Firefox

"Gant, can you fly that plane? Really fly it?"
In 1982, while the Cold War was yet raging between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in an exciting action film about espionage called "Firefox". Clint Eastwood plays Major Mitchell Gant, a retired pilot from the U.S. Air Force who suffers from delayed psychological stress disorder from when he fought in the Vietnam War. Being the only pilot qualified to fly Soviet Air Force jets who is also fluent in Russian, SIS agent Kenneth Aubrey (Freddie Jones) has U.S. AF pilot Capt. Arthur Buckholz (David Huffman) recruit Gant to be the primary operative in a U.S.-sponsored espionage mission. The goal is to steal a technologically superior, top-secret prototype jet fighter that is code-named Firefox out of the Soviet Union. Gant, of course, is not particularly interested, but returns to Washington with Capt. Buckholz. There he is given specific training that will enable him to enter the Soviet Union unnoticed. Once in the Soviet Union, Gant meets a...

Superb Sci-Fi Flavored Espionage Film
Though my opinion of Clint Eastwood has lowered with the revelations in Sondra Locke's book, there is no disputing his abilities as an actor and director. One of his finest efforts comes in Firefox, Eastwood's taut, exciting adaptation of Craig Thomas' 1975 novel.

Eastwood plays Mitchell Gant, a burned-out Air Force Vietnam vet who is first seen jogging in the Alaskan wilderness. Gant occassionally suffers from bouts of Delayed Stress Syndrome - shown when, as an Air Force helicopter approaches his log cabin home, he flashes back to a harrowing experience of being shot down, captured by Communist soldiers, and being rescued.

Mitchell Gant's battle shock, though, is of little concern to the CIA and British MI6, for they want him for the most audacious intelligence mission yet. The titular Firefox is a Soviet superplane, capable of Mach Six, invisible to radar tracking, and possessing thought-controlled weaponry. Mitchell Gant's job - steal it.

But to get to it he...

I Can't Stop Watching this Film!!!
I've seen this film at least seven times, and I enjoyed it just as much each time.
This is a very enjoyable cold war action/spy drama. Tense action carried out in Clint Eastwood style.
If you like Clint Eastwood. You'll like this film. Some have pointed out some continuity errors in the film, but these don't spoil the story. The characters are acted in such a way as to make you care about what happens to them.
It's looely based on the books. The movie ends in a way I won't spoil. But I will say that after you see this movie you should search out the books, Firefox, Firefox Down (they are selling on Amazon; as used for a penny)

Click to Editorial Reviews