Blue Thunder, 1983.
Directed by John Badham.
Starring Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, Daniel Stern, and Malcolm McDowell.
SYNOPSIS:
John Badham’s Blue Thunder makes its 4K Ultra HD debut courtesy of Arrow Video. I think it’s very much the lesser of the two films the director released in 1983 (WarGames was the other one), but if your mileage varies, then you’ll want this new limited edition. It’s pretty much everything a fan of the film could want.
Director John Badham had quite a two-month period in 1983: his movies Blue Thunder and WarGames opened in May and June, respectively, in the United States. The latter tends to be better-remembered by film fans, I think, and after revisiting it for this review, I can see why.
Blue Thunder stars Roy Scheider as Frank Murphy, a helicopter pilot with the Los Angeles Police Department who’s also a Vietnam War veteran whose PTSD gets in the way of his job sometimes. (Fun fact: he took the role so he would be unavailable for the third Jaws movie that was in development at the time.)
Frank is accompanied by rookie officer Richard Lymangood (Daniel Stern) during an evening flight, and the pair near the home of a woman who’s known for getting naked and stretching at 10:30 every evening.
Richard’s cartoonish slobbering over what he sees hits much differently today than it did in 1983, and it’s not the only time he engages in such creepy behavior in the film. I found those scenes very uncomfortable, and Frank’s nonchalant attitude about it doesn’t help matters. At least WarGames didn’t how Matthew Broderick’s character sneaking into the girls’ locker room or something like that.
Moving on: Frank is suspended by his captain, Jack Braddock (Warren Oates), when it turns out that Richard’s Peeping Tom episode happened at the same time city councilwoman Diana McNeely (Robin Braxton) was attacked outside her home. Then he’s resinstated so he can attend the unveiling of Blue Thunder, a military-style police helicopter that the LAPD plans to use during the upcoming 1984 Summer Olympics.
Blue Thunder’s pilot turns out to be Colonel F.E. Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell), who crossed paths with Frank during the Vietnam War. The two don’t like each other, and Frank soon learns about the true plan for Blue Thunder, and why McNeely was attacked, which propels the story in acts two and three.
I’m probably not spoiling anything by noting that Frank steals Blue Thunder, hoping to buy time to get key evidence to a TV news station, and ends up in a showdown with Cochrane in the end. He’s aided by his girlfriend, Kate (Candy Clark), who seems all-too-willing to go on the run from the police just because he tells her to, especially since she’s been frustrated by his lack of availability.
In the end, the logic of the whole thing doesn’t hold up well, and the plot turns out to be pretty predictable, with a lack of any real interesting twists and turns. Between that and the cringey voyeur scenes that feel like someone wanted the film to appeal to Porky’s fans too, Blue Thunder is one that I don’t think I’ll revisit again.
If you’re a fan, though, then I’m sure you’re thrilled it’s getting the Arrow Video treatment. The film has been restored in 4K from the original camera negative, so it looks great, and the limited edition comes with a booklet that has an essay by Dennis Capicik.
On the bonus features front, Blue Thunder offers a trio of new interviews with Badham, Clark, and McDowell running about 30 minutes total. They’re all worth watching for good information about the making of the film, and it’s good to see that Badham is still hanging in there at the age of 86.
Everything else was ported over from previous releases, starting with a commentary track recorded by Badham, editor Frank Morriss and motion control supervisor Hoyt Yeatman. As you might imagine, it’s heavy on the technical side of the production, which is fine since the three-part documentary Ride with the Angels: Making Blue Thunder, which is just under 45 minutes long, does an excellent job of chronicling the making of the film from its early days to its release.
You also get another archival featurette focusing on the production design, along with another one that dates to 1983, back when studios made short promotional videos to get theater owners excited to book their movies. It’s an interesting piece of film history, and it has plenty of on-set footage and contemporary comments by the cast.
An extended scene, the theatrical trailer, and an image gallery round out the platter.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
 
Originally published May 5, 2026. Updated May 4, 2026.
