The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 4 nominations total
Clifford A. Pellow
- Allen
- (as Clifford Pellow)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne reason Roy Scheider made this film was so that he would be unavailable to get cast as Chief Brody in Hàm Cá Mập 3 (1983), though he also admitted in an interview that the "Jaws" producers knew better than to ask him to play Brody again.
- GoofsCochrane sabotages Murphy's Bell jet ranger by removing the cotter pin and loosening the nut on the throttle-control linkage bolt so it can slip out. Aviation bolts are always installed head-end up as a safety precaution to keep the bolt in place should the nut come off.
- Quotes
[Icelan and Braddock are discussing Murphy]
Icelan: He checks his sanity with a wrist watch!
Jack Braddock: What do you check yours with, a dipstick?
- Crazy creditsThere are no opening credits after the title is shown.
- Alternate versionsWhen "Blue Thunder" was first released on video in Sweden, the scene where Kate drives to the the TV station with the videotape, involved a crazy stunt when she drives into a narrow alley and meets a police car that comes the other way. To avoid a disaster, Kate flips her car on its side, hits its roof on a wall and flips back again. In later video versions, the stunt is gone. We only see the car when it enters the alley and then we see her driving on the freeway with a strange damage on the roof.
- SoundtracksTheme From Blue Thunder (Murphy's Law)
(uncredited)
Written by Arthur B. Rubinstein
Performed by Arthur B. Rubinstein, Cynthia Morrow, Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli (as the Beepers)
Produced by Evan Pace
Associate Produced by Reno Romano
Featured review
"Blue Thunder" . . . isn't this that movie where Roy Scheider uncovers a government conspiracy and then loops a wicked military chopper? You betcher sweet ass it is! And it's a shame the helicopter didn't talk. I mean, the comic potential of a reckless pilot and his snappy chopper is enough to salivate over. A more cynical person might find all of this silly, but not me. I was caught up in the whole thing; the car chases, the dofight through downtown L.A. It all works somehow, both as police procedural and conspiracy flick.
Scheider lends a great presence to validate the whole thing, Malcolm McDowell is a real slime of the first order, but neither one of these guys has a thing on the real star of the movie: ol' Blue, herself. That is one menacing attack helicopter, loaded for bear and still sleek. I can only imagine what it was like back in the '80s to be a bystander on the ground watching them film this beast in the air.
7/10
Scheider lends a great presence to validate the whole thing, Malcolm McDowell is a real slime of the first order, but neither one of these guys has a thing on the real star of the movie: ol' Blue, herself. That is one menacing attack helicopter, loaded for bear and still sleek. I can only imagine what it was like back in the '80s to be a bystander on the ground watching them film this beast in the air.
7/10
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Relámpago azul
- Filming locations
- City of Los Angeles Piper Technical Center - 555 Ramirez Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA(Police helipad - Command Center)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $22,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $42,313,354
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,258,149
- May 15, 1983
- Gross worldwide
- $42,313,354
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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