in full swing and Russia was still a Communist country. It wasn’t so easy for an American to get around without the KGB taking an interest.

 I think that part of the problem with Firefox is Clint Eastwood. His iconic image makes it impossible for him to disappear into a role and become another character. No matter what role he plays, Clint Eastwood is ALWAYS Clint Eastwood. I haven’t read the novel, but somehow I don’t think the author had Eastwood in mind when he created the character of Mitchell Gant. This isn’t a criticism of his performance in this movie, nor am I criticizing his overall acting ability (Eastwood rocks hard!). It’s merely an observation.

 That being said, Eastwood makes almost any movie watchable because he’s incredibly talented, both in front of and behind the camera. He gives his usual great performance in Firefox, even if I kept seeing Eastwood instead of his character. It’s a reasonably intelligent movie that, unfortunately, didn’t click with summertime audiences. Much like other notable box office disappointments like Blade Runner and The Thing, it deserved more recognition at the box office.

 I remember going to see it with my father and younger brother on a Saturday afternoon (June 26). It was the last movie I saw before getting shipped off to camp for two weeks. Although I didn’t understand all of Firefox at the time, I still enjoyed seeing Eastwood in action and it made my two-week long MWS (Movie Withdrawal Syndrome) a little easier to endure. I enjoy revisiting it every so often. It’s pure 100% movie fun!