Falcon Down

Reply to "As I was flying right behind TWA 800 flight on my way to Sweden and heard the explosion, it still makes me cringe, I still believe, it was a missile that took the plane out! There were over 150 witnesses in NY Long Island and close by areas who witnessed something like a rocket coming out of the ground or water. When interviewed by FDA, and other Government Orgs, without being able to get together to make up a story that was the same among all witnesses, I truly believe it was a coverup. FBI did not take the statements from the witnesses in account and dismissed them. The FAA was never asked to testify." I was there from the 106th Operations Group or the 106th Rescue Wing, and the FBI did take statements; they did a 5-year anniversary documentary, it wasn't a missile, The head of the FAA said the FBI sold parts, where it was set up at the old Grumman base i grew up on, he retold this story on the show,it landed between 2 bases that had PJ jumpers, they went to 6 homes that had given statments, and they all have long grass that would fit 5 years and they were empty, one had food still on the plates in the kitchen, it was a test of the Star Beam at Brookhaven National Lab. The only other plane in the sky was Navy and Flt 900 flying down the middle of the island,

It's long been considered that Government organizations cover up many incidents. Probably the most infamous are the whispers that The Government actually has proof of alien beings and has their DNA, spacecraft and who knows what else hidden in an area in Roswell, New Mexico called Area 51. Then there are some of the 'apparently' factual incidents investigated by TV shows such as "The X Files". As for the military's involvement, there's only speculation - but it's believed they are present in most of these theories in some respect.

In "Falcon Down", it's the Military and the Government that are responsible for such a large scale cover-up. So large scale, that eye witnesses who have claimed to witness something related to the operation have been erased. Many of these people claimed that it was some kind of Alien spacecraft that was being kept quiet by the Government. In the film, we discover that it's something a little more close to home. Or Earth if you will.

Two airforce pilots come face to face with an unforseen terror in the skies. One of them suddenly goes blind and his jet falls to a fiery death. Nearby, a commercial airline also goes down.Wanting answers and bewildered by what has happened, the surviving airforce pilot, Hank Thomas (Dale Midkiff) is discharged from service following a fiery meeting with the rather suspicious, Major Robert Carson (Shatner). Several months later, Hank is bullied into leading a top secret operation, run by his old foe, Carson. The mission involves stealing a super-jet called the 'Falcon' (complete with underneath weapon, hence the blinding of the pilot) and then, as he is ordered, take it to a rendevous point where it will be dismantled so no one else can be harmed by it's terror.

Joined by a group of mercenaries - one a 'trigger-happy' Rambo-type, another an intellectual yet green faced player (Judd Nelson), a straight player and femme fatale (Rubin) - Hank skillfully takes control of the stolen jet and finds himself followed by the U.S airforce and other unforseen threats. With fuel running out, it seems the only option Hank has is to land the plane on Ice. And as we know, Ice eventually melts.

Labelled as a B-Grade film, the most surprising thing about "Falcon Down" is that it is notches above it's direct-to-video companions. The visual effects are well done, the characters are more than the one-dimensional lot we usually see in films like this, and overall, it's an entertaining ride. Just when it looks to let up, it throws in another surprise, or plot twist. It also provokes a talking point..do top-secret cover-ups like this happen?

First of all: the story with the „microwave - weapon' and the super - plane „Falcon' isn't very realistic in my opinion. But that doesn't really matter, because the rest of the story is mostly complex and logical. In fact I was afraid of seeing once again a film like „Land of the free' which was highly unrealistic, but that didn't happen. „Falcon Down' is exciting, there are many action scenes, but they are realistic. Furthermore the important thing about the movie is not boring fight scenes, but solid excitement and entertainment. The special effects , the shots of the plane and the explosions are well done and give a dark and mystique touch to the movie. Unfortunately all characters are full of cliches and they lack depth. The center of the film is Dale Midkiff and the excellent special effects, all the other actors have more or less minor roles. Midkiff plays the fired pilot very well and the cast is positively supported by the wonderful Jennifer Rubin. And William Shatner is just excellent as the strict and egoistic Major Carson. The „over - acting' Shatner is often blamed for will not be found in this movie. And another positive aspect: The music beautifully supports the excitement and is a joy for the ears. So: „Falcon Down' is an exciting and entertaining Thriller and is besides of „Miss Congeniality' and „Free Enterprise' one of the best movies Shatner has acted in since „Star Trek Generations'. It is a pity that the movie hasn't been published in the USA yet but I'm sure here in Germany it will be a success.

Being a huge science fiction fan I picked this movie to balance out my wife's romantic comedy pick. Ironically, in spite of all the expectations of a terrible B grade movie, I was pleasantly surprised in some areas. OK, so there was a laughable storyline. Was this a blatant ripoff of that terrible 70's movie FIREFOX with Clint Eastwood? And if so, why would anybody choose to ripoff such a disaster to begin with? Dale Midkiff couldn't act his way out of a paperbag, much less this movie. The CGI special effects were embarrassingly bad and were barely a step above 1950's Buck Roger's flying saucers. BUT here's the good stuff. Judd Nelson is actually pretty good in this film. Maybe I'm so used to seeing him in his typical schoolboy role, but he really does a reasonable convincing job as the conspirator. And any opportunity to watch William Shatner is always good. The set design was surprisingly good for a movie that probably didn't have much for sets. A very interesting design for the flight deck, especially from an aircraft buff like myself. And a nice design for the aircraft itself, reminiscent of the old Valkyrie experimental airplanes that were mothballed by the airforce after a few disastrous test flights.

An ex-fighter pilot(Dale Midkiff)uncovers a military conspiracy after he is asked by the U.S. Government to steal a supersonic plane carrying a very deadly secret weapon. Little real action. No thrills. Mediocre special effects. Far fetched Sci-Fi. Most characters are over acted. A bad imitation of a good movie. The cast also includes: Cliff Robertson, William Shatner, Judd Nelson and Jennifer Rubin. Question: Does Midkiff actually report to the IRS that he is an actor?