l - flight logs at rotaryaction.com

A GUIDE TO HELICOPTERS
IN CINEMA & TELEVISION

HOME A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Ladder 49 (2004) - Jay Russell's drama about Baltimore's fire brigade includes a Eurocopter TwinStar and a Bell 206 JetRanger that circle a burning tower block during the opening and climactic scenes, where a night-sun is used to spotlight the rescue of a man trapped in the building. Later, a Maryland state police helicopter (an Aerospatiale SA 365N-1 Dauphin 2 - see photo by Mark Carlisle) is used for medevac duty when one of the fire-fighters is injured.

La Dolce Vita (1960) - in the rather bizarre opening sequence of Fellini's tragicomedy, a giant statue of Christ is suspended beneath two Bell 47 helicopters and flown across Rome!

La Femme Nikita (1997 - 2001) Canadian TV series about a female secret agent (played by Peta Wilson), based on the 1990 film by Luc Besson. In 4th season episode View Of The Garden (2000), the spymaster's Eurocopter AS-350 is destroyed by a terrorist's rocket.

Lake Placid

(1999) - Steve Miner's monster movie sees a crocodile hunter flying his helicopter to a lake in Maine. The chopper floats safely on the water until it's attacked by a giant creature. In a grimly humorous scene, the heroes dangle a cow as live bait beneath the hovering chopper, in an effort to catch the monster. The amusing climax has the killer croc trapped in wreckage of the crashed helicopter, which it wears like a scarf, while thrashing wildly around, before the heroes manage to kill it.

The Land Unknown (1957) - this monster movie has a helicopter crashing in Antarctica where the survivors discover a hidden valley of dinosaurs. The visual effects are awful - but good fun, anyway.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) - the feisty heroine (Angelina Jolie) teams up with her enemies for a Siberian trip using two Chinook helicopters. Watch for the obvious cut from their drop-off site (filmed on Salisbury Plain, with real RAF choppers) to the Icelandic location shoot - with only the sound effect of overhead rotor noise to link these different shots together...
"However, they foleyed in a much different and softer sound, as a Chinook sounds like a force-five tornado whup-whupping in your ears." - NATHAN DECKER

Lara Croft - Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (2003) - in best rotary action of Jan de Bont's sequel adventure, the villains are hovering in a chopper above a Chinese pagoda in Shanghai, ready to trade (a suitcase of money for an ancient artifact) with gangsters, when heroine (Angelina Jolie) pole vaults from a nearby rooftop to plant a tracking bug on the baddies' helicopter so that she can follow the flight to Hong Kong. There's also MI6 agents' Agusta-Westland A-109E Power landing at Croft Manor, a heavily modified Eurocopter AS350 was used for the water crash scene, and two helicopters (AS-350 Squirrel and EC-155 B1) appear in the finale's jungle scenes.

Last Action Hero (1993) - John McTiernan's adventure vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger, features a Boeing (MD) 520 gunship that shoots a glass elevator into swiss cheese, and then lands (off-screen) on top of the hero's car.

The Last Castle

(2001) - in this drama of a jailbreak from the military prison of the title, a convicted general (Robert Redford) leads the desperate inmates' revolt against the armed guards of a corrupt warden. A chopper responds to the riot alarm, and an Apache pilot among the prisoners hijacks it to wreck the sniper's watchtower. However, the helicopter loses its tail rotor and there's a spectacular crash 'n' burn sequence that combines good stunt work with quality visual effects.

The Last Dragon (2004) - this ponderously slow TV mini-series mixes fantasy quest with natural history documentary (in the manner of the BBC's Walking With Dinosaurs), and tells of an obsessive British zoologist's discovery of a dragon's nest in Romania. For the scientists' arrival in the Carpathian Mountains, they reach the high altitude scene in a Eurocopter AS 350, supplied by the local police.

Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace

(1996) - in the run up to this SF adventure's climax, a helicopter is remotely flown by the virtual reality villain Jobe (Matt Frewer), and used like a cyber-guided missile to destroy the hacker hero's hideaway shack. Then, burning wreckage pursues the fleeing good guys across rugged terrain until a final crash and big explosion.

Lethal Weapon

(1987) - Richard Donner's successful action thriller has two helicopter sequences: an airborne sniper fires at a hilltop mansion to kill the occupant, and there's a mirage-like appearance of a chopper during the cops' hostage exchange meeting with the villains out in desert.

Lethal Weapon 2

(1990) - this sequel features a spectacular night-time air strike - on the hero cop's beach house - by two helicopter gunships crewed by the main villain's henchmen, which completely destroys the entire property!
"At the beginning of the film, a Bell JetRanger appears out of nowhere, and rescues two South African drug dealers that cops are chasing." - BILL HIERS

Lethal Weapon 3 (1993) - more comedy adventure than action thriller, this sequel has a Bell 412 that medevacs our heroes after the climactic shootout.

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) - features a police Bell 206 JetRanger hovering over the arsonist, and a Eurocopter AS355 used as L.A.P.D. air support going after the gangsters attempting to murder the hero's family. Trivia: LAPD Astro Division actually uses single engined AS350-B3 A-stars.

US Coast Guard helicopter in Licence To Kill

Sanchez's A-Star chopper in Licence To Kill

Licence To Kill (1985) - during the amusing pre-credits sequence of this James Bond adventure, Timothy Dalton's 007 hero uses the cable winch of a big US Coast Guard HH-65A Dauphin helicopter to snatch the villain's light aircraft out of the sky! It's a terrific aerial stunt, but could it really happen?
"Later in the film, an Aerospatiale 350B A-Star is seen in a few quick shots." - NATHAN DECKER
The Dolphin (US-speak for Dauphin) is actually in Eurocopter demo markings for a pending USCG contract! - BERND BIEGE

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) - "in this comedy adventure, Bill Murray plays a marine biologist modelled on Jacques-Yves Cousteau. On top of his boat is a helicopter that looks like a 'baby Bell' (an experimental aircraft like a Bell 47). During a pleasure flight, the chopper suffers a power loss and the pilot is forced to try autorotation for a risky landing." - JUSTIN TRAVIS

Lifeforce (1985) - Tobe Hooper revisits Quatermass And The Pit in this horror film about possession by aliens. In one gory scene, Patrick Stewart's body explodes while aboard a helicopter that's flying over London street riots.

Lightning Force (1991-2) - "a syndicated TV series from Canada, this show was about an elite strike team of four (American, Canadian, French, Egyptian) who went on various covert missions. The sole female (played by Guylaine St-Onge) was their French pilot, and she usually flew an Aerospatiale AS 350 / AS 355 Ecureuil. It had one heavy machinegun or cannon mounted under the fuselage. I have a few episodes on tape, nothing on DVD yet." - WES CARR

Live And Let Die (1973) - "as Bond (Roger Moore) and Solitaire (Jane Seymour) sneak through the poppy fields, a Bell 206 JetRanger strafes them for a bit." - NATHAN DECKER

The Living Daylights (1987) - "in this James Bond movie starring Timothy Dalton as 007, we see a 1970s' vintage Bell UH-1H 'medical' Huey, operated by bad guys, snatching a Russian defector away from a Secret Service safe-house... This helicopter was tagged G-Huey, captured from Argentinian forces in the Falklands War, and shipped to the UK. Sadly the chopper is now in a museum." - NATHAN DECKER / IAN VINCENT FRAIN

Logan's War: Bound By Honor (2001) - US Army Rangers on a rescue mission in South America return fire from the air when enemies on the ground shoot at their helicopter.

Lonely Are The Brave (1962) - modern day western about a rebel cowboy (Kirk Douglas) on the run through mountain wilds from a Sheriff's posse (led by Walter Matthau), that use a jeep, radio, and a US Air Force Bell 47G-2 helicopter to track the wily fugitive.
"The harassed Douglas uses his Winchester rifle to shoot down the helicopter by hitting its tail rotor." - NATHAN DECKER

The Long Kiss Goodnight

(1996) - this action thriller by Renny Harlin sees an airborne sniper shoot at the heroine (Geena Davis) during the farmland scenes where she gets back her lost memories of life as spy... Another chopper signals a change of locale when it flies over Niagara Falls at the Canadian border. In the following sequence, the helicopter's gunman is shot by the heroine so he falls out and gets tangled in the cable lights of a road bridge. Then, the top villain is picked up with a rope ladder so he can return fire from the low-flying helicopter, but our heroine kills him too, completes a daring rescue, and then flees the scene just before a timebomb destroys the chopper, numerous road vehicles, and the middle section of the bridge in a huge explosion!

Lost Command (1966) - "a Bell 47G helicopter participated in this war movie by Mark Robson about guerilla actions in Algeria." - NATHAN DECKER

NEXT TOP