Newly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.Newly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.Newly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 7 wins & 11 nominations total
Renoly Santiago
- Sally-Can't Dance
- (as Renoly)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJohn Malkovich was unhappy during production because the script was being rewritten virtually every day and he had no idea how his character was going to turn out.
- Goofs(at around 5 mins) The judge that sentences Poe claims that Poe does not have the same right of defense because he is combat trained. While it is a common myth that people trained in combat, such as soldiers, martial artists, and boxers, have to register themselves as dangerous weapons, this is completely untrue. All people are held to the same standard regarding self defense, regardless of their combat training.
- Quotes
["Sweet Home Alabama" plays in background, to Poe and Baby-O]
Garland Greene: Define irony. Bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.
- Alternate versionsIn the Finnish DVD version the death of Cyrus is slightly edited. The scene cuts away right before the rock-smashing weight hits his head.
- SoundtracksHow Do I Live
Written by Diane Warren
Performed by Trisha Yearwood
Courtesy of MCA Nashville, a division of MCA Records, Inc.
Featured review
1997: a vintage year for Cage.
I realise that Con Air is about as far from ground-breaking visionary cinema as you can get—Hell, it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, which speaks volumes about the artistic integrity involved—but as a thrilling slice of slam-bang popcorn action fun, it works a treat.
Nicolas Cage plays Cameron Poe, an honourable army ranger who is sent to a maximum-security federal penitentiary after accidentally killing a man while protecting his pregnant wife (Monica Potter). After serving eight years, Cameron is finally given parole, and scheduled to fly home on a C-123 Jailbird aircraft, along with several other prisoners whose number include evil criminal mastermind Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich) and Poe's likable diabetic cell-mate O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson). Poe's freedom is delayed however, when Cyrus and his equally vile cohorts take over the plane by force, and O'Dell's life is placed in jeopardy...
Unlike The Rock, which was an overly dramatic and rather jingoistic affair, Con Air is pure cartoonish excess from start to finish. To try and analyse the plot or apply logic to proceedings is futile, the script conveniently glossing over details as and when it suits (for example, we never learn what Cage's cell-mate O was jailed for; as a result, he becomes a sympathetic character, when the guy could have been a child killer for all we know!). Director Simon West sure isn't concerned about his film making sense, 'cos he's too busy having the time of his life inflicting maximum damage on everyone and everything in the most spectacular manner possible. In this film, the rules are 'don't just have a car crash when you can drag it behind a plane on a hook for a while before smashing it onto a runway?' and 'Don't just kill a man when you can kill him and then drop his corpse from several thousand feet onto a moving vehicle?'.
It's stuff like this, coupled with a formidable cast and excellent stunts, pyrotechnics and special effects, that elevate Con Air from the ridiculous to the sublime. I give Con Air a rating of 8 delightfully ruthless maniacs out of 10, making it the second best Nicolas Cage action flick of 1997.
Nicolas Cage plays Cameron Poe, an honourable army ranger who is sent to a maximum-security federal penitentiary after accidentally killing a man while protecting his pregnant wife (Monica Potter). After serving eight years, Cameron is finally given parole, and scheduled to fly home on a C-123 Jailbird aircraft, along with several other prisoners whose number include evil criminal mastermind Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich) and Poe's likable diabetic cell-mate O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson). Poe's freedom is delayed however, when Cyrus and his equally vile cohorts take over the plane by force, and O'Dell's life is placed in jeopardy...
Unlike The Rock, which was an overly dramatic and rather jingoistic affair, Con Air is pure cartoonish excess from start to finish. To try and analyse the plot or apply logic to proceedings is futile, the script conveniently glossing over details as and when it suits (for example, we never learn what Cage's cell-mate O was jailed for; as a result, he becomes a sympathetic character, when the guy could have been a child killer for all we know!). Director Simon West sure isn't concerned about his film making sense, 'cos he's too busy having the time of his life inflicting maximum damage on everyone and everything in the most spectacular manner possible. In this film, the rules are 'don't just have a car crash when you can drag it behind a plane on a hook for a while before smashing it onto a runway?' and 'Don't just kill a man when you can kill him and then drop his corpse from several thousand feet onto a moving vehicle?'.
It's stuff like this, coupled with a formidable cast and excellent stunts, pyrotechnics and special effects, that elevate Con Air from the ridiculous to the sublime. I give Con Air a rating of 8 delightfully ruthless maniacs out of 10, making it the second best Nicolas Cage action flick of 1997.
helpful•305
- BA_Harrison
- Feb 23, 2012
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Không Tặc
- Filming locations
- Ogden Airport - 3909 Airport Road, Ogden, Utah, USA(exchange of prisoners: Garland 'The Marietta Mangler' Greene gets on the plane at Carson City, Nevada)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $75,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $101,117,573
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $24,131,738
- Jun 8, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $224,012,234
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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