Con Air (1997)

Plot of Con Air: Former special services solider Cameron Poe, who had served seven years for homicide, is on his way home in a prison aircraft, when it is taken over by a bunch of super criminals led by Cyrus, the Virus, Grissom. They force the pilot to land the plane at Carson City where they pretend to be guards, and send six people out, mainly guards, hooded and masked, to be replaced by six criminals, one of whom can fly the plane. Although Poe could have left he stays because of his friend Mike O’Dell, a black diabetic, and a female guard, Sally Bishop, who is being targeted by Johnny 23, a serial rapist. Poe manages to get a message to Marshall Vince Larkin that the plane’s destination is Lerner Airfield, where they hope to change planes. Larkin and DEA agent Duncan Malloy get to Lerner, Larkin in Malloy’s car, Malloy in a helicopter and then with a national Guard convoy. When the convoy arrives there is a fire fight, but the criminals managed to retreat to the plan and it takes off, with a criminal at the controls, heading for Las Vegas, where everything comes to a head.

Content: No sex or nudity, although the female guard is frequently threatened with rape. Some drinking in the opening scenes. The convicts easily take over the plane, and Poe pretends to be a long time criminal rather than a parolee, so he can help his friend and the female guard. To maintain this fiction he ahs to kill another prisoner. His relationship with his wife and new daughter is defined. He writes a message on a body before throwing it out of the plane. The prisoner transfer in Carson City takes place in a sandstorm.  At Lerner Field Garland Greene a serial killer is seen chatting to a small girl in a derelict swimming pool. There is a gun battle between the convicts and the National Guard who are helped by Larkin and Poe. The plane crashes into the Sands Casino in Las Vegas, spectacularly.

A View:  This film was variously reviewed by the critics, Roger Ebert giving it three out of four stars. Obviously it is completely mad. The villains are very villainous and the heroes extremely heroic and the ladies extremely attractive in the nicest possible way. But it rolls along so we mostly forgive it for the various impossible aspects of the plot. I only have one thing against it. There are two climaxes, even though the first, the plane crashing into the casino was a perfectly fine ending. So a watch for nothing if you like that sort of thing.

Fun Fact: The Film won the Golden Raspberry in the category ‘Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property’.