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Kaena: The Prophesy (2003) - the first French computer-animated
movie is a fantasy adventure and space opera about opposing cultures on neighbouring alien worlds, and features a bizarre sci-fi helicopter design
with laser beams for rotor blades! This might be technically absurd, but it's certainly unusual and quite original enough to warrant the attention
of all rotary action fans.
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Keys (aka: Keys To Her Past, 1994) - glamorous Marg Helgenberger plays helicopter-flying, expert 'freelance' pathologist, Maureen
'Kick' Kickasola, called out of semi-retirement to help police detectives solve a case of murder and kidnapping.
The Kingdom (2007) - this action drama, which concerns a team of FBI agents investigating terrorism in the Middle East, features a MBB Bo
105 Bölkow circling the bombsite. Later, there's an AH-64 Apache gunship used to escort a police convoy.
King Kong (1976) - whereas the giant ape of 1933's original film was attacked by a squadron of bi-planes, the monster of this remake (produced
by Dino De Larentiis) is shot down from atop the skyscraper by three Hueys. Before falling to his death from the World Trade Centre, 40-foot tall
Kong hits one of the gunships, which crashes into the side of the building. Sadly, the special effects combining miniature helicopters and the 'giant
ape' with the New York skyline are poor quality and, compared to 21st century digital visuals, the air strike sequence is unconvincing... Just before
the finale, a Bell JetRanger brings the heroine (Jessica Lange) to Shea stadium.
King Kong Escapes (1967) - this Japanese monster movie features the big ape of the title in a battle against his mechanical counterpart,
while a swarm of helicopters buzz around them to no effect or purpose.
"This great movie features a fancy jet helicopter flown by the evil industrialist Doctor Wu.
It is just a model, but looks pretty cool. And yes, that is a robotic version of King Kong there..." - NATHAN DECKER
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King Kong Lives (1986) - the famous giant ape gets an equally oversized mate in John Guillermin's daft 10-years-later sequel. After the
male and female pair escape from captivity, US Army search teams use Huey gunships to hunt them down, and the helicopters spray knockout gas to
control 'Lady Kong'. A key sequence has the great beastie airlifted from the apes' forest hideaway by a twin-rotor Boeing CH-64 Sea Knight. Hueys
appear in various later scenes, usually flying security patrols at the military base.
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King Kong vs Godzilla (1963) - yet another Japanese monster epic by Inoshiro Honda, as ape meets lizard in the big fight sequence. There
are some miniature rotorcraft here, purportedly Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw helicopters, and the main bout is observed by our heroes Fujita and Sakurai,
who fly too close to the action and get smacked by the monsters.
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Knight Rider (1982-86) - campy TV action series created by Glen Larson. In 3rd season episode Just My Bill, a low-flying helicopter
pursues the hi-tech car for a grenade-dropping attack. The nominal hero (David Hasselhoff) uses an ejector-seat gadget on the auto-drive KITT car,
to launch himself up through the open sunroof and into the chopper so he can throw both gunman and pilot out, making the enemy rotorcraft crash -
as soon as our hero jumps back into his car safely behind the steering wheel!
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K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) - Kathryn Bigelow's tense
Cold War drama features an American CH-34 Seahorse helicopter (a Sikorsky S-58) in its climactic scenes, as Marines from a US Navy warship offer
to help the crew of a stricken Russian nuclear submarine.
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Kronos (1957) - in this SF drama, the scientist heroes
fly in a helicopter around the gigantic alien machine (of the title), which threatens planet Earth. The chopper (a Bell 47G-2) lands on top of the
huge boxy structure near a transparent dome so the boffins can survey its inner workings. However, they have to make an emergency getaway when the
tower block sized invader starts moving.
"The sequence of landing on the alien robot was faked on a studio stage, with painfully obvious
stairs leading 'downstage' inside the machine's brain." - NATHAN DECKER
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