Con Air

Simon West (1997)

110min

bbfc_rating|ages_18_and_over Certificate

Review

Our Score

by Jason Caro

Following on from The Rock, this was the film that cemented Nicolas Cage's reputation as one of Hollywood's most unlikely action heroes. It's a top-notch thrill-athon, with Cage as an ex-Army Ranger jailed for a murder he committed in self-defence, whose release is interrupted when his flight home is hijacked by a bunch of America's most dangerous felons. Cage's impossibly cool macho posturing is irresistible, as is John Malkovich's sneering, tongue-in-cheek turn as super-criminal Cyrus "the Virus" Grissom. John Cusack and Ving Rhames lend snappy support, while Steve Buscemi steals nearly every scene he is in with an inspired pastiche of Hannibal Lecter. Armed with an entertaining script by Scott Rosenberg, director Simon West has delivered a dynamic debut that's nearly impossible to dislike. The public certainly found it a winning formula - it went on to take more than $200 million around the world.

Summary

A parolee hitches a ride home on a maximum-security flight conveying some of America's deadliest criminals, and when they hijack the plane in mid-flight he is forced to intervene. Meanwhile, a US marshal has an ongoing battle on the ground to prevent the plane from being blown to pieces. Action thriller, starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames and Colm Meaney.