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A GUIDE TO HELICOPTERS IN CINEMA & TELEVISION |
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I Am Legend (2007) - this action-packed sci-fi monster-movie (technically a remake of
The Last Man On Earth, and The Omega Man, but the first adaptation of Richard
Matheson's 1954 novel to re-use the book's title), includes one flashback sequence, at the
Brooklyn bridge, featuring a Black Hawk, which lands at the film-set's pier, and a US Coast
Guard HH-65 'Dolphin' that apparently crashes on takeoff (crash only implied, as it happens
off-screen) when it's hit by a New York police helicopter spinning out of control, with hangers-on
falling off the landing skids, when it evacuates from a riverside launch pad. In the post-holocaust
scenes, a high-angle view reveals some helicopter wreckage on a damaged rooftop. Iceman (1984) - this SF drama is notable for its blurry images of a helicopter, which a thawed-out caveman (John Lone) mistakes for the bird god he worships, and he believes will carry him away into sky. The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988) - in this TV movie, Bill Bixby's scientist hero turns into bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno's green-skinned giant again, and meets the Norse thunder god Thor but, even working together, the heroes' muscle power fails to prevent the bad guys escaping in a helicopter. Independence Day (1996) - in this bloackbuster sci-fi adventure, a Bell 204 helicopter, and a Sikorsky S-64 sky-crane fitted with an array of flashing lights tries to communicate with the alien spaceships that menace planet Earth. "President 'Lone Star' (Bill Pullman) escapes from Washington aboard a Sikorsky S-61L, just before the invading aliens nuke the White House. Another helicopter, presumably carrying his staff, is destroyed by spillover from the fried White House." - NATHAN DECKER "In addition to the 'welcome wagon' choppers, and the presidential ones (some note ought to be made, I think, that the scene in which the second of these tries to takeoff as the White House is exploding is one of the most iconic shots ever), there's also the small helicopter that the First Lady uses, and is later found crashed, when trying to leave L.A. Will Smith swipes a Huey to go looking for his missing girlfriend." - BILL HIERS Inspector Gadget (1999) - Disney's live action version of the popular cartoon show gives us Matthew Broderick as the titular cyborg law enforcer who, among other built-in contraptions, has rotor blades (computer animation) emerge from his hat so that he can fly around the city. Interceptor (1989-90) - "a game show made by the same people who produced Treasure Hunt, this British TV programme's contestants had to work out clues and find a 'target', while they were chased by the 'Interceptor' armed with a laser-tag 'gun'. The airborne transport is an Agusta A-109." - JEREMY HUNT Into The Sun (2004) - in this film's pre-titles sequence, a US paramilitary 'black ops' team (led by Steven Seagal's hero), caught up in a 'Golden Triangle' firefight, are saved from death by the timely arrival of their Bell Twin Huey gunship, which is defended by its side-mounted machine-gun during the special forces' medevac flight.
Invasion U.S.A. (1985) - this action movie starring Chuck Norris features a Hughes 300 fitted with a loudhailer warning citizens to stay indoors, and other helicopters drop leaflets to inform the public of a military curfew. The bad guys have a Bell Huey to land their gunmen on the roof of a government office building, but our hero uses a grenade launcher to destroy the chopper. Finally, three gunships hover above the climactic street battle, and one chopper shoots at a group of terrorists. Ishtar (1987) - Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman fire machine-guns at a helicopter in a (allegedly) comic scenes during Elaine May's entirely pointless movie flop. The Island (1980) - a charmingly ludicrous but quite entertaining adventure thriller adapted by Peter Benchley from his novel about nasty pirates in the Caribbean. After the climactic massacre of all the baddies by stalwart hero (Michael Caine), a US Coast Guard helicopter (a Sikorsky S-62) discovers the Coast Guard ship, but the chopper is unable to land on the vessel because there are bodies strewn all over the flight deck.
Island Of Greed (1997) - an impressive gangster thriller set in Taiwan and directed by Michael Mak, this action drama sees a political bigwig thrown out of a helicopter with a noose around his neck. In the spectacular finale, the heroic cop's gunship attacks an escaping convoy of triad gangsters and, even though the helicopter is shot down, the bad guy still gets beaten.
It Came From Outer Space (1953) - "in this alien invasion B-movie classic, we see an extremely rare Bell 47D, with an open roadster cockpit and landing wheels instead of skids. The movie was filmed in fabulous 3-D (with coloured glasses handed out in theatres) and, in one scene, the Bell descends towards the camera - and you, the viewer - until it fills the entire screen." - NATHAN DECKER It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) - "in this comedy treasure-hunt movie by Stanley Kramer, we see a Sheriff Department Bell 47G helicopter chasing Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett in a light plane." - NATHAN DECKER |
