Firefox is a bit of a dichotomy in that it tries to be both an action man's salute to the Red, White and Blue and a thinking man's espionage piece. As one can probably guess, it's not very successful in either role, but it's not completely without merit either. It's certainly a more intelligent movie than some of its "patriotic" fluff piece contemporaries.
Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood) is the strong, silent type. Plagued by flashbacks of his time in Vietnam, he's a retired expert pilot living in seclusion until his government tracks him down to be pulled back into service for one last mission. He's "the only man for the job." That job, of course, being to sneak into Soviet Russia and steal the most advanced fighter plane known to man: Firefox...capable of feats that, even by today's standards, are a little far fetched (neural-linked fire control, for instance).
Major Gant is whisked off rather conveniently to Moscow where he poses as a known heroine smuggler (among other things). While some of the cat and mouse antics Major Gant and his contacts in Russia partake in are pretty satisfying, the suspension of disbelief isn't that successful. Ultimately, interesting scenes like Major Gant's confrontation with a KGB agent in the lavatory don't mean much because their set-up is, for the most part, improbable. And what 80s anti-communist film would be complete without some good ol' totalitarian bungling, bad Russian accents and some really bad "root for the home team" dialog (perpetrated mainly by David Huffman as Cpt. Buckholz)?
The last third of the film is probably the most enjoyable for most. It's the payoff where we actually get to see Major Gant's attempt to fulfill his mission: to steal Firefox. While the special effects are very dated, the in-cockpit sequences and circumstances might remind you of some contemporary Japanese space-fighter anime like "Macross Plus" or "Yukikaze." That is to say, it's enjoyable, suspenseful and makes you feel like the time you invested in the movie was worth it.
Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood) is the strong, silent type. Plagued by flashbacks of his time in Vietnam, he's a retired expert pilot living in seclusion until his government tracks him down to be pulled back into service for one last mission. He's "the only man for the job." That job, of course, being to sneak into Soviet Russia and steal the most advanced fighter plane known to man: Firefox...capable of feats that, even by today's standards, are a little far fetched (neural-linked fire control, for instance).
Major Gant is whisked off rather conveniently to Moscow where he poses as a known heroine smuggler (among other things). While some of the cat and mouse antics Major Gant and his contacts in Russia partake in are pretty satisfying, the suspension of disbelief isn't that successful. Ultimately, interesting scenes like Major Gant's confrontation with a KGB agent in the lavatory don't mean much because their set-up is, for the most part, improbable. And what 80s anti-communist film would be complete without some good ol' totalitarian bungling, bad Russian accents and some really bad "root for the home team" dialog (perpetrated mainly by David Huffman as Cpt. Buckholz)?
The last third of the film is probably the most enjoyable for most. It's the payoff where we actually get to see Major Gant's attempt to fulfill his mission: to steal Firefox. While the special effects are very dated, the in-cockpit sequences and circumstances might remind you of some contemporary Japanese space-fighter anime like "Macross Plus" or "Yukikaze." That is to say, it's enjoyable, suspenseful and makes you feel like the time you invested in the movie was worth it.