Every big star makes a few films like this one. Firefox is a film that many will declare is for "Eastwood fans only". That is probably an accurate statement.
Looking at Firefox, you can see a film that suffers from awkward pacing, poor effects by today's standards, and some rather hammy performances by some of the supporting cast. Still, I find myself in the precarious position of having to recommend this film to all of you.
Firefox is not by any means a classic. It is however a nice snap-shot of a society so paranoid that its very existence almost suffocated its citizens. I am of course talking about the most murderous regime in modern history. The USSR. If anyone doubts this, please keep in mind that Stalin alone is credited with nearly 3X as many murders during his watch as Hitler.
The first hour or so of this film has Clint Eastwood sneaking around and being led around the Soviet Union by a network of underground spies. They are trying to get him out to a top-secret air base so he can steal a prototype of the most advanced fighter jet ever built before the Soviets can mass-produce it. Most viewers seem to find this first hour pretty boring, and maybe they are right. Other than Clint walking through parks, hastily jumping on trains, and hitching rides in delivery trucks, not much happens. I don't think the first hour is a total waste, though. In it, we get an incredible feel for just how oppressive the USSR was back then. At almost every turn there are slimy KGB agents in cheap leather jackets jumping out and demanding "papers" from anybody unlucky enough to be out in public at that time. I lost count of how many times people were forced to show their "papers" in that first hour. The paranoia of the Soviet government is well on display in these scenes.
Once Clint gets to the plane, the movie takes off: literally. Clint is then forced to fly the plane out of Soviet air space and find a re-fueling spot in the Arctic Ocean where a US sub will be waiting for him. Even though this plane is impossible to detect on radar, it's still a difficult task to avoid all the other Soviet aircraft and ships. Clint also gets into a dogfight with another Firefox which is sent up after him. Since the effects involving these planes look dated, you have to suspend your disbelief and just sit back and enjoy it all as best you can.
I liked most of the acting in this film. Freddie Jones was over-the-top, though. Clint was about as timid as I've ever seen him, but he was supposed to be. His character suffers from constant flashbacks of his Vietnam days where he had been shot down and held prisoner for a while. You have to wonder why such an unbalanced man would be chosen for such an important mission, but they at least try to explain that early on. It seems that the Air Force believes Clint's condition only occurs when he's on the ground, but we find that not to be the case once he's in the dogfight with a more experienced Soviet Col.
Warren Clarke (who you might remember as the big dumb lug in Alex's gang in A Clockwork Orange) is outstanding as the primary underground spy who helps Clint get where he needs to go. I also loved that dirty old Soviet "First Secretary" who threatens Clint once he steals the plane. Those hapless individuals who played the Jewish scientists at the air base were very good in their roles, also.
If you love Eastwood and haven't seen this film, please do. If you don't really care about him but want to take a closer look at the old USSR, this will work for you, too.
I'll give it 8 of 10 stars.
Clint, you should have killed that Soviet Col. when you had the chance in the locker room!!!!
So sayeth the Hound.
Looking at Firefox, you can see a film that suffers from awkward pacing, poor effects by today's standards, and some rather hammy performances by some of the supporting cast. Still, I find myself in the precarious position of having to recommend this film to all of you.
Firefox is not by any means a classic. It is however a nice snap-shot of a society so paranoid that its very existence almost suffocated its citizens. I am of course talking about the most murderous regime in modern history. The USSR. If anyone doubts this, please keep in mind that Stalin alone is credited with nearly 3X as many murders during his watch as Hitler.
The first hour or so of this film has Clint Eastwood sneaking around and being led around the Soviet Union by a network of underground spies. They are trying to get him out to a top-secret air base so he can steal a prototype of the most advanced fighter jet ever built before the Soviets can mass-produce it. Most viewers seem to find this first hour pretty boring, and maybe they are right. Other than Clint walking through parks, hastily jumping on trains, and hitching rides in delivery trucks, not much happens. I don't think the first hour is a total waste, though. In it, we get an incredible feel for just how oppressive the USSR was back then. At almost every turn there are slimy KGB agents in cheap leather jackets jumping out and demanding "papers" from anybody unlucky enough to be out in public at that time. I lost count of how many times people were forced to show their "papers" in that first hour. The paranoia of the Soviet government is well on display in these scenes.
Once Clint gets to the plane, the movie takes off: literally. Clint is then forced to fly the plane out of Soviet air space and find a re-fueling spot in the Arctic Ocean where a US sub will be waiting for him. Even though this plane is impossible to detect on radar, it's still a difficult task to avoid all the other Soviet aircraft and ships. Clint also gets into a dogfight with another Firefox which is sent up after him. Since the effects involving these planes look dated, you have to suspend your disbelief and just sit back and enjoy it all as best you can.
I liked most of the acting in this film. Freddie Jones was over-the-top, though. Clint was about as timid as I've ever seen him, but he was supposed to be. His character suffers from constant flashbacks of his Vietnam days where he had been shot down and held prisoner for a while. You have to wonder why such an unbalanced man would be chosen for such an important mission, but they at least try to explain that early on. It seems that the Air Force believes Clint's condition only occurs when he's on the ground, but we find that not to be the case once he's in the dogfight with a more experienced Soviet Col.
Warren Clarke (who you might remember as the big dumb lug in Alex's gang in A Clockwork Orange) is outstanding as the primary underground spy who helps Clint get where he needs to go. I also loved that dirty old Soviet "First Secretary" who threatens Clint once he steals the plane. Those hapless individuals who played the Jewish scientists at the air base were very good in their roles, also.
If you love Eastwood and haven't seen this film, please do. If you don't really care about him but want to take a closer look at the old USSR, this will work for you, too.
I'll give it 8 of 10 stars.
Clint, you should have killed that Soviet Col. when you had the chance in the locker room!!!!
So sayeth the Hound.