Con Air (1997)
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A paroled Army Ranger must team up with a U.S. Marshal to retake a hijacked prison transport plane filled with dangerous criminals.
The story
Decorated honorably discharged Army Ranger Cameron Poe is paroled after serving eight years for a crime committed in self-defense. He boards a Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) aircraft, known as the "Con Air," to reunite with his family. The flight is filled with high-risk inmates being moved to a supermax prison. The situation turns volatile when a group of inmates, led by the mastermind Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, hijacks the plane. As the aircraft takes flight, Poe must navigate the escalating tension and the dangerous personalities of the criminals while trying to ensure the safety of the passengers and the ground crew.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Cameron Poe, a paroled Army Ranger, boards a prison transport plane, the "Jailbird," to reunite with his family. The flight includes several dangerous convicts, including the mastermind Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom. The situation escalates when Grissom and his accomplices hijack the plane, intending to fly to a non-extradition country. During the journey, the plot thickens as a DEA agent's undercover mission is compromised and a hidden cargo of narcotics is involved. The plane lands at a desert airstrip where a confrontation occurs between the inmates and the authorities. After a series of skirmishes and the death of several characters, the remaining inmates take off again. Poe eventually takes control of the cockpit and manages to land the damaged aircraft on the Las Vegas Strip. The film concludes with Poe reuniting with his family, while the surviving inmates are apprehended, with the exception of the serial killer Garland Greene, who is last seen in a casino.
- First release year
- 1997
- Runtime (minutes)
- 115
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Simon West
- Writers
- Scott Rosenberg · writer
- Cast and characters
- Nicolas Cage · Cameron Poe; John Cusack · Vince Larkin; John Malkovich · Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom; Ving Rhames · Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones; Mykelti Williamson · Mike "Baby-O" O'Dell; Rachel Ticotin · Officer Sally Bishop; Monica Potter · Tricia Poe; Steve Buscemi · Garland "The Marietta Mangler" Greene
- Genres
- action; thriller
- Themes
- loyalty; survival
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; over-the-top
- Setting
- A prison transport plane traveling from a desert airstrip to Las Vegas.
- Premise and plot tags
- prison break; hijacking; action
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the acting, musical score and action sequences, but criticized the inconsistent tone, direction and character development. It achieved a cult following among action aficionados and the Nicolas Cage fanbase.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 59% · scale: percentage · review count: 70; Metacritic · score: 52 · scale: 100 · review count: 23
- Awards and nominations
- Oscar · Best Sound · nomination; Oscar · Best Original Song · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was a box office success, grossing over $224 million against a production budget of $75 million.; The character of Garland Greene was based on real-life serial killers.; A real C-123 aircraft was destroyed in a crash in Alaska in 2010.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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