Game For Vultures (1978) - James Fargo directs sluggishly for this wearisome drama about racism and terrorism in Rhodesia. Oppressive whites
(represented by Richard Harris) and black guerrilla fighters (led by Richard Roundtree) do battle with words and guns over a shipment of US Army
surplus helicopters smuggled from the arms market in Germany. For all the many possibilities of its action movie plotting, there's a surprising lack
of airborne thrills and no realistic use of military gunships during the bush combat scenes.
Game Of Death (2010) - the opening credits sequence of
this urban action movie features a Bell 206B JetRanger flying over the city. This helicopter is later used for airborne surveillance until it's
hijacked by secret agents. The same chopper re-appears for the climax when top bad guy tries escaping from the rooftop of a corporate building.
Gamer (2009) - this sci-fi actioner features (probably CGI candy) visuals of a Huey in one urban battle sequence of 'slayers'. This helicopter
flies low, darting between buildings, and it fires rockets but mostly at off-screen targets.
Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe (1995) - cheesy but enjoyable monster movie about a gigantic flying turtle hero (look, forget about those
silly teenage ninja types!), who saves Japan from the menace of man-eating 'prehistoric' birds, is great fun. Model helicopters are ubiquitous on
the miniature Tokyo cityscapes (including three choppers that lead young beasties into a trap under the sports stadium dome) where most of the urban
action takes place but, in an early sequence, one of the winged reptiles threatens a Eurocopter AS 350 chopper in which the quick-thinking heroine
uses a camera flashgun to frighten the nocturnal creature away.
Gamera II: Advent Of Legion (1996) - this splendid sequel adventure has a Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk helicopter, of the Japanese Navy, spot
Gamera's emergence from the sea. In the climactic battle against the space invaders, the Defence Force use a squadron of Bell AH-1 Cobras to destroy
the legion of flying creatures swarming over a radio antenna.
"Also features a great sequence where a Boeing CH-47J Chinook evac helicopter, full of women
and children, is menaced by the big nasty Legion monster at a military airfield. Gamera comes to the rescue, allowing the chopper to escape. Later,
during the Japanese military's response to a Legion threat, we see a Bell UH-1J Huey ferrying officials around Japan." -
NATHAN DECKER
Gangsta Gangsta (2006)
-
"(what a shock title for a rap video!) by Lil Scrappy, was filmed on the 6th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles. It features a Bell 206
JetRanger that we use all the time in TV shows 24 and The Unit." - RICHARD HART (National Helicopter Service).
Photos copyright © by Craig Dyer.
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The Gathering (2002) - this British chiller features an Agusta A109A
II flying over a rural landscape, to bring a forensic investigator to the site of an ancient church in the west country.
The Gauntlet (1977) - in this action movie, the maverick cop (Clint Eastwood) runs into big trouble while escorting a female witness (Sondra
Locke) to trial. When he's using a stolen motorbike to get into town, he's chased and shot at by the bad guys in a low-flying helicopter (a Sud-Aviation
SA-341B Gazelle), that is destroyed when it strikes overhead power lines. The film also features brief scenes of a Hughes 269C, used as a police
helicopter.
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Gemini Man (1976) - this TV movie, aka: Riding With Death, was the first episode of a sci-fi adventure series. The hero (Ben Murphy)
has a cool wristwatch - well, it seemed like a great hi-tech gadget back in the 1970s! - that can make him invisible for up to 15 minutes per day.
The TV movie features aerial scenes with a Bell 206B JetRanger II.
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The General's Daughter (1999) - despite an obvious lack of co-operation from the armed forces for this detective story, concerning the
military's cover-up of a sex-murder on a US Army base, the film production manages a good showcase of aerial sequences. The officer of the title
(James Cromwell) makes an entrance via chopper (a Sikorsky S-61L Shortsky), some Bell UH-1 Hueys overfly an Army fort and West Point scenes
(including stylised flashbacks to a gang rape on a large scale, mock battlefield), and only a couple of brief helicopter shots are obviously
digital creations.
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George of the Jungle (1997) -
"in this warm-hearted comedy based on the cartoon, George's (Brendan Fraser) rescue of a trapped
parachutist on the Golden Gate Bridge sees a Eurocopter A-Star news chopper present for much of the scene. It doesn't do much except hover there,
although whilst swinging on a bridge cable, Tarzan-style, George (or rather the guy doubling Fraser) does look like he comes dangerously close to
the helicopter's blades for one brief instant." - BILL HIERS
Get Smart (2008) - a remake of the mid-1960s' spy-spoof TV series, this knockabout comedy caper features a Eurocopter AS-350B2, which flies
the secret-agent heroes' boss (Alan Arkin) from a rooftop helipad, across Los Angeles to the Disney concert hall, in time to prevent a presidential
assassination.
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The Ghost (aka: The Ghost Writer, 2010) - this mystery thriller, directed by Roman Polanski, has a TV news A-Star hovering above the
island residence of an ex-prime minister while reporters besiege the former British politician's house. After the assassination at the airport, there's
an A-Star ambulance flying away off from the scene, closely followed by a police helicopter (an Agusta 109E) taking off from same location.
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Ghosthouse II (1988) - a helicopter is used by police to search for missing people on a remote New England island.
CLICK ON LINK ABOVE FOR DETAILS
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Ghost Rider (2007) - Nicolas Cage stars as Johnny Blaze
in this first adaptation of the Marvel comic book. The film has loads of CGI work, including a flight of six Black Hawks (that arrive while Ride
Of The Valkyries tune plays), which line-up, for the hero to jump his bike over, after landing inside a covered football stadium. Later, there's
a scene atop a tower block, where Ghost Rider lassos the 'annoying' police chopper (a Bell JetRanger), spins it around the building, and then lets
it fly away undamaged.
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Ghost Rig (aka: The Devil's Tattoo, 2002) - this British supernatural mystery thriller features an Aerospatiale AS 322L Super Puma
(from Bristow Helicopters), which transports a mixed group of eco-activists to meet their respective fates on a haunted oilrig in the North Sea.
Ghost Whisperer (2005-8) - a supernatural fantasy TV drama, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as cheerful psychic medium Melinda, who sees ghosts,
communicates with angry lost souls or earthbound spirits, and helps them crossover to the other side. The 'pilot' episode, about a Vietnam veteran,
features brief shots of a Huey crashing. Dead Man's Ridge has a Eurocopter A-Star doing search-and-rescue work in the mountains.
G.I. Jane (1997) - Ridley Scott's feminist military drama includes one shot of a military chopper hovering over Navy SEAL trainees (including
the heroine of the title, played by Demi Moore) during their hard workout in the surf, adding wind chill to the rough conditions. Later there's proper
rotary action when helicopters (including a Cobra gunship) from a US aircraft carrier evacuate the rescue team from a Libyan beach.
G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra (2009) - the first action
sequence of this live-action sci-fi movie features two Boeing (MD) AH-64D Apache helicopters on convoy escort duty. A hi-tech stealth aircraft zaps
one Apache, so it explodes in midair and burning wreckage blocks the roadway. The second gunship fires missiles but the VTOL enemy blasts them and
then destroys the Apache, too in another crash 'n' burn sequence. There's also stock footage of an Apache squadron in the Iraqi flashback, and a
pair of Black Hawks (CGI?) pass over the bomb site.
The Girl Who Played With Fire (2009) - this Swedish crime thriller features a Eurocopter EC-135T2 as flying ambulance, which appears in the
closing scenes to medevac the injured heroine from a countryside location to hospital.
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980) - Jamie Uys' action comedy, made in South Africa, features an early version of Aérospatiale's heavy
transport SA-321 Super Frelon.
Godzilla (aka: Gojira, 1954) - this classic Japanese monster movie features a Sikorsky (S-55) H-19 Chickasaw that transports a team
to an island location. Later, the same helicopter is wrecked in a storm.
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Godzilla (1985) - the famous giant reptile swats annoying helicopters from sky in this Japanese remake of the original 1954 monster movie.
Later, a Huey attempts to rescue some heroes from a damaged skyscraper.
Godzilla (1998) - Roland Emmerich's Hollywood blockbuster version of a Japanese movie franchise includes a vintage Piasecki H-21B (nicknamed
'flying banana'), arriving in the Ukraine at a Chernobyl site to pick-up the hero scientist (Matthew Broderick). There's a pair of Bell 214 Hueys
flying above a landscape of gigantic footprints in Panama, and there are two OH-6 Cayuse (Boeing MD-500) choppers orbiting the beached ship in Jamaica.
In the New York scenes, there's a Eurocopter AS-350B2 Ecureuil used by a TV news crew, and a big Sikorsky S-76A used as the mayor's own executive
transport out of Manhattan. Dozens of Apache gunships, a mix of CGI and miniatures, engage the monster which invades 'the city that never sleeps'
but a salvo of heat-seeking missiles fails to hit their giant yet elusive target because the big reptile is a cold-blooded animal. Apache squadrons
are, again, a mix of CGI visuals and miniature effects for the later air strike, and four of these helicopters are chased, swatted, chomped, and
smashed by Godzilla before US military forces withdraw from the first airborne battle.
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Godzilla 2000 (1999) -
"this monster movie gives us two different helicopters: a military OH-6D Cayuse is seen flying
around the crashed silver spaceship in the second act. And, during the Japanese military's futile attack on Godzilla on the coastline, a flight
of Bell AH-1S Cobra attack choppers make a run, firing stock footage anti-tank missiles that do little more than annoy the big lizard." -
NATHAN DECKER
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Godzilla versus Destoroyah (1995) -
"in the beginning of the film, we see a G-Force Hughes 500 helicopter flying over the recently
nuked Birth Island. Later, the chopper flies the psychic chick Miki over the battlefield as Godzilla Jr fights Destoroyah in the flaming ruins
of Tokyo. The Japanese military, and the special branch tasked with chasing monsters, use several different types of helicopters in the film.
During the final attack in the heart of Tokyo, we see some Boeing (MD) AH-64 Apaches. These are completely CGI and strangely only appear in the
scenes leading up to the battle, not in the actual battle itself. As well, we see a Bell UH-1 Huey following the swimming Godzilla as it approaches
the Japanese coast." - NATHAN DECKER
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Godzilla versus King Ghidorah (1993) -
"an HSS-2B ship-borne helicopter is used to ferry the psychic chick Miki out to sea to look
for Godzilla. The HSS-2B is a Japanese version of the American Sikorsky Sea King, built under licence by Mitsubishi." -
NATHAN DECKER
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Gog (1954) - after The Magnetic Monster and Riders To The Stars, this is the third SF movie produced by Ivan Tors. When things
start going wrong at a government laboratory in the New Mexico desert, a special agent (Richard Egan) arrives from Washington to investigate, and
finds a pair of murderous robots named Gog and Magog. The featured helicopter is a rarely seen tandem-rotor McCulloch MC-4C 'Hum-1'.
[Thanks to John Reynolds for words and images.]
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The Golden Lady (1984) - from Spanish director José Ramón Larraz, this indie thriller stars Ina Skriver as Christina World, who's
billed as yet another 'female James Bond' heroine. The movie also features B-movie starlets Suzanne Danielle, June Chadwick, Ava Cadell. It was a British
and Hong Kong co-production, with a theme song recorded by the Three Degrees. The featured helicopter is an Aerospatiale SA-341 Gazelle.
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Goldfinger (1964) -
Pussy Galore (great name) takes Goldfinger to Fort Knox in a Hiller UH-12E4. At the end of the movie,
a Brantley B2 is used by Felix Leiter to search for Bond. - NATHAN DECKER
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Golpe de estadio (1998) - this Colombian comedy-drama (trans: stadium coup) is about police and guerillas making a truce so they can watch
FIFA World Cup football games on a town's only TV set...
"There are scenes with helicopters, some above Bogotá city, some over-flying the jungle
in Colombian police helicopters to launch rocket attacks on the guerrillas. A sequence near the end of the movie involves a lot of helicopters
(Bell 412, Bell 206, Hughes 500, and Hueys), all flying to attack guerrillas. This scene reminds me of
Apocalypse Now. When the movie was released, it was the most expensive
Colombian movie of its time." - JAVIER 'TOPPER' FRANCO.
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Gone In 60 Seconds (1974) - "has a couple of scenes of police helicopters taking off
to give chase: a Bell 47G, a Hughes 269, and a Hughes 500. Nice collection for a small budget film. I only saw the 47G with any significant screen
time. The Hughes machines only make brief appearances." - SHAUN J. GREANEY
Gone In 60 Seconds (2000) - airborne police chase after stolen vehicles in this remake of the 1974 crime thriller. During the climax, the
heroic thief (Nicolas Cage) uses a sports car's nitrous oxide boost to outrun even helicopter pursuit.
Goodbye Lenin (2003)
- "near the end of the film, a statue of Lenin is being flown away, sling-loaded beneath a
helicopter, through Berlin. This scene is accompanied by dramatic music." - WINNIE LEUNG
Goodfellas (1990) - Martin Scosese's crime drama sees paranoid crooks so suspicious of police aerial surveillance, they get more furtive
and shifty than usual whenever choppers fly overhead. Helicopter sound effects have the gangsters ducking and diving for cover.
Go Tell The Spartans (1978) - Burt Lancaster stars in Vietnam War story about defending an isolated army camp from Viet Cong. It features
a Bell H-13 Sioux in one aerial sequence.
G.P.S. (2007) - this adventure film about young treasure hunters features a Robinson R-44 chopper with custom flame-over paint job.
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Grand Theft Auto (1977) -
"Ron Howard's directing debut has two choppers. In the middle of the film, a Bell 47G hovers
around watching the cars race; and in a later stunt scene, a low-flying Bell 206 JetRanger plays chicken with a Rolls Royce." -
NATHAN DECKER
Gray Lady Down (1978) - this is one of my favourite submarine movies (boasting an excellent cast, led by Charlton Heston), and it features
a couple of US Navy UH-64A Sea Knight helicopters, which are used to carry officers to a ship stationed above the stricken US nuclear submarine.
A Sikorsky S-61/ UH-3H Sea King transport lands at a US Navy base in San Diego, before the admiralty's meeting. Later, another Sea Knight brings
the rescue team to the naval ship, while a second Sea Knight also arrives on the scene, hauling the 'Snark' mini-sub onto the ship's deck.
The Great Skycopter Rescue (1982) - a new prototype aerial invention (part hang-glider, part gyrocopter) is used to combat raiding bikers
and save oil-rig drillers.
The Green Berets (1968) - a salute to US Special Forces teams in Vietnam, this stars John Wayne (also co-director). It features one spectacular
yet unconvincing crash 'n' burn scene (filmed in close-up, using a mock-up helicopter apparently dropped from an off-camera crane).
"I flew one of the UH-1 helicopters during the filming at Fort Rucker, AL. I was 'tail-end
Charlie'... The story was about a special forces team sent out to capture a VC (or NVA) General for interrogation. Of course a lot of things went
wrong. I believe the accuracy of the conditions depicted in the movie were indicative of what these teams went through during the war." -
JIM SNYDER, pilot
"Green Berets also features scenes of Hiller H-23s (or UH-12s) in very low level hovering at the field amongst a bunch of Hueys." -
JIM BURLINGAME
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Gridlock (1996) - directed by Sandor Stern, this TV movie copies the Die Hard scenario in general, and rips off the plot of sequel
Die Hard With A Vengeance, in particular. In the opening scenes, NYPD pilot Jake (David Hasselhoff) flies to a siege situation, jumps down
onto a rooftop, and saves all the hostages. What a hero... Later, he spots terrorist bombings on Manhattan bridges, and reports a hostage-taking
robbery at the Federal Reserve Bank. Jake's Eurocopter 355 A-Star hovers around the building, but when he lands the police helicopter on the bank's
rooftop, it's a Bell 206 JetRanger (damaged when a henchman shoots up the cockpit)! In the final chase, a Bell 205 pursues escaping thieves, Jake
rides a cable down onto the bad guys' truck, hooks the chopper's winch to the vehicle, and the Huey tears off the truck's bodywork to reveal its
haul of gold bullion. Job done!
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Grizzly (aka: Killer Grizzly, 1976) - this monster B-movie from director William Girdler features a team of park rangers hunting a
reportedly giant bear that's attacking campers. The hunters get help from a pilot (Andrew Prine), flying a Hughes 500-C... Eventually, however,
the bear trashes the helicopter!
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