#32 - Con Air - 1997

Con Air was the 4th movie I chose to watch this week. It too came out in 1997 like The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Its weird the first two films I chose this week were released in 1993 and the last two have been 1997. Tonight Ill probably have to break the mold and watch a new one, maybe. My detailed review of this film is below.

Con Air stars a laundry list of big name actors so instead of listing all of them let me list my favorites. Obviously #1 is Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe. Following suit would have to be John Malkovich as Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom. There is also John Cusack as US Marshall Vince Larkin, Ving Rhames as Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones, Steve Buscemi as Garland "The Marietta Mangler" Greene, Monica Potter as Tricia Poe, and M.C. Gainey as Swamp Thing. Others filled out the cast as well but these were my favorites.


This movie had a lot of different and unique elements that made it very appealing to me. Besides having a great cast it had a very cool storyline that never left the audience bored at any point in time. One of the elements that I liked about this film was that it included a bunch of convicts who were killers. Now don't ask me why but I have always been fascinated with serial killer's and how their mind's work and what makes them do what they do. Since this movie is about an airline transport plane that gets taken over by these murder's it all fits in well within the story. I especially like the scene where US Marshal Vince Larkin was basically doing a commentary of their rap sheets on each of the convicts as they stepped out of the bus as they were being transported onto the plane. Cyrus Grissom and Garland Greene were the most interesting murder's of them all and I especially love how although Cyrus is supposed to be one of the worst of them all he despises Johnny 23 is a known rapist who has a heart for each of his victims tattooed on his arm.

With this amazing cast of characters it was easy to see why this film was so well received. I don't know many people who didn't like this film because in the end it was good vs. evil. One may wonder why it was good vs. evil considering Cameron Poe was a convicted murderer but his murder was in self defense and should have been completely justified by any court of law. Cage was brilliant in his role as Cameron Poe, the perennial hero of the film. You couldn't help but root for a guy who was just trying to get home to see his daughter for the first time but who would also not leave a friend behind to die. I cant imagine this movie being the same had someone else gotten that role and in fact I highly doubt anyone else was even offered it before Cage.


Cage had several great quotes from this film most notably one where he told William "Billy Bedlam" Bedford to "put the bunny back in the box" and then when Baby O (Poe's friend) referring to Garland Greene asked "What's wrong with him" and Poe humorously respond, "my first thought would be. a lot". Another one of my favorites is when Johnny 23 tells Poe "Do you know what I am"? Poe responds, "ugly all day"! Hilarious! I could go on and on with more quotes from him but Ill end my quotes section with one from Garland Greene played by Steve Buscemi with the song "Sweet Home Alabama" playing in the background. Now remember Greene is the crazies serial killer on board and basically the guy is nuts and mentally out there. Greene says "define irony. Bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a place crash". Too damn funny! Whoever came up with these lines gets an A+. Granted you have to have the right guys and timing in the film to use them but they did for both instances in this film.


This movie was not big on setting throughout the film as most of the film took place inside a large cargo plane however it did have a dramatic final sequence that took place in Las Vegas with explosions and all that good stuff you like to see in an action flick and there was a pretty cool battle scene that took place in the desert at Carson City. With a movie like this the settings and backgrounds weren't quite as important as previous movies I saw this week (mainly the Jurassic Park films) but it was still nice to see some relevant scenes that place outside the plane itself.


All in all if your looking for a good action flick of good vs. evil and adds some real comedic points throughout with a very likeable hero then this movie is right up your alley. The more and more I think about movies that I really really like the more and more I realize Nicolas Cage is in a lot of them, I mean a lot!! He would not be my first choice as an action adventure actor but he is in a lot of damn movies that are action/adventure, etc. Also Id like to say that while I know this role wouldn't be considered one of Malkovich's best acting roles ever it was my second favorite film I've ever seen him in and I loved his character Cyrus the Virus! First favorite for him was easily "In the Line of Fire" with Clint Eastwood. He was brilliant in that!! Overall I would easily give this film an A+!