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Firefox (film)

Firefox
Firefox(1982 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Produced by Clint Eastwood
Screenplay by
  • Alex Lasker
  • Wendell Wellman
Based on Firefox
1977 novel
by Craig Thomas
Starring
  • Clint Eastwood
Music by Maurice Jarre
Cinematography Bruce Surtees
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • June 18, 1982 (1982-06-18)
Running time
136 minutes
Country United States
Austria
Greenland
Language English
Russian
Budget $18 million
Box office $46,708,276

Firefox is a 1982 American DeLuxe Color techno-thriller film produced, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood in Panavision. It is based upon the 1977 novel of the same name by Craig Thomas.

Though the film was set in Russia, authentic filming locations were not possible due to the Cold War, forcing Eastwood's and Fritz Manes's Malpaso Company to rely on Vienna and other locations in Austria to double for many of the Eurasian story locations. The film was shot on a $21 million budget, the largest production budget ever for Malpaso. Of that amount, over $20 million was spent on special effects.

A joint Anglo-American plot is devised to steal a highly advanced Soviet fighter aircraft (MiG-31, NATO code name "Firefox") which is capable of Mach 6, is invisible to radar, and carries weapons controlled by thought. Former United States Air Force Major Mitchell Gant (Clint Eastwood), a Vietnam veteran and former POW, infiltrates the Soviet Union, aided by his ability to speak Russian (due to his having had a Russian mother) and a network of Jewish dissidents and sympathizers, three of whom are key scientists working on the fighter itself. His goal is to steal the Firefox and fly it back to friendly territory for analysis.

However, the KGB has got wind of the operation and is already hot on Gant's tail. It is only through the sympathizers that Gant remains one step ahead of the KGB and reaches the air base at Bilyarsk, where the Firefox prototype is under heavy guard. The dissident scientists working on the Firefox help Gant infiltrate the base. Dr. Pyotr Baranovich (Nigel Hawthorne), one of the scientists, informs Gant that there is a second prototype in the hangar that must be destroyed. The diversion will allow Gant to enter the hangar and escape with the first Firefox. Gant knocks out Lt. Colonel Yuri Voskov (Kai Wulff), a Soviet pilot assigned to take the first prototype on its maiden flight during a visit from the Soviet First Secretary. The scientists attempt the destruction of the second prototype to give Gant time to suit up and start the first fighter, but the second prototype is not destroyed, and the scientists are killed by the guards. Fortunately for Gant, he escapes the hangar and lifts off just as the First Secretary arrives.


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