Con Air

This article is about the film. For other uses, see Conair.

Con Air
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Simon West
Written by	Scott Rosenberg
Produced by	Jerry Bruckheimer
Starring	Nicolas Cage John Cusack John Malkovich Ving Rhames Mykelti Williamson Nick Chinlund Rachel Ticotin Steve Buscemi
Cinematography	David Tattersall
Edited by	Chris Lebenzon Steve Mirkovic Glen Scantlebury
Music by	Mark Mancina Trevor Rabin
Production company	Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date	June 6, 1997 (1997-06-06)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$75 million
Box office	$224,012,234

Con Air is a 1997 American action-thriller film by Touchstone Pictures that stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of Crimson Tide and The Rock, and directed by Simon West. The film borrows its title from the nickname of the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System.

The film featured the 1997 hit single "How Do I Live", originally performed by LeAnn Rimes and performed for the film by Trisha Yearwood. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Song and Best Sound, losing to Titanic in both categories.

Plot

Former Army Ranger Cameron Poe is sentenced to a maximum-security federal penitentiary for using excessive force and killing a drunk man who had been attempting to assault his pregnant wife Tricia. Eight years later, Poe is paroled on good behavior, and eager to see his daughter Casey whom he has never met. Poe is arranged to be flown back home to Alabama on the C-123 "Jailbird" where he will be released on landing; several other prisoners, including his diabetic cellmate and friend Mike "Baby-O" O'Dell and the criminal mastermind Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, are also being flown to be transferred to a new Supermax prison. DEA agent Duncan Malloy wishes to bring aboard one of his agents, Willie Sims, as a prisoner to coax more information out of drug lord Francisco Cindino before he is incarcerated. Vince Larkin, the U.S. Marshal overseeing the transfer, agrees to it, but is unaware that Malloy has armed Sims with a gun.

Shortly after takeoff, Grissom incites a riot that allows them to overpower the guards and pilots and take over the plane; Sims is killed when he attempts to stop Grissom. Grissom orders the plane to continue to Carson City for a scheduled prisoner transfer, where they will offload the guards and pilots disguised as prisoners, aided by the poor visibility from an ongoing dust-storm. Though he could have left the plane during the transfer, Poe feigns cooperation with Grissom but leaves a recording device from Sims' body on one of the guards being offloaded. Among the new prisoners boarding the plane are Cindino, who masterminded their escape, their new pilot Swamp Thing, and serial killer Garland Greene.

Grissom orders another prisoner, Joe "Pinball" Parker, to remove the transponder and plant it on another plane. Moments before the plane takes off, the guards discover the clue Poe left behind, and alert Malloy and Larkin. Malloy sets off immediately to follow the transponder but soon discovers the deception. Meanwhile, Pinball was unable to make it aboard the plane on time, and his body has become lodged in the landing gear as the aircraft takes off when the security forces are alerted. Poe secretly writes a message to Larkin explaining Grissom's plan on Pinball's shirt and pushes the body out, where it lands in the middle of Fresno, California. Larkin calls for the National Guard to Lerner Airfield, an abandoned Air Force base in the desert, while using Malloy's sportscar to beat the "Jailbird" there.

The "Jailbird" lands at Lerner but overshoots the runway and grounds itself in the sand. Seeing no evidence of Cindino's plane, Grissom orders the prisoners to dig the "Jailbird" free. Meanwhile, Poe, seeking an insulin shot for Baby-O, meets Larkin, and the two run down their respective situations. Larkin proceeds to find Cindino boarding his private jet with his men, and manages to disable the jet before it leaves. Grissom discovers Cindino's treachery and kills him by blowing up his private jet. Johnny 23 has already spotted National Guard troops heading toward the airfield, and Grissom arms the prisoners with rifles and shotguns from the plane's weapons locker and arranges to lure the Guard troops into a death trap, but Larkin protects the troops during the gun battle by using a bulldozer as a make-shift shield. Grissom and the remaining prisoners return to the "Jailbird" and take off before Poe is able to escape with Baby-O and a female guard, Sally.

Grissom soon discovers Poe's true identity and prepares to kill him after shooting Baby-O. Malloy, having tracked down the plane, opens fire on it and disables one of the engines. When Larkin tells Malloy about Poe's identity as a parolee, Malloy orders not to fire. They both order the plane to land at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas but since they ran out of fuel, they are forced to crash land in The Strip.

The landing injures the inmates while causing massive destruction along the Strip until it comes to a halt at the lobby of the Sands Hotel. Amid the chaos, Poe is thanked by both Baby-O and Sally for his help. Grissom, Jones, and Swamp Thing escape on a fire truck. Larkin and Poe notice them trying to flee, hop on motorcycles and pursue them, eventually killing all three escapees. Finally, Poe is able to meet Tricia and Casey who have been brought by Larkin to meet him. The three of them have a long overdue, joyful and tearful reunion.

All of the convicts are now dead or recaptured, except for Garland Greene, who is shown playing craps and sipping margaritas in a casino.

Characters

• Cameron 'Hillbilly' Poe (Nicolas Cage) - A paroled ex-convict and former Army Ranger, convicted of killing a man who verbally abused his wife and attacked Poe, catching a ride home aboard the "Jailbird" from San Quentin to Alabama where he will be returned to his family.
• Vince Larkin (John Cusack) chief U.S. Marshal looking to take back the "Jailbird" with Poe's help.
• Cyrus 'Cyrus The Virus' Grissom (John Malkovich) - A cunning, intelligent criminal and main antagonist who has spent 25 of his 39 years in the prison system for robbery, murder, kidnapping, and extortion. Grissom earned a Bachelor's Degree and a Juris Doctor while incarcerated, despite claims to have "killed more people than cancer." He even murdered 11 prisoners, caused 3 riots and escaped twice. Killed by Poe when he gets knocked under a press and has his head crushed.
• Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones (Ving Rhames) - A black militant leader imprisoned for murdering National Rifle Association members, who acts as Cyrus's second-in-command during the uprising. While in prison, he wrote a critically-acclaimed book titled Reflections in a Diamond Eye, lauded by reviewers as "a wakeup call for the black community." He attempts to escape along with Grissom at the end of the film but is killed when Poe crashes a motorcycle into the fire truck he is riding.
• Mike 'Baby-O' O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson) - Poe's nonviolent, diabetic cellmate who is transferring between prisons and is a steadfast friend and one of the few decent prisoners aboard the plane. His insulin shots were to be administered during the flight but the injection needles were crushed during the prisoners' uprising, leaving him weak and forcing Poe to stay on board to protect him. He gets shot by protecting Poe but survives.
• William 'Billy Bedlam' Bedford (Nick Chinlund) - a mass murderer who is serving eight consecutive life sentences for the murder of his adulterous wife's entire family and classified as a "separatee" inmate along with Grissom, Jones and Greene. Bedford is the first separatee to discover Poe's parole, but Poe secretly kills him.
• Garland 'The Marietta Mangler' Greene (Steve Buscemi) - a soft-spoken serial killer who is feared by the other inmates and revered by Grissom, and imprisoned under the highest security measures, including extreme body restraints and a Hannibal Lecter-style mask. When the plane is grounded in Lerner Airfield, he finds a young girl and plays with her, ultimately resisting the urge to harm her. When the plane crashes in Las Vegas, he calmly makes his escape to a nearby casino, leaving a doll he got from the girl behind on the plane, confusing the police.
• Johnny 'Johnny-23' Baca (Danny Trejo) - a serial rapist who derives his nickname from the number of convicted rapes which he tracks via a tattoo on his arm, although he claims to be responsible for hundreds more. Twice he attempts to rape the only female guard on the plane, Sally Bishop, but is stopped by Grissom and Poe. He is killed during the plane crash, his tattooed arm severed from his body.
• Swamp Thing (M. C. Gainey) - a Vietnam War veteran and drug smuggler whose pilot expertise is sought after and used to fly the "Jailbird" to replace the original pilot, following its takeover and his subsequent transfer to the plane while in Carson City. He also attempts to escape with Grissom in Las Vegas in a hijacked fire truck and is ejected through the windshield just before it crashes into an armored truck and ends up being run over by the fire truck.
• Francisco Cindino (Jesse Borrego) - the heir of a Colombian drug cartel family financing Grissom's escape. Killed by Grissom when he betrays him, being set on fire by ignited jet fuel and blown up in the explosion that follows.
• Joe 'Pinball' Parker (Dave Chappelle) - a drug addict, arsonist, and inmate responsible for distracting the guards, allowing Grissom and Jones the opportunity to initiate the uprising. He is also responsible for moving the "Jailbird" transmitter off the plane, but fails to make it back in time and is killed while trying to climb up on its landing wheels.
• Ramon 'Sally-Can't Dance' Martinez (Renoly Santiago) - a transvestite inmate who appears sexually subservient to his fellow detainees. Survives the plane crash at the end and is recaptured after stepping out of the plane and finding the police waiting.
• Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney) - An overzealous DEA agent who finds himself immediately at odds with Larkin, whom he antagonizes. This is later furthered when Larkin indirectly destroys Malloy's new prized Corvette Stingray. Malloy is looking to shoot down the plane after the death of Agent Sims. Malloy later develops a genuine respect for Larkin when he risks his life by commandeering a motorcycle and chasing after Cyrus and his crew from escaping.
• Guard Sally Bishop (Rachel Ticotin) - a female prison guard transporting Poe and O'Dell who remains protected by Poe during the inmates' takeover of the plane.
• Guard Falzon (Steve Eastin) - the lead guard on the plane, who is saved by Poe (whom he had previously dubbed "trailer trash"), who plants Sims' tape recorder on him to alert the Carson City authorities.
• Willie Sims (Jose Zuniga) - an undercover DEA agent who is posing as an inmate to interrogate Cindino about the family drug business and killed during takeover of the plane.
• Conrad (Brendan Kelly) - One of the convicts from Carson City.
• Billy Joe (Kevin Gage) - The man who Cameron kills at the beginning, also the reason Cameron is sent to prison. Gage went uncredited for the role.
• Tricia Poe (Monica Potter) - Poe's wife.
• Casey Poe (Landry Allbright) - Poe's 8-year-old daughter, who he meets for the first time after the plane crash.

Production

On the DVD commentary of Chappelle's Show, Dave Chappelle states that he improvised most of his lines in this film. Jerry Bruckheimer wanted to cut the final scene of Greene at the craps table in Las Vegas and end the film with the heartfelt family reunion. The screenwriters convinced Bruckheimer to include the scene and in test screenings audiences loved it, thus it stayed.

As of January 2011, director Simon West is keen to make a sequel and is currently courting Nicolas Cage to get the ball rolling.

Filming

The areas used in filming are Ogden Airport where the exchange of prisoners is seen. Wendover Airport is used in the flying scenes and taxi scenes for the aircraft which is now used as an attraction to visitors. It is used as the stand in for the fictional Lerner Airfield even the old swimming pool in the base where Garland Greene is seen talking with a girl and the boneyard scenes were filmed in one area of it. Most of the interiors of the plane were filmed in a soundstage. The Las Vegas scenes were filmed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino where the plane's left wing hits the Fender Stratocaster sign. This is also where its premiere was held. The crash site was filmed in the Sands Hotel before its demolition on November 26, 1996. The second street tunnel was used in the chase scenes in Las Vegas.

Crash site of the C-123 from Con Air, Mount Healy, Denali National Park, Alaska

The Jailbird airplane used during flight scenes in the film had a series of owners, both military and private. In December 2003 it was sold to All West Freight Inc. in Delta Junction, Alaska. On August 1, 2010 the plane was destroyed when it crashed into Mount Healy within Denali National Park in Alaska. The three member flight crew was killed during the crash.

The plane used for the taxi scenes was donated to the Wendover Airfield by the filmmakers after filming and is currently on display at the ramp. It now serves as an attraction for visitors

Reception

The film received mixed reviews with 57% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 34 out of 60 critics giving it a positive review with an average rating of 5.7/10. However, amongst top reviewers, the film has a positive 86% rating. Roger Ebert awarded three out of four stars, saying it "moves smoothly and with visual style and verbal wit."

The film grossed $101,117,573 in North America and $122,894,661 in other territories, totaling $224,012,234 worldwide. The film won the Golden Raspberry Award for, 'Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property"

Soundtrack

Untitled

The soundtrack album omits two songs featured in the film How Do I Live, written and recorded for the film by Diane Warren and Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

1. Con Air Theme (1:34)
2. Trisha (1:04)
3. Carson City (3:05)
4. Lear Crash (4:44)
5. Lerner Landing (3:28)
6. Romantic Chaos (1:23)
7. The Takeover (3:52)
8. The Discharge (1:09)
9. Jailbirds (:59)
10. Cons Check Out Lerner (1:56)
11. Poe Saves Cops (2:25)
12. The Fight (:23)
13. Battle In The Boneyard (7:41)
14. Poe Meets Larkin (1:16)
15. Bedlam Larkin (:49)
16. Fire Truck Chase (4:22)
17. Overture (4:19)

Influences on popular culture

• Con Air is referenced regularly in Homestuck. The main character John Egbert re-enacts the "rabbit" scene on two separate occasions with the actual rabbit prop from the film, which itself plays a significant role in the plot in its facilitation of the rise of antagonist Jack Noir; additionally another character, the troll Vriska Serket, develops an infatuation with a then-deceased Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe.
• There is a Transformers Animated episode called "Decepticon Air" in season 3, where the captive Decepticons spung free and hijacked Elite Guard ship taking them to Cybertron. The episode itself is a parody of "Con air".
• Conan O'Brien announced in a sketch on Conan that America's color coded terrorist threat levels would be retired and replaced with clips of Nicolas Cage films. He referred to the times when everything is good as Con Air.

See also

• 1997 in film
• Cinema of the United States
• List of American films of 1997

External links

• Con Air at IMDb
• Con Air at AllMovie
• Con Air at Rotten Tomatoes
• Con Air at Box Office Mojo
• More about the various aircraft used in the film