Air America

Reviews

CinemaSerf
When "Billy" (Robert Downey Jr.) loses his pilot's licence after a lively misdemeanour, he finds himself working in war-torn Laos with the team at "Air America". This is a CIA-backed operation consisting of a disparate bunch of pilots whose job it is to fly in supplies to local villages. It's there that he meets "Gene" (Mel Gibson) and also where he realises that not only is it pretty dangerous out there, but that his paymasters are into the narcotics trade in quite a big way and, to make matters even more dodgy - one of his colleagues goes in for some illicit gun-running too. It does move along quickly enough, but the whole thing has a rather comic book feel to it. The writing is poor, the themes repeat themselves once too often and there is little chemistry from anyone on screen as the adventures rather lamely bumble along accompanied by a medicare AOR-style soundtrack. To be fair, it looks like Gibson is having some fun and it's always nice to see Burt Kwouk demonstrating just how little versatility he had as an actor - always looking perplexed, but otherwise all this is missing is Charlie Sheen.

GenerationofSwine
I have a special love for this film, if for no other reason that the bulk of my college experience was spent on the cold war, the alphabet soup of PBSUCCESS, MKULTRA, JMWAVE, PAPERCLIP, COLDFEET, MKOFTEN, The Phoenix Program, ARTICHOKE, and my favorite (just because of how bad it sounds) Midnight Climax. So a comedy about Air America was absolutely priceless. And, given that I am not one of those history nuts that cares about historical accuracy I can still sit back and enjoy something like this. I mean, honestly, so long as it's not a complete and total re-write... Hollywood can take it's liberties and edit what happened for drama, because, really, it just means that now people have heard of Air America. And, honestly, when you choose to study the Cold War, people tend to think you're a conspiracy nut when you mention things like this, PBSUCCESS, Russians assassinating people with radiation poisoning and umbrella guns... ... So when something like this comes along, it's like yes... now people won't think I'm as crazy as Alex Jones. And, you know, it features a song from the Seeds (and any real punk fan is going to drool over that) along with one of the better, if down played, soundtracks from the Vietnam Era. So it certainly has the music win. And it's Gibson kind of hamming it up and doing a slightly saner version of his Lethal Weapon self... if oddly pacifistic. And RDJR, fresh out of rehab, proving to the world that he is actually capable of being a great actor when he is sober. What you have is kind of an action movie without a lot of violence, set in the middle of a war zone, and based off of one of our intelligence black eyes in a way that doesn't take it too seriously, isn't heavy-handed or pretentious, masks any preachiness in a fun story, and really gets the point across without having to be Alan Alda at his worst. Plus, it's a movie about skullduggery that doesn't resort to the Mission:Impossible/James Bond high action tropes. So, in a way, it's kind of a spy movie done right and... turned into a comedy.

JPV852
Entertaining enough action-war movie thanks to the charisma of both Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. The film also has some solid action scenes and direction, to go along with Roger Deakins's cinematography. From what I read about this, doesn't seem like many had fun making the movie, including Deakins and Downey. Still, I found it enjoyable even if Gibson's character shift didn't felt surface level. **3.0/5**
Movie Recommendation
- Betsy's Wedding1990-06-22Offbeat fashion student Betsy Hopper and her straight-laced investment-banker fiancé Jake Lovell just want an intimate little wedding reception, but Betsy's father Eddie, a Long Island construction contractor, feels so threatened by Jake's rich WASP parents that he blows the ceremony up into a bank-breaking showpiece, sending his wife Lola into a financial panic.More...
- Camp Cucamonga1990-09-23Standard camp shenanigans and romance amongst the counselors and the campers at a lake front summer camp.More...
- Taken in Broad Daylight2009-11-10Every 24 hrs. after a child's been kidnapped by a stranger, chances of finding them alive diminishes to almost 100% ... The true and inspiring survival story of kidnapped teen, Anne Sluti, and how she manages to stay alive by manipulating her captor, engineering her own rescue and negotiating her safe release after 6 days of hell.More...
- Data Limite segundo Chico Xavier2014-08-14UFO experts claim that after the explosion of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was an increase in the number of sightings of UFO'S (Unidentified Flying Objects) worldwide. Just over two decades later, the Brazilian medium Chico Xavier confided to close friends that when man reached the moon on July 20, 1969, happened a meeting with the celestial beings of our solar system to check the progress of humanity. They decided to grant a period of 50 years for humanity to evolve morally and live in peace, without provoking a third world war. If we live in peace until the Deadline, humanity would be ready to enter a new era of its existence, and magnificent feats would be checked everywhere, including our brothers from other planets would be expressly authorized to present themselves publicly and officially to Earth's residents.More...
- The Cellar1989-11-04A young boy finds an ancient Comanche monster spirit in the basement of his home. His parents don't believe him, so he must kill the monster alone.More...
- Too Much Sun1990-10-10A multimillionaire, whose son is gay and daughter a lesbian, leaves a will with one clause: His children will inherit his money only if at least one of them produces him a grandchild within a year of his death.More...
- Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie2018-04-25Barbie, the most popular doll ever created, is a fashion icon and a target for feminists. This telling documentary features new footage, access to Barbie's biggest reinvention, and examines over 60 years of women through the lens of an 11.5-inch plastic doll.More...
- Bird on a Wire1990-05-18An FBI informant has kept his new identity secret for 15 years. Now an old flame has recognised him, and the bad guys are back for revenge.More...
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon2007-03-03Former yakuza underling Kazuma Kiryū has recently been released from prison after a lengthy incarceration and is trying to piece his life together and distance himself from his yakuza past. Unfortunately, Kiryū's problems slowly escalate as he is pursued by a former associate, the baseball-bat-wielding psycho Gorō Majima, who has a grudge to settle with Kiryū.More...
- Chances Are1989-03-10Louie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and twenty years later, fate brings Alex and Louie's daughter, Miranda, together. It's not until Alex is invited to Louie's home that he begins to remember his former life, wife and best friend. Of course, there's also the problem that he's attracted to Louie's/his own daughter.More...
- Another 48 Hrs.1990-06-08For the past four years, San Francisco cop Jack Cates has been after an unidentified drug kingpin who calls himself the Ice Man. Jack finds a picture that proves that the Ice Man has put a price on the head of Reggie Hammond, who is scheduled to be released from prison on the next day.More...
- UHF1989-07-21The eccentric new manager of a UHF television channel tries to save the station from financial ruin with an odd array of programming.More...
- White Hunter, Black Heart1990-05-16Renowned filmmaker John Wilson travels to Africa to direct a new movie, but constantly leaves to hunt elephants and other game, to the dismay of his cast and crew. He eventually becomes obsessed with hunting down and killing one specific elephant.More...
- Soapdish1991-05-31Celeste Talbert is the star of the long-running soap opera "The Sun Also Sets." With the show's ratings down, Celeste's ruthlessly ambitious co-star, Montana Moorehead, and the show's arrogant producer, David Seton Barnes, plot to aggravate her into leaving the show by bringing back her old flame, Jeffrey Anderson, and hiring her beautiful young niece, Lori Craven.More...
- Loverboy1989-04-28Randy Bodek works as a pizza delivery boy at Señor Pizza to make a few extra bucks. Some customers are special, though: When the order is for a pizza with extra anchovies, it means the female customers are looking for some loving. But, as Randy soon learns, life as a professional gigolo can get pretty complicated.More...
- Crying Freeman1995-04-23A lethal assassin for a secret Chinese organisation, who sheds tears of regret each time he kills, is seen swiftly and mercilessly executing three Yakuza gangsters by a beautiful artist. She is captivated by the grace of his kill and later falls in love with him. An intense power struggle for the leadership of the Yakuza Clans ensues as they seek vengeance for the death of their leader.More...
- Ruthless People1986-06-26Sam Stone hates his wife Barbara so much that he wants her dead. He's ecstatic when she's taken by a duo of kidnappers who want $500,000 ransom in exchange for her life. Fully intending to ignore every one of the kidnappers' demands in the hopes that they do him a favor and murder her for him, the two confused kidnappers have to figure out how they're going get their money, and what they're going to do with the overbearing Barbara.More...
- Antitrust2001-01-11A computer programmer's dream job at a hot Portland-based firm turns nightmarish when he discovers his boss has a secret and ruthless means of dispatching anti-trust problems.More...
- Kedi2017-01-08A profile of Istanbul and its unique people, seen through the eyes of the most mysterious and beloved animal humans have ever known, the Cat.More...
- Weird Science1985-08-01Two unpopular teenagers, Gary and Wyatt, fail at all attempts to be accepted by their peers. Their desperation to be liked leads them to "create" a woman via their computer. Their living and breathing creation is a gorgeous woman, Lisa, whose purpose is to boost their confidence level by putting them into situations which require Gary and Wyatt to act like men.More...
Similar Movies
Wasterville
No data for this movieA struggling drug addict is plunged into a tortured netherworld, where he must defend his spirit from a ravenous horde of soul-addicted junkies.The Creep Behind the ...
2014-04-13An exploration of the making of b-movie sci-fi cult classic "The Creeping Terror" and its con-man director Art "A.J." Nelson/Vic Savage.Kai petaei kai... pid...
1988-03-13Alexis Tompras is a bigamist pilot who divides his time between his first wife, who lives in Thessaloniki, and his second wife, who lives in Athens and works as a singer. But when problems arise in his marriages, the truth will soon be revealed...Birds of Passage
2018-08-02During the marijuana bonanza, a violent decade that saw the origins of drug trafficking in Colombia, Rapayet and his indigenous family get involved in a war to control the business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture.Fighter
2019-07-19MMA fighter loses everything due to some bad life choices. Now local gangster make him back to the sports. But this time he will fight in the boxing ring.Wingmen
No data for this movieThe story follows two pilots who crash-land in Las Vegas.Dinty
1920-11-21Dinty is a newsboy whose fight to care for his ailing mother leads him into conflicts with the other boys on the street and then with drug smugglers in Chinatown.Full Metal Jacket
1987-06-26A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.Trainspotting
1996-02-23Hilarious but harrowing, the film charts the disintegration of the friendship between Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, Tommy and Begbie as they proceed seemingly towards a psychotic, drug-fuelled self-destruction.Cobra Mission 2
1989-02-09A Vietnam vet who specializes in freeing POWs goes behind enemy lines on a rescue mission with a group of mercenaries.Bad Boys II
2003-07-18Detectives Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey of the Miami Narcotics Task Force are tasked with stopping the flow of the drug Ecstasy into Miami. They track the drugs to the whacked-out Cuban drug lord Johnny Tapia, who is also involved in a bloody war with Russian and Haitian mobsters. If that isn't bad enough, there's tension between the two detectives when Marcus discovers that playboy Mike is secretly romancing Marcus’ sister, Syd.Dog Days
2001-09-03Vignettes of the lives of several residents of a Vienna suburb during a heat wave.Eight Below
2006-02-17In the Antarctic, after an expedition with Dr. Davis McClaren, the sled dog trainer Jerry Shepherd has to leave the polar base with his colleagues due to the proximity of a heavy snow storm. He ties his dogs to be rescued after, but the mission is called-off and the dogs are left alone at their own fortune. For six months, Jerry tries to find a sponsor for a rescue mission.Lower City
2005-05-16Best friends Deco and Naldinho co-own a cargo boat in Brazil's Salvador da Bahia. They give a ride to a sultry prostitute named Karinna, and soon both men fall prey to her considerable sexual charms, pushing the bounds of their friendship to the limit.Animal House
1978-07-28At a 1962 College, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.Bringing Out the Dead...
1999-10-22Once called "Father Frank" for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank Pierce sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.Rough Air: Danger on ...
2001-01-01Having taken the blame for an accident beyond his control, pilot Mike Hogan has been on administrative leave indefinitely; however when the airline is desperately short of staff, he is offered to be first officer and accepts, without enthusiasm, received with disdain by the well-connected commander. Surprisingly his come-back proves less then routine, as the captain gets knocked out and a collision as well as a murderer being transported by police require courageous action from Mike, his crew and several passengers, including soccer star Ty Conner.K-19: The Widowmaker
2002-07-19When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.Who Am I?
1998-01-17A group of covert CIA operatives trailing a potential new energy source are double-crossed by corrupt agent Morgan, who causes a helicopter crash in remote South Africa. The sole survivor, suffering severe amnesia, is nursed to recovery by a kindly native tribe who call him "Whoami" after the question he keeps asking. With the help of a mysterious reporter Christine, Whoami pieces together his past and tracks the turncoat agent and his criminal cohorts.The Final Countdown
1980-01-31During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.