Air America (1990)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers (WGA):

Christopher Robbins (book)
John Eskow (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

The Few. The Proud. The Totally Insane.

Plot:

A young pilot finds himself recruited into a covert and corrupt CIA airlift organization operating in Vietnam War Era Laos.

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | CIA | Vietnam | Laos | Helicopter

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Mel Gibson	...	Gene Ryack
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Billy Covington
Nancy Travis	...	Corinne Landreaux
Ken Jenkins	...	Major Donald Lemond
David Marshall Grant	...	Rob Diehl
Lane Smith	...	Senator Davenport
Art LaFleur	...	Jack Neely (as Art La Fleur)
Ned Eisenberg	...	Nick Pirelli
Marshall Bell	...	Q.V.
David Bowe	...	Saunders
Burt Kwouk	...	General Lu Soong
Tim Thomerson	...	Babo
Harvey Jason	...	Nino
Sinjai Plengpanit	...	May Ling (as Sinjai Hongthai)
Natta Nantatanti	...	Gene's Daughter

Runtime:

112 min | Argentina:115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Lao

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Norway:10 | Finland:K-11 (re-rating) | Portugal:M/12 | USA:R (Certificate #30290) | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-10 | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Chaing Mai Airport, Thailand

Company:

Carolco Pictures

Trivia:

The film is dedicated to Mike Katzin.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Set in 1969, a Laotian lounge duo sings "A Horse With No Name," which was not released until 1971.

Quotes:

Gene Ryack: I've seen things here that I could never possibly have imagined, and I've got a pretty broad imagination.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Radar Secret Service (#6.20)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Pushin' Too Hard

Some pilots are willing to work anywhere to "slip the surly bonds of earth" ...

This film rendition of Christopher Robbin's "Air America", the story of CIA's secret airforce in Laos during the Vietnam War has been fluffed up a tad too much. I would have hoped they would have kept the tone of the book which was a bit edgier; more like the film version of MASH. This version makes the "non-war" in Laos seem like a Disney World Ride. However Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr make it worth the price of admission. After you watch the flick track down the book for the REAL story.