We're Following His Leadah!

Could Blue Thunder be the most 80's movie ever made? Think about it. John Badham, of Short Circuit / War Games fame, directs with his trademark crowd-pleasing efficiency, there's a great electo-synth score courtesy of Arthur B Rubinstein, it's part buddy movie (48 Hrs, Lethal Weapon) with the teaming of Roy Scheider rebellious veteran cop and Daniel Stern's eager rookie, it prominently features a high tech super vehicle (Knight Rider, Airwolf) and it has a lead character traumatised by the Vietnam War (Firefox, First Blood).

And it's also brilliant. This is fast paced, stylish action thriller with tons of memorable characters (Warren Oates gruff police chief and Candy Clark's spunky girlfriend Kate), iconic scenes (Schneider using his wrist-watch to check his sanity) and a gloriously slimy turn from Malcom McDowell as the movies antagonist ("Catch you later!") It being a Badham film, things go a bit bullshit in the final act as airforce jets fire missiles into an non-evacuated metropolis (to be repeated in Die Hard 4.0) but it's so slick you just get caught up in the action. Brilliant.