Flight of the Intruder (1991)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

A Disappointing Continuation

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

A smart story about the true character of America and the free world -- not of government, mind you. Simply put, don't count on Uncle Sam; only yourself and each other. Forget the mirage of left- versus right-wing politics. Forget religion and other hypocrisies. Like most stories about Vietnam, this film examines the inherent madness of mass society. The U.S. Military had no chance in South Vietnam. The North was committed to a systematic extermination of the pesky U.S. presence. Like the disappearance of Indian tribes and wolves from the native American landscape by government sanction, the U.S. military in South Vietnam was powerless against the madness perpetuated against them. The film is really about the pursuit of love, life, and liberty as opposed to suppressing or killing the wild inside of us. But most people are just afraid of the wild and so they kill it.

Flight Of The Intruder is a great film and a better war film at that. It is sad to see how underrated and looked over it has become. Like other users have stated I guess you can relate its lake of popularity as a result of other "Top Gun" type films released in that time period.This film is one of the few that depicts the Vietnam War in a way that is not a "feel good about ourselves America" style that was plagued with films like "Missing in Action" and "First Blood Rambo pt.II". It depicts the downfall and low morale that arrised towards the end of the war.So many great actors are in this film and even though they do not all have killer performances, they make for a great cast that blends well together. While watching this film I couldn't stop laughing at some points because the interactions of cast members and the jokes they made.Like "this is the most fun you'll ever have with your clothes on Doc...O Jesus" or "Got room for a six pack and a pizza" and Willem Dafoe's reaction to the bar fight. It was just great to watch.The flight and bombing scenes are well done and shows the frustration of loosing friends to "A bunch of trees" day in and day out. With the lose of public support at home and unknown reason we are still fight lingering in the tone. It does a great job showing this.The ending scene is one of my favorite scenes in all the films I have scene. As it clearly depicted scenarios that plagued American pilots through the war. It also showed should the brotherly love for one another and how they would go into hell to get them out even if they loose their own lives.Even Brad Johnsons romantic interest was done well. It was there but it wasn't overly excessive.Overall this is a great movie and worth a watch. Effects are good, story is good, characters are great and you will walk away with a good taste in your mouth.Enjoy, Nick

I found the movie interesting. It is probably loosely based on the exploits of Lyle Bull and Charles Hunter who on 30 October 1967 flew a solo flight over Hanoi and received the Navy Cross. Here is part of the citation for Bull: Lieutenant Bull assisted in the planning and execution of an extremely dangerous, single-plane, night, radar bombing attack on the strategically located and heavily defended Hanoi railroad ferry slip in North Vietnam. Although the entire Hanoi defensive effort was concentrated upon his lone bomber, he flawlessly assisted his pilot in navigating the aircraft to the target area and commencing an attack. Seconds before bomb release, six enemy surface-to-air missiles were observed to be tracking on his plane. Undaunted by this threat to his personal safety, Lieutenant Bull assisted his pilot in taking swift and effective action to avoid the missiles and complete the attack, releasing all weapons in the target area with extreme accuracy. After release, four more missiles were fired at his aircraft in addition to the intense anti-aircraft-artillery fire.

Watch this movie for the flying scenes! It has some the very best shots of an Intruder still or in flight. This aircraft is now out of service with the Navy except as a fueler but I can testify that this aircraft is down right dominating and scary to anyone on the ground when they make a low level pass and this movie captured it all! That said, I read the book too and yes it is a lot different from the book but then most movies are. The question is does it conform to the spirit of the movie and Flight of the Intruder is close. It does take some short cuts which are even more obvious to a Navy vet but over all, this is one of my favorite Vietnam War movies and about the only one that gives a decent treatment to the carrier pilots.The romantic part is not much and probably left in to keep it from not having any attractive females but it sure is not needed for dramatic effect.The political and legal junk is really over blown and trite but if sufficient detail were included the movie would have been 3 hours long.It is a good "Tiger flick" (war movie) for a rainy day and it has an honored place in my DVD collection!