Clint Eastwood produced, directed and stars in this spy-fi thriller about the Soviet-American race for firepower supremacy. The title is the nickname for a Russian-built MIG-31 equipped with a system that destroys oncoming targets by translating pilot brain waves into laser-beam devastation. Eastwood plays a burned-out ex-POW, a Vietnam-era fighter pilot who is considered the only man alive capable of stealing Firefox from the Russians. Forget the obvious implausibility of his very recruitment, since he suffers from psychically crippling flashbacks. The script (by Alex Lasker and Wendell Wellman) is full of hilarious "Russian"-accented English and seems adapted more from a Berlitz manual for screenwriters than from Craig Thomas' speedy 1977 novel. The plot makes the Russian military brain trust out to be impossibly bumbling fools who don't seem bright enough to have discovered 30-watt bulbs for their war room. The climactic dogfight recalls Star Wars (effects maestro John Dykstra worked on both films). But it's only Luke Skywalker trapped inside Dirty Harry's soul as Eastwood mutters such macho gems as "Let's see what this baby can do" and "I'm coming home." Moviegoers will be relieved to announce the same news. (PG)
Your Reaction
