Falcon Down (2001) Online

Being a huge science fiction fan I picked this movie to balance out my wife's romantic comedy pick. Ironically, in spite of all the expectations of a terrible B grade movie, I was pleasantly surprised in some areas. OK, so there was a laughable storyline. Was this a blatant ripoff of that terrible 70's movie FIREFOX with Clint Eastwood? And if so, why would anybody choose to ripoff such a disaster to begin with? Dale Midkiff couldn't act his way out of a paperbag, much less this movie. The CGI special effects were embarrassingly bad and were barely a step above 1950's Buck Roger's flying saucers. BUT here's the good stuff. Judd Nelson is actually pretty good in this film. Maybe I'm so used to seeing him in his typical schoolboy role, but he really does a reasonable convincing job as the conspirator. And any opportunity to watch William Shatner is always good. The set design was surprisingly good for a movie that probably didn't have much for sets. A very interesting design for the flight deck, especially from an aircraft buff like myself. And a nice design for the aircraft itself, reminiscent of the old Valkyrie experimental airplanes that were mothballed by the airforce after a few disastrous test flights.

It's long been considered that Government organizations cover up many incidents. Probably the most infamous are the whispers that The Government actually has proof of alien beings and has their DNA, spacecraft and who knows what else hidden in an area in Roswell, New Mexico called Area 51. Then there are some of the 'apparently' factual incidents investigated by TV shows such as "The X Files". As for the military's involvement, there's only speculation - but it's believed they are present in most of these theories in some respect.

In "Falcon Down", it's the Military and the Government that are responsible for such a large scale cover-up. So large scale, that eye witnesses who have claimed to witness something related to the operation have been erased. Many of these people claimed that it was some kind of Alien spacecraft that was being kept quiet by the Government. In the film, we discover that it's something a little more close to home. Or Earth if you will.

Two airforce pilots come face to face with an unforseen terror in the skies. One of them suddenly goes blind and his jet falls to a fiery death. Nearby, a commercial airline also goes down.Wanting answers and bewildered by what has happened, the surviving airforce pilot, Hank Thomas (Dale Midkiff) is discharged from service following a fiery meeting with the rather suspicious, Major Robert Carson (Shatner). Several months later, Hank is bullied into leading a top secret operation, run by his old foe, Carson. The mission involves stealing a super-jet called the 'Falcon' (complete with underneath weapon, hence the blinding of the pilot) and then, as he is ordered, take it to a rendevous point where it will be dismantled so no one else can be harmed by it's terror.

Joined by a group of mercenaries - one a 'trigger-happy' Rambo-type, another an intellectual yet green faced player (Judd Nelson), a straight player and femme fatale (Rubin) - Hank skillfully takes control of the stolen jet and finds himself followed by the U.S airforce and other unforseen threats. With fuel running out, it seems the only option Hank has is to land the plane on Ice. And as we know, Ice eventually melts.

Labelled as a B-Grade film, the most surprising thing about "Falcon Down" is that it is notches above it's direct-to-video companions. The visual effects are well done, the characters are more than the one-dimensional lot we usually see in films like this, and overall, it's an entertaining ride. Just when it looks to let up, it throws in another surprise, or plot twist. It also provokes a talking point..do top-secret cover-ups like this happen?

I tuned into FALCON DOWN looking for some hot supersonic action, but what I got was a very talkative and very little action STV picture about a guy (familiar TV face Dale Midkiff) who at the government's urging helps to steal a new stealth-type bomber, only to find himself double- and triple-crossed when some bad guys plan to sell the thing to the Chinese. Jennifer Rubin, Whilliam Shatner and Judd Nelson are along for the ride. Well, actually, Shatner stands in one place in an ill-defined military office and talks to Midkiff on and off throughout the movie. I thought maybe when the aircraft crash-landed on an Arctic ice floe and then ended up underwater, something might finally happen, but very little actually does. Stick with STEALTH with Josh Brolin or that neat little high-flying knockoff of DIE HARD, 1992's INTERCEPTOR with Andrew Divoff.

I won't recap. Others have already done that.

The Sci Fi channel often has really, really bad stuff. "Falcon Down" is only half bad.

Having some competent actors is a plus. Cliff Robertson is clearly over the hill, but Captain Kirk is in fine fettle. And Judd Nelson does his usual competent job.

And having a couple of very attractive, hot women on board is always a definite plus, even if they are a little over the hill to be labeled "babes." (I know, that's not PC.)

Now the parts I don't understand near the end: If the mini-sub is tethered to the big sub (with no release mechanism? com' on), and it's clamped to the Falcon, how does the mini-sub free itself and yet the big sub remains attached to the Falcon?

And, since the Falcon crushes at 300 ft (I don't think any airplane is built like that), and the sub at 1200, how does the plane drag the sub down to the sub's crush depth? The Falcon is crushed, so it weighs no more than when the Chinese sub planned to tow it.

Why would the Baltimore PD arrest someone trying to interview the Chinese ambassador? It's not like the CIA was stealing the Falcon. I like a good (fictional) conspiracy as much as the next guy, but this makes no sense whatsoever.

But it was only half-bad.

Film...the final insult. These are the voyages of the aircraft "Falcon." Her 2-hour mission: To revisit tired, old clichés, to seek out the phone-it-in skills of William Shatner and Judd Nelson, to hammily go where too many action films have gone before!

Seriously, folks, AVOID THIS FILM AT ALL COSTS. I saw it on the Action Channel, and although it purported to be a thriller, it was bloody funny. Not that it intended to be, mind you. However, with the talents of William Shatner (Does anyone even remember he debuted with Yul Brenner in "The Brothers Karamozov?") and Judd Nelson (the jock in "The Breakfast Club," now playing a computer geek with a gun), a penchant to use every cliché convention in the book (the psycho cowboy who lives only to shoot, the overbearing use of "videotaped" confession segments --often with NO RELATION TO THE DAMN PLOT), and writers who have no conception of the laws of physics or how a bloody airplane works, I can do nothing but laugh or whimper -- "limper," maybe? In the end, all I can say is that it made no sense. It was, to steal from a far superior writer "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

We start with a couple of fighter pilots, flying some sort of "secret" mission. You know right away what kind of movie this is going to be because these guys act as completely unprofessional as possible. Imagine a couple of teenagers let loose in a pair of jet fighters, just screwin' around, having fun, as William Shatner relays orders over the radio (which they ignore). Well, because they're such idiots, they wander into the test area of some new weapon (Shatner reminded them of this about ten times, but of course...). Anyhow, one of them gets shot down by some sort of microwave weapon, which causes the usual silly looking electrocution effect to dance all over the plane. The other pilot is really upset, he thought you could just play around with high tech military gadgetry like some little kid in a toy shop, and nobody would get hurt. He's doesn't think it's fair! Anyhow, he gets - rightfully - discharged from the Air Force.

Now we skip to some Area 51 UFO footage, this is the footage that will blow the whole conspiracy wide open, we're told. The really comical thing is that this footage is so OBVIOUSLY fake, computer generated special effects. I don't even know what this crap had to do with the rest of the movie.

Anyhow, they eventually have to get the disgraced fighter pilot to steal some airplane that contains the microwave weapon before it's sold to the Chinese. For some reason, they keep talking about this weapon as if it's some sort of doomsday machine, which just adds to the stupidity. The acting isn't too terrible, it's just dull. As always with these B-movies, the fighter pilot was the greatest the world has ever seen, he flew SR-71's (kind of funny because considering his maturity level, he wouldn't be allowed in the same hanger with an SR-71, but whatever). At one point he asks why they want him instead of any of the other 1,000 guys who HAVEN'T been drummed out of the Air Force - William Shatner does his best serious voice and says "Because, it's a standard cliché in these sorts of movies. Where have you been?" Well, okay, I made that up, but you've got to chuckle at a movie that goes the extra mile to make its plot holes even more glaringly obvious than they were in the first place.

Jennifer Rubin shows up and looks sexy, that's about the best part of the movie. Otherwise it's just standard low budget silliness with a convoluted plot, some nutty conspiracy theorists we keep seeing on videotape confession segments, characters you'll forget by the time the first credit rolls, and enough plot holes to create quite a little comedy of errors. If you're a B-movie fan and looking for something to rent on a really dull evening, this might fit the bill.

First of all: the story with the „microwave - weapon' and the super - plane „Falcon' isn't very realistic in my opinion. But that doesn't really matter, because the rest of the story is mostly complex and logical. In fact I was afraid of seeing once again a film like „Land of the free' which was highly unrealistic, but that didn't happen. „Falcon Down' is exciting, there are many action scenes, but they are realistic. Furthermore the important thing about the movie is not boring fight scenes, but solid excitement and entertainment. The special effects , the shots of the plane and the explosions are well done and give a dark and mystique touch to the movie. Unfortunately all characters are full of cliches and they lack depth. The center of the film is Dale Midkiff and the excellent special effects, all the other actors have more or less minor roles. Midkiff plays the fired pilot very well and the cast is positively supported by the wonderful Jennifer Rubin. And William Shatner is just excellent as the strict and egoistic Major Carson. The „over - acting' Shatner is often blamed for will not be found in this movie. And another positive aspect: The music beautifully supports the excitement and is a joy for the ears. So: „Falcon Down' is an exciting and entertaining Thriller and is besides of „Miss Congeniality' and „Free Enterprise' one of the best movies Shatner has acted in since „Star Trek Generations'. It is a pity that the movie hasn't been published in the USA yet but I'm sure here in Germany it will be a success.

Why was this on the Sci-fi Channel last night? Other than some off-putting babbling of a conspiracy theorist regarding aliens there was no mention of sci-fi themes at all. That theorist plot was plot c. Plot b, the love story of Midkiff and the blonde girlfriend who with her little girl leaves him before the 1st hour is over (having clearly giving up on getting more out of the relationship) was so annoying as the two had no real chemistry.

Main plot was even more annoying with clichéd characters and big laspses in reality. Not one bullet touches "Rat" in the long, long shootout in the hangar sequence. No alarms around the electric fence, and no barb wire at the fence before the hanger holding the craft. Stupid and BORING. Only the presence of Shatner and Judd Nelson salvages this mess and makes me grant it a 4; it certainly isn't the writing.

An ex-fighter pilot(Dale Midkiff)uncovers a military conspiracy after he is asked by the U.S. Government to steal a supersonic plane carrying a very deadly secret weapon. Little real action. No thrills. Mediocre special effects. Far fetched Sci-Fi. Most characters are over acted. A bad imitation of a good movie. The cast also includes: Cliff Robertson, William Shatner, Judd Nelson and Jennifer Rubin. Question: Does Midkiff actually report to the IRS that he is an actor?

The blurb on the DVD case lied when I saw this in the shop but thank goodness I had only paid 9 dollars for it.

If ever one could win an award for making an awful movie this is it. The blurb told me it would be a somewhat exciting film but it was in my opinion woefully disappointing. The action scenes didn't contain much action, and the little video segments bordered on the hilarious.

In short don't waste your money buying this film but if you must see it rent it.

Just a comment on the trivia bit: The Valkyrie supersonic bomber is a long fuselage with a delta wing at the root and canards at the cockpit area. The Valkyrie is 180 feet long; the Falcon is 49 feet. The Valkyrie has six engines, the Falcon has one. The Valkyrie does not resemble the Falcon in the slightest, not even the Dassault Falcon. I do believe that the trivia bit just may be a little off.

Now I have to come up with more lines of text so that it will make 10 lines -- go figure. Now I have to come up with more lines of text so that it will make 10 lines -- go figure. Now I have to come up with more lines of text so that it will make 10 lines -- go figure. Now I have to come up with more lines of text so that it will make 10 lines -- go figure.

I think that they spent all of their money on the actors. The end is interesting.

wow

really, ten lines?

is the minimum

OK,, i just wanted to leave a small comment about a movie i watched. this,

is ridiculous

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Everybody went slumming for paychecks in this amateurish "Firefox" clone. The surprising thing is that writer & director Phillip J. Roth and his three scenarists, Jonathan Raymond, Jon Meyer, and Terri Neish, weren't sued for copyright infringement. "Falcon Down" appropriates the plot of Clint Eastwood's "Firefox" and part of the plot of "Firefox" novelist Craig Thomas' sequel "Firefox Down." Watching this improbable aerial thriller once must have convinced the "Firefox" people to forego any lawsuit. "Falcon Down" is abysmal from take-off to landing and wastes the talents of Cliff Robertson, William Shatner, and Judd Nelson. The opening credits are enough to turn you off as we watch a scanner locate different parts of the Earth and then watch as the names of cast and crew emerge for what seems forever. The special effects just barely make the grade, probably because the jets are filmed against night skies. A perfunctory romance between leading man Dale Midkiff and soap opera beauty queen Sandra Ferguson barely heats up.

"Falcon Down" opens with insubordinate Captain Hank Thomas (Dale Midkiff of CBS-TV's "The Magnificent Seven") and Captain Bobby Edwards (Ken Olandt of "Digital Man") flying at night. They disobey their superior officer, Major Robert Carson (William Shatner of "Star Trek") and enter forbidden airspace. No sooner have they trespassed than some inexplicable force blinds Captain Edwards and his jetfighter crashes. Not long afterward a 747 encounters the same effect, similar to electrocution, with rays wriggled all over the aircraft fuselage before it crashes and 200 people perish. When Thomas demands to know what happened to Edwards, Major Carson refuses to divulge any details and brings Thomas up on court-martial charges. Three years later, after the Air Force has dishonorably discharged him, Thomas is working with his father, Buzz Thomas (Cliff Robertson of "633 Squadron"), who has gone into debt and needs $200-thousand to bail him out. Thomas' nemesis from yesteryear shows up and makes our protagonist an offer that he cannot refuse. It seems that a top secret supersonic jet--the Falcon--with a special combat weapons system needs to be stolen and Carson is shelling out the cash. He represents a group of C.I.A agents, including Sharon (Jennifer Rubin) and Harold Peters (Judd Nelson), who need to steal it. Thomas is such an idiot that he believes them. They break into the plant and steal the jet. When U.S. Air Force interceptors scramble and come after them, Peters activates the micro-wave weapon and starts knocking them off. During the aerial firefight, the Falcon takes a bullet in its wing tank and starts losing fuel. Thomas crash lands the jet on the ice cap while a Red Chinese sub with Major Carson on board cruises underwater toward them for a rendezvous. Unfortunately, for the villains, the plane sinks with the pilots and the traitors on board. The Red Chinese had planned on towing the jet underwater back to their base, but efforts to tow the plane fail and it drags the sub down to destruction.

If this plot synopsis makes "Falcon Down" sound provocative enough to watch, look out! Director Phillip Roth never generates any suspense and the dialogue is as forgettable as the plot is preposterous. Roth appears to have cloned some of the imagery from "Firefox," such as the shot where the jet wheels out of the hanger before take-off. Jennifer Rubin keeps her clothes on the entire time and adds nothing to the plot. Dale Midkiff looks hopeless as a so-called 'ladies man' in a movie that went straight to video and has nothing to distinguish it. Dull, dull, dull! I bought my DVD copy of "Falcon Down" for $2.00 plus tax from Movie Gallery during a discount sale. If I had known how egregious this pseudo-thriller was, I'd have put it back on the shelf.