Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

LeonLouisRicci A Great Big Hit When it Came Out, This Conspiracy/Action Movie is Remembered Fondly by Fans Who Viewed it in the Theatres in 1983. But Today, the Action is OK but Not That Great Considering. However, it was More Prophetic than Originally Planned. The Blue Thunderous Machine is Perhaps a Cloning of Wireless and Warrantless Surveillance Technology and Drones. This Makes the Movie Haunting and Thought Provoking When Audiences Rediscovered it in Recent Years.The Film Takes its Theme Almost to the Background in the Way it Focuses on the Aerial Action and the Sting of Big Brother is Relegated to "Whisper Mode". The Muted Message, Today, can be Heard Loud and Clear.It's a Fun Film Nevertheless and Delivers its Thrills in an Over-the Top, Sometimes Reckless Abandon of Real Life Consequences. Roy Scheider and Malcolm McDowell are Good-Bad Guys and Their Characters are Just This Side of Stereotype.The Film Holds Up Pretty Well and is Worth a Watch for What it Does Best, and Despite its Reluctance to Go Deep in the Weeds of the Troubling Scenario, the Movie Manages to be Quite Unsettling, Albeit in its Near Subliminal Story of What Was to Come and It Did Come in a Multitude of Ways. The Aforementioned Surveillance, Drones, and the Militarization of the Police Force.

verbusen Memories, I would have been 19 at the time in Southern Cal, and in the Navy. Dating a hot chick who had a Firebird like Rockford had (except it was yellow), I watched this film and was so blown away I decided to go back and take her that time (lol). I was still blown away. The ending is just awesome when Scheider takes on the jets, just the most awesome thing ever, really. Also, this film reinforced my love for McDowell, he is perfect here and my second favorite role he played (first being Clockwork Orange of course). Stern is also really good here in a uncharacteristic good guy role. But Scheider is the main man here, he was on the crest of his fame, I had watched him in Jaws and also in Marathon Man, here he was the main man, (outside of the helo). Does it hold up well now to a contemporary viewer? Maybe not a 10 but it should at least rate a 8, great early 80's action film.

Mr-Fusion "Blue Thunder" . . . isn't this that movie where Roy Scheider uncovers a government conspiracy and then loops a wicked military chopper? You betcher sweet ass it is! And it's a shame the helicopter didn't talk. I mean, the comic potential of a reckless pilot and his snappy chopper is enough to salivate over. A more cynical person might find all of this silly, but not me. I was caught up in the whole thing; the car chases, the dofight through downtown L.A. It all works somehow, both as police procedural and conspiracy flick.Scheider lends a great presence to validate the whole thing, Malcolm McDowell is a real slime of the first order, but neither one of these guys has a thing on the real star of the movie: ol' Blue, herself. That is one menacing attack helicopter, loaded for bear and still sleek. I can only imagine what it was like back in the '80s to be a bystander on the ground watching them film this beast in the air.7/10

Woodyanders Scrappy and traumatized, yet still sharp and capable Vietnam veteran and ace helicopter pilot Frank Murphy (an excellent performance by Roy Scheider) is assigned to try out a new hi-tech helicopter called Blue Thunder. When Murphy discovers that said chopper is going to be as a weapon by a group of nefarious folks led by his sinister old-time nemesis Colonel F.E. Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell in splendidly smug, cocky, and utterly slimy form), he decides to go public with the information. Director John Badham, working from a totally preposterous, but witty and engrossing script by Dan O'Bannon and Don Jacoby, relates the captivating plot at a constant brisk pace, builds a good deal of tension, stages the action set pieces with real rip-roaring aplomb (the climactic cat and mouse helicopter showdown between Murphy and Cochrane completely smokes), and tops everything off with an amusing line in sharp sarcastic humor (favorite line: "When you're walkin' on eggs, don't hop"). This film further benefits from sturdy acting from a bang-up cast: Scheider effortlessly carries the picture with his natural charisma and makes for a totally likable hero (this movie earns extra points for not depicting a 'Nam vet as one of your standard crazed bloodthirsty psychos), Daniel Stern provides funny and engaging comic relief as Murphy's goofball partner Richard Lymangood, Candy Clark contributes an appealing turn as Murphy's sweet girlfriend Kate, and the always fantastic Warren Oates almost steals the whole show in one of his very last roles as Murphy's crusty no-nonsense superior Captain Jack Braddock. Veteran bad guy thespian Anthony James pops up in one of his standard nasty villain parts. Arthur B. Rubinstein's robust and rousing score hits the stirring spot. John A. Alonzo's slick widescreen cinematography gives the picture a nifty bright gleaming look; the nighttime sequences in particular are gorgeously shot and impressive. Moreover, we even have a still relevant and provocative central message about how advanced technology makes it easier for Big Brother to invade one's privacy and how said advanced technology isn't always designed with the general public's best interests in mind. Granted, this film isn't exactly credible (a protracted automobile chase sequence with Kate outracing a bunch of cop cars is simply ridiculous, but nevertheless quite thrilling and entertaining), but it's overall a highly enjoyable affair just the same.