Rating: 
Summary: Awesome! Firefox takes off with suspense and excitement!
Review: This movie is one of my favorite movies. Eastwood is absolutely fantastic in his role as Mitchell Gant, and the scenes for Russian locales are very much how I thought the USSR would be like. The first half of the movie, with Gant sneaking into Russia, and the base where the Firefox is, is very suspenseful. The sleek, black, Firefox aircraft itself is an incredibly cool looking design, and one of the most realistic looking movie aircraft I've ever seen, both when it's on the ground, and flying in the air. The aerial sequences are great, and the dogfight at the end of the movie between the two Firefoxes, Gant's and a pursuing, Russian pilot's, is incredible, and as realistic as the ones in Top Gun. With all these great qualities, Firefox is a great movie that deserves far more than 5 stars. I would recomend this movie to any aircraft, espionage, or Clint Eastwood fan, and anyone who likes great movies.
Rating:
Summary: The only real action movie that I've ever seen
Review: This movie shows the action in its highest point. This movie shows classical action movies but with the quality that you expect, it's not the kind of action that you see every day in every movie, this movie shows that the 007-style doesn't belong to James only.
Rating: 
Summary: Clint Eastwood directs and acts his part extreamly well.
Review: This movie starts slow but rockets with edge of your seat excitment and suspense. Hooray for Eastwood!
Rating: 
Summary: An adequate, unusual techno-thriller from Clint Eastwood
Review: This was Clint Eastwood's second dip into the waters of the espionage thriller (the first was the awful "Eiger Sanction" back in 1975), and one of the few films he directed which relies heavily on visual effects. As a director, Eastwood seems uneasy with both modes, which go against the grain of his realistic, tough, and often stoic & silent directorial style. Nonetheless, "Firefox" works better than it should. Eastwood brings understated realism to what might have been a hopelessly hokey Cold War techno thriller, and the visual effects-laden last third is fairly exciting. However, the mixture of elements ultimately produces only an adequate film, a strange entry in Eastwood's long string of hits.The plot is a Tom Clancy story before there were Tom Clancy stories (this is based on a novel by Craig Thomas). The Soviets (remember them?) have developed a super fighter jet, the Firefox, with thought-controlled weapons system. The Firefox threatens the balance of power in the Cold War, so NATO needs to get their hands on it, pronto. The only man who can do it is pilot Mitchell Gant (Eastwood). He speaks fluent Russian, can infiltrate the base with the help of Russian Jewish dissenters (played by Ronald Lacey, Nigel Hawthorne, and Warren Clarke), and has the skill to fly the Firefox. Only problem: Gant is highly unstable from his Vietnam experience, is prone is nasty flashbacks (a problem if you're flying a though- controlled plane!), and has done no undercover work before. "Firefox" is overlong at 136 minutes, and tends to drag with far too many scenes of Russian and NATO boardroom arguments. The film works best in the early parts during the scenes with Lacey, Hawthorne, and Clarke, who all give fine, sentimental performances as double agents who know they are doomed but struggle on for what they know is right. In a few place, Eastwood shows traces of the later themes of the consequences of violence that would mature in "Unforgiven" and "Mystic River." Eastwood himself is fairly good in the role, avoiding any "Dirty Harry" clichés or relying too much on his tough guy image, but he does look rather silly in his undercover disguise scenes. Nonetheless, it does seem to take forever until the last third, where the Firefox tries to blaze an almost hopeless escape trail out of the Soviet Union, with another Firefox prototype on its tail. The effects (by John Dysktra of "Star Wars" fame) are zippy and fantastic, but any human element left in the film pretty much bails out at this point. Enjoy the planes, enjoy the speed, enjoy Clint just staring out the window and not moving much. It's fairly exciting, but when it's all over, you'll feel a bit let down. The DVD, like most Warner Bros. discs in the Clint Eastwood Collection, looks very good, and the sound is 5.1. But also like most Warner Bros. discs in the Clint Eastwood Collection, there are no extras.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Espionage/SciFi Action Drama
Review: Though my opinion of Clint Eastwood has dropped with the revelations in Sondra Locke's book, there is no disputing his ability in movies. Firefox is a change of pace for Eastwood, an espionage drama that dabbles in scifi and includes superior aerial SFX. Based on Craig Thomas' novel, Eastwood stars and directs, handling both chores very well. Mitchell Gant (Eastwood) is a burned-out Vietnam-era fighter pilot suffering from lingering battle shock (his experience as a POW is portrayed in a harrowing flashback sequence of being shot down, captured, and rescued). He is "recruited" by NATO to be infiltrated into Soviet Russia and steal the ultimate fighter plane - the Firefox, a stealth fighter capable of Mach Six speeds and possessing thought-controlled weaponry. The first half of the film is the laborous attempt by the CIA and MI6's native recruits to smuggle Gant to Bilyarsk, the Red airbase in the southern Urals where the Firefox is housed. Leonard Maltin's criticism of the film as slow-paced is flat out wrong, for the infiltration of Gant through Russia is quite good and involves some excellent interplay between Gant and the various Russians willing to die to betray the country that has destroyed their lives. The second half of the film is a dazzling aerial chase and great ground-level cat-and-mouse game as the Russians try to intercept a plane that is three times faster than anything else, can attack targets some three seconds faster than any defense system, and is exceedingly difficult to track. The flying scenes are awe-inspiring even today; SFX honcho John Dyxstra uses vastly-speeded-up aerial footage to convey a tremendously effective view of speed amid the nicely intimidating model of the Firefox craft. The lengthy finale involves Gant's duel with a second Firefox prototype, one of the best chase sequences ever filmed, a chase that's even better than similar aerial chases in the Star Wars or Superman films. The best part is the admittedly implausible chase through a narrow Arctic Circle canyon at Mach Two-plus speeds; yeah, it can't be done by jet fighters in real life, but it is a thriller nonetheless. The huge cast is used to tremendous effect, as Eastwood elicits great performances all around. In all, Firefox remains a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Sci-Fi Flavored Espionage Film
Review: 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 must be infiltrated into Russia and ferried from Moscow to a Red airbase in the Urals, Bilyarsk. The first half of the film takes up the painstaking task by NATO's Russian contacts to infiltrate Gant to Bilyarsk and the efforts of the KGB detatchment assigned to Firefox security to figure out their plan and stop them. Along the way Eastwood extracts quality performances from the huge cast assembled, notably from Kenneth Colley (Admiral Piett in the Star Wars films) as KGB Colonel Kontarsky. There is some excellent interplay between Gant and the various Russians willing to die to betray the country that has destroyed their lives, most notably when the Firefox project head, Dr. Baranovich, explains why he doesn't resent "the men in London who are ordering me to die" to a thoroughly puzzled Gant. The second half of the film involves a dazzling aerial chase as Gant pilots the Firefox through the world's largest, most powerful air defense. The SFX work is excellent as John Dyxstra (from Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and the later Batman films) uses ultra-high-speed aerial footage to present a splendid view of Mach Two-plus speeds. Gant encounters missiles and eventually a second Firefox (piloted by Kai Wulff as the project's test pilot Yuri Voskov). The ensuing chase is among the finest in film, from thousands of feet in the sky to mere hundreds of feet from the ground. My favorite part is the admittedly implausible chase through a narrow Arctic canyon at Mach Two or more - yeah, it can't be done by jet fighters in real life, but it's still too good to pass up. In all, Firefox remains a classic of the spy and sci-fi genres.
Rating:
Summary: Love That Fierce, Fast, Foxy, Faceted Mig...
Review: What's so amazing is the insight and forward thinking that went into this film. Yes the first portion of the film is slow, but so is about 99% of espionage and air combat. I've said it before and I'll say it again: When Hollywood actually shows this stuff realistically, the audience gets bored or sleepy because they do not appreciate authenticity. Back to the insightfulness... Well, over here on the Nellis Test Range, and yes I'm specifically talking about Area 51, they fly very special "aggressor" squadrons that use actual Soviet aircraft. Guess where they got them. Some were defected and some...drum roll...were stolen with the help of U.S. clandestine services. Furthermore, information on U.S. stealth programs was not public when Firefox was made. A Russian scientist is actually the guy who developed the equations that predicted "low observability", and his government spent a while looking into the concept, though not until recently very seriously. The Russians also had a weird preoccupation with the paranormal, telekinesis, and, yes, biofeedback. These uncanny pseudo-recreations in Firefox, combined with the believable depiction of the closed nature of Soviet society and their "secret bases" where R&D took place makes for a sci-fi/spy film with an air of authenticity, in spite of its fictional traits. I also like the great repertoire between Gant and the Sub captain. It strikes me as being very true to life with its representation of automatic camaraderie and unspoken understanding between the two characters. I look forward to this film's release on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, the DVD
Review: You'll notice I'm writing this in advance to the October 1st release. This is a thank you to Warner Bros. for releasing it on DVD. I finally gave up on the DVD a couple of months ago and bought the Widescreen Laserdisc set, finding that the film is completely ruined without the full screen (not to mention the picture and sound quality). This movie is really something different. I would like to say that for most people this movie is not bling bling enough. If however you can stand some character development, plot, and some suspense, this movie is for you. I was watching "Tommorow Never Dies" today on TV, in it Brosnan (Bond) steals a russian fighter jet, stealing the enemies most valuable goods on scene, sound familiar? I certainly hope Warner maintains the widescreen (2.35:1 would be nice, but we'll get 1.85:1 at best). Long live the under-appreciated, greatest fighter movie ever! ...
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