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Con Air is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West (in his feature directorial debut) and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich in the lead roles. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a Prison escape aboard a JPATS aircraft, nicknamed as "Con Air". It features an Ensemble cast of Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Colm Meaney, Mykelti Williamson and Rachel Ticotin, with Monica Potter, Dave Chappelle, M. C. Gainey, and Danny Trejo in minor roles.
Con Air was released theatrically on June 6, 1997 by Buena Vista Pictures through Touchstone Pictures and was a box office success, grossing over $224 million against a production budget of $75 million. 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. The film achieved a cult following among action aficionados and the Nicolas Cage fanbase. It received Academy Awards nominations for Best Sound and Best Original Song for "How Do I Live", performed on the soundtrack by Trisha Yearwood.
Most of the inmates boarding the flight are convicts being transferred to a newly opened supermax prison, including mass murderer William "Billy Bedlam" Bedford, serial rapist John "Johnny 23" Baca, Black Guerrilla Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones, and professional criminal Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom. The flight is overseen by U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin while DEA special agent Willie Sims plans to go on an undercover mission to get information from narcoterrorism Francisco Cindino, who is being picked up en route; unbeknownst to Larkin, Sims’ partner, Duncan Malloy, smuggles a gun on board for Sims.
After taking off, inmate Joe "Pinball" Parker sets another prisoner on fire as a distraction, allowing Grissom and Jones to take over the plane. They plan to land at Carson Airport as scheduled, pick up and transfer other prisoners and fly to a non-extradition country. Sims tries to retake control, but Grissom kills him in the process.
The plane arrives at Carson City and the inmates exchange commences, with the ground crew unaware of the hijacking. Amongst the new passengers are Cindino, pilot Earl "Swamp Thing" Williams and serial killer Garland Greene. The authorities discover the hijacking upon finding evidence in Grissom's old cell and a tape recorder planted by Poe on one of the disguised guards but cannot prevent the plane from taking off. Meanwhile, Pinball disposes of the plane's transponder, but he is crushed to death by the landing gear during takeoff.
The inmates plan to land at Lerner Airfield, a desert airstrip, and transfer onto another plane owned by Cindino and his Drug cartel. Poe finds Pinball's corpse trapped in the landing gear and writes a message to Larkin on the body before throwing it out. Larkin learns of the news and heads to Lerner after contacting the National Guard. Bedford, raiding the cargo, discovers Poe's identity, forcing Poe to kill him.
The Jailbird is grounded at Lerner, a derelict strip next to an aircraft boneyard, with no sign of the transfer aircraft. Grissom orders the others to fuel up the plane and prepare for takeoff. Poe leaves to find Baby-O a syringe to give him insulin, meeting Larkin and informing him of the situation. They discover Cindino attempting to escape on a hidden private jet, which Larkin sabotages by lowering a crane arm onto it. Betrayed, Grissom executes Cindino by igniting the plane's fuel. Greene meets a little girl playing tea party near the hangar and is tempted to kill her, but he resists his homicidal urges. Johnny 23 spots a National Guard convoy approaching and gives the alarm. As the National Guard arrives, the inmates launch an enormous assault in the boneyard, resulting in various casualties, but Larkin uses a bulldozer as a makeshift shield, rallying the guardsmen and forcing the convicts to retreat. The surviving inmates return to the Jailbird and take flight.
Poe's identity is revealed when Bedford's body is found. Baby-O takes the blame and is shot by Grissom, when Larkin and Malloy arrive in attack helicopters, damaging the Jailbirds fuel tank. Poe takes command of the cockpit, and Larkin instructs him to have the plane land at McCarran International Airport, but due to damage, Swamp Thing is forced to land it on the Las Vegas Strip, causing mass destruction and killing Johnny 23. Grissom, Jones, and Swamp Thing escape on a fire truck, pursued by Poe and Larkin on police motorcycles; the chase results in the deaths of all three escapees. Poe reunites with his family, Baby-O is hospitalized and the surviving inmates are apprehended, except for Greene, who is last seen gambling in a casino.
Additional actors include Ty Granderson Jones as "Blade", Emilio Rivera as Carlos, Doug Hutchison as Donald, Jeris Lee Poindexter as Watts, David Ramsey as Londell, Conrad Goode as Lars "Viking" Olsson, John Diehl as Poe's defense attorney, and Don S. Davis as the motorist whose car Pinball's corpse falls on. Powers Boothe makes an uncredited voice-over cameo in the opening credits as the Army officer at Poe's leaving ceremony. John Cusack's brother Bill Cusack appears as a Las Vegas EMT.
Malkovich was considered early for the role of Grissom. Jason Isaacs, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe and Tom Sizemore auditioned for the role. Bruce Willis turned down the role.
The jail scenes in the beginning of the film were shot at the Lincoln Heights Jail in Los Angeles.
On August 29, 1996, Phillip Swartz, a welder employed by Special Effects Unlimited, a Los Angeles–based firm, was crushed to death at Wendover when a static model of the C-123 used in the film fell on him. The film credits end with "In Memory of Phil Swartz". "Plane Crushes Worker on Disney Film Set." Los Angeles Times, August 31, 1996. Retrieved: December 17, 2011.
Other filming locations included Ogden Airport where the exchange of prisoners is seen. The scene where the aircraft's left wing hits the Fender Stratocaster sign of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (which later played host to the film's premiere), was filmed using a replicated guitar sign and a Jailbird miniature model. The crash site was filmed in the Sands Hotel before its demolition on November 26, 1996. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer found the right spot for the climactic finale, originally planned for a crash at the White House, but Las Vegas was more in keeping with the theme and visual pun of convicts "cashing in". "We got very lucky ... The Sands was going to be demolished anyway. They blew up the tower on their own. We arranged to blow up the front of the building." The 2nd Street Tunnel in Los Angeles was also used for the tunnel chase scene near the end of the film.Girod, Russell W. "Con Air: About The Locations." Touchstone Pictures & Five Star Publishing,1997. Retrieved: December 20, 2011. Three C-123's were used during production and were painted with the Jailbird livery. The actual flying C-123 model used during flight scenes in the film had a series of both military and private owners. In December 2003 it was sold to All West Freight Inc. in Delta Junction, Alaska. "Accident Report: Fairchild C-123K Provider, August 1, 2010." Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved: December 21, 2011. On August 1, 2010, the C-123 was destroyed when it crashed into Mount Healy within Denali National Park in Alaska.Rettig, Molly. "Federal investigators arrive at Denali crash site; victims identified." newsminer.com, August 2, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011. The three member flight crew was killed in the crash. "Authorities identify victims of Alaska "Con Air"-movie plane crash." BNO News, August 3, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011.van der Voet, Aad. "C-123 Providers starring in 'Con Air'." oldwings.nl, August 2, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011. "Probe starts into deadly crash at Denali." Anchorage Daily News via adn.com, August 2, 2010. Retrieved: December 17, 2011. Another C-123, formerly registered as N94DT, was used for the crash scene in Las Vegas and then scrapped following production. The third Jailbird movie model used for the taxi scenes was later donated by the filmmakers to the Historic Wendover Airfield Foundation, where it remains on display at the ramp as an attraction for visitors.
The film used several highly detailed models at 1/15th scale, and a multitude of military and private aircraft assembled for the desert boneyard scene.
The Con Air soundtrack album omits two songs featured in the film: "How Do I Live", written by Diane Warren and performed by Trisha Yearwood and "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Although a key element of the film, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "The soundtrack kicks into loud, obtrusive gear ... and remains so loud throughout the picture that it practically functions as a distancing device."LaSalle, Mick. "Con Job: Nicolas Cage drives his newest action vehicle into a wall, where it explodes." San Francisco Chronicle, June 6, 1997. Retrieved: December 19, 2011.
The film grossed $101.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $122.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $224 million. "Con Air (1997)." Box Office Mojo. Retrieved: December 29, 2009.
Roger Ebert, reviewing the film for the Chicago Sun-Times, awarded it three out of four stars, saying it "moves smoothly and with visual style and verbal wit," although he criticized Cage for playing Poe as a "slow-witted Elvis Presley type who is very, very earnest and approaches every task with tunnel vision". Janet Maslin, reviewer for The New York Times considered Con Air an exemplar of the "thrill ride genre". In contrast, Rolling Stone reviewer Peter Travers decried the "flip, hip" and ultimately, "depressing ... pandering" present in the treatment.
Andrew Johnston, reviewer for Time Out New York, stated: "Leaving The Rock last summer, I thought it seemed physically impossible for a more over-the-top action movie to be made. That was pretty short-sighted of me, since it was only a matter of time until producer Jerry Bruckheimer topped himself as he does with the wildly entertaining Con Air."Time Out New York, June 5–12, 1997, p. 67
Maxim put the film's climactic Las Vegas plane crash at the top of their 2007 list of "The Top Ten Most Horrific Movie Plane Crashes", a decision that was derided by Wired.
| Academy Awards | Best Original Song | "How Do I Live" Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren | |
| Best Sound | Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Art Rochester | ||
| Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film | Rachel Ticotin | ||
| ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards | Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures | "How Do I Live" Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren | |
| Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favorite Actor – Action/Adventure | Nicolas Cage | |
| Favorite Supporting Actor – Action/Adventure | John Cusack | ||
| Favorite Supporting Actress – Action/Adventure | Rachel Ticotin | ||
| Favorite Song from a Movie | Trisha Yearwood – "How Do I Live" | ||
| BMI Film & TV Awards | Film Music Award | Mark Mancina | |
| Bogey Awards | |||
| Golden Raspberry AwardsWilson, John. "1997 Archive." Golden Raspberry Awards. Retrieved: December 20, 2011. | Worst Original Song | "How Do I Live" Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren | |
| Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property | |||
| Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – Dialogue & ADR | David Williams, Robert Ulrich, Gail Clark Burch, Jeff Clark, Richard Corwin, Susan Kurtz, Carin Rogers, Zack Davis, Stephen Janisz and Kerry Dean Williams | |
| Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects & Foley | |||
| Grammy Awards | Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television | "How Do I Live" Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren | |
| Jupiter Awards | Best International Actor | Nicolas Cage | |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | Best Original Song | "How Do I Live" Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren | |
| Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Steve Buscemi | |
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