Continuing my cheating ways with the letter X, we have Firefox ending in an X, which will making it the closest I can get to finding a movie.
Writer: Alex Lasker, Wendell Wellman (Screenplay) Craig Thomas (Novel)
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke, Ronald Lacey, Kenneth Colley
Plot: A pilot is sent into the Soviet Union on a mission to steal a prototype jet fighter that can be partially controlled by a neuralink.
Tagline – .the most devastating killing machine ever built… his job… steal it!
Runtime: 2 Hour 16 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Espionage 101
Story: Firefox starts when a war veteran pilot Mitchell Gant (Eastwood) who lives off the grid, is located and bought back for a new mission, a dangerous mission, which will see him travel to the Soviet Union to go undercover to steal a prototype jet fighter.
As Mitchell is undercover, he does start to show the side effects of his time in the war, which could bring the mission in trouble, with his instructions changing, can he get the mission complete before it is too late.
Thoughts on Firefox
Characters – Mitchell Gant is a former pilot, retired after being captured during his time in the war, he is often considered the greatest pilot the military saw and now he is trying to live off the map away from everyone in Alaska. He is tracked down and forced into serving his country once again, this time going undercover to steal a prototype plane, one that he will be the best pilot for. He does suffer from the side effects of his previous time in the military, which could expose his identity along the way. We do meet the military men that are trying to push Mitchell into the mission, guiding him along the way, helping fix problems on the mission along the way.
Performances – Clint Eastwood is solid enough in the leading role here, he does make us believe that he could be the military man with problems, but one that will get back out there to fight for what is right. The supporting cast are strong too without needing to do that much with their roles.
Story – The story here follows a former pilot that is forced into a mission to steal a new plane from Soviet Union and return it to America, while dealing with his own demons from his time in the military. This is a story that is revolving around a single mission behind enemy lines, where the flying will be the easy part, it will be getting to the plane that will be the challenge. This is slow moving with how everything unfolds, with everything seemingly going to plan, which does seem to take off any edge the film could have.
Action – The action does have basic fight, but we do have the highlight of the film coming from the dog fights.
Settings – The film uses the locations which will see Mitchell preparing the mission, on the mission as, well as inside the cockpit during the daring escape.
Scene of the Movie – The dog fight.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Eastwood’s narration of the events in the dog fight.
Final Thoughts – This is a by the book spy movie, which is only here to show the tensions between America and Soviet Union and wanting to stay ahead of each other in war.
Overall: By the Book.
