Firefox [1982] [DVD]

I have been after Firefox for a while - it's a film I remember fondly from my childhood. Watching it again, I wasn't disappointed! Some negative comments from other reviewers regarding the lack of action in the 1st half of the film - it's really a cold war espionage thriller, that happens to have some fantastic flying sequences.The politics may seem somewhat dated now (this dates the film more than anything else), but doesn't retract at all from it. The (pre-CGI, thank god) flying action sequences towards the end are fantastic - excellent work from John Dykstra (who also did the effects on 'Star Wars')!I've read the Craig Thomas books with Clint Eastwood's character 'Mitchel Gant', it's just a shame that the film wasn't a great commercial success (unjustly, in my opinion), as I would have loved to see 'Firefox Down' (the sequel) as a movie too - there was a later Mitchell Gant book too (unrelated to Firefox), but the title escapes me...Firefox is very close to the book, which is always good - normally, I'm not a fan of films made from books that I have enjoyed.It looks excellent on Blu Ray too!

This review is based solely on the Blu Ray disc and its contents and not the movie.Movie is superb, which is why I would give it 5*, but this edition is missing key scenes that are in the regular DVD edition! For example, the scene where Gant is in the flight simulator and Colonel Kontorsky is being reprimanded by the 1st Secretary. There is however, a new scene with the lead scientist and his colleague in the cockpit of the Firefox (nothing amazing with this 5 sec scene, just one that I've never seen before on TV or the DVD version).Some (very few) of the close up scenes are crystal clear in Blu Ray, but to be honest, the DVD version is just as good, if not better in most places with the rest of the movie.Would have liked to have seen interviews with more of the cast, especially the exceptional British contingent in this film. Freddie Jones (RIP-died 9th July 2019) is superb!

The PQ of this international theatrical edition is the best home entertainment version I have seen thus far.I say international version as we in the UK had a slightly shorter version (125 mins NTSC) due to the policy in 1982 that films should be no longer than 2 hours so cinemas can have x many showings in a day.The US theatrical version is 11 minutes longer and has some key scenes that should never have been removed from any prints. This version is available as a double disc Blu ray with Heartbreak Ridge.The packaging has english text on the front and spine and German text on the back. The menu is a standard Warner menu with english only text. Very english friendly.This is the only version we have ever seen on home video be it VHS rental/retail/DVD and now Blu ray and if you are familiar with the film it is exactly as you remember only much better quality picture and sound.I would give it a 4/5 and for under £10 is well worth replacing your DVD.

I'm not sure whether Firefox is really a guilty pleasure or simply a film I remember as being one. It's certainly overlong and overfamiliar despite its neat Maguffin - Clint Eastwood's flashback-plagued Vietnam vet fighter ace has to steal a state-of-the-art warplane with a thought-controlled weapons system (as long as you remember to think in Russian) from the heart of the Evil Empire - but it has a sort of undemanding Cold War charm that the constant stream of clichés only reinforces. Even the old school model effects in the final chase-and-dogfight section are more fun in their way than modern CGI effects, especially when the Firefox is leaving a wall of water in its wake as it races across the sea or causing fallen snow to fill the air as it passes over the mountains, so it's a shame that much of the last third is played in darkened control rooms rather than the skies.The Russians, naturally, are mostly played by British actors, albeit in this case actors best known for their sitcoms, which adds a different dimension to their scenes as comically humourless KGB types or lemming-like dissidents only too happy to die for the cause, or incorrigible hams like Freddie Jones who simply look like they SHOULD be in a sitcom. There's even an almost admirable perversity into giving most of the explanatory dialogue in the last half-hour to Klaus Löwitsch, an actor with a shaky grasp of spoken English who sounds like a bumblebee caught in a vacuum cleaner pipe. Not good by any means, but strangely watchable, and Maurice Jarre contributes an enjoyable score from the days before he disappeared entirely into atonal electronics.Whereas the Region 1 NTSC DVD is the uncut theatrical version before Clint re-edited and trimmed the film by some 12 minutes without visibly improving it for video release, sadly the European PAL DVD is the shorter cut version. Boasting a decent 2.35:1 widescreen transfer, both versions also includes a 29-minute British behind the scenes documentary and the theatrical trailer.Sadly the Blu-ray release mirrors the DVD release - the US version (available in a double-bill with Heartbreak Ridge -  Heartbreak Ridge & Firefox [Blu-ray] [US Import ]) is the uncut theatricl version but once again the rest of the world gets the cut version that Clint re-edited and trimmed the film by some 12 minutes without visibly improving it for video release, though both have the same extras (29-minute British behind the scenes documentary and the theatrical trailer). Eastwood the director has always had a penchant for pushing up the darkness in the cinematography, which was a problem even when seen on a 70ft screen in a darkened room but is something of a nightmare on home video. While not as bad as The Rookie, parts of which are almost invisible in the sea of black ink onscreen, the night scenes are a problem even on Blu-ray, with detail lost in the dark and the transfer not really able to do much to compensate. It's certainly an improvement on the DVD but it's still a hugely inconsisten transfer that's definitely at its best in the daylight scenes.

Being a big Clint Eastwood fan from childhood, this film of his is slightly underrated in my opinion. This DVD is well worth the price and the copy was good and the DVD was delivered well packaged and protected. I think this is well worth adding to your collection if you're an Eastwood fanatic like myself.

Really loved this film recommended by a friend. Think old Bond. Yes a little bit of its far fetched but it's amazing, some very talented actors in it, and the special effects are excellent given its production era. A good use of 2hrs 20mins. Highly recommended.

80's Cold War thriller. If you are a certain age you will enjoy this film. Sure to be due for a reboot soon. Clint will be a hard act to follow. Some great English actors in this film. May explain why the yanks give it a low rating.

This film follows the book completely. Excellent in every way.