Flight of the Intruder | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | John Milius |
Produced by | Brian Frankish |
Written by |
Robert Dillon David Shaber John Milius (uncredited) |
Based on | Flight of the Intruder by Stephen Coonts |
Starring | |
Music by | Basil Poledouris |
Cinematography | Fred J. Koenekamp |
Edited by | Steve Mirkovich Carroll Timothy O'Meara Peck Prior |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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115 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $30 million |
Box office | $14,587,732 |
Flight of the Intruder is a 1991 film directed by John Milius, based on the novel of the same name by former Grumman A-6 Intruder pilot Stephen Coonts. The film stars Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, and Brad Johnson.
Lieutenant Jake "Cool Hand" Grafton (Brad Johnson) and his bombardier/navigator and best friend Lieutenant Morgan "Morg" McPherson (Christopher Rich) are flying a Grumman A-6 Intruder over the Gulf of Tonkin towards North Vietnam. They hit their target, a 'suspected truck park', which actually turns out to be trees. On the return to carrier, Morg is fatally shot in the neck by an armed Vietnamese peasant. Landing on the USS Independence with Morg dead, a disturbed Jake, covered in blood, walks into a debriefing with Commander Frank Camparelli (Danny Glover) and Executive Officer, Commander "Cowboy" Parker (J. Kenneth Campbell). Camparelli tells Jake to put Morgan's death behind him and to write a letter to Sharon, Morg's wife. New pilot Jack Barlow (Jared Chandler), nicknamed "Razor" because of his youthful appearance, is then introduced.
Lieutenant Commander Virgil Cole (Willem Dafoe) arrives on board and reports to Camparelli, who later tells Jake's roommate Sammy Lundeen (Justin Williams) to take Jake, Bob "Boxman" Walkawitz (Tom Sizemore) and "Mad Jack" (Dann Florek) to fly into Subic Bay the next day and help Jake unwind. Jake goes to see Sharon, but she has already departed. He runs into a woman named Callie Troy (Rosanna Arquette), who is packing Sharon's things, and they have a small, tense encounter. After an altercation with civilian merchant sailors in the Tailhook Bar, Jake runs into Callie again. After they reconcile, dance and spend the night together, she reveals her husband was a pilot himself and was killed on a solo mission over Vietnam.