MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 81 this week

Blue Thunder (1983)

R  |   |  Action, Crime, Drama  |  13 May 1983 (USA)
6.3
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.3/10 from 11,719 users  
Reviews: 68 user | 59 critic

The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.

Director:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $2.99 on Amazon Video

ON DISC

Celebrate IMDb's 25th Anniversary with Photos We Love

IMDb turns 25 on October 17! To celebrate, we put together a gallery of some of our favorite movie, TV, and event photos from the last 25 years.

See the Photos We Love

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 21 titles
created 13 Oct 2010
 
a list of 27 titles
created 16 Sep 2013
 
a list of 36 titles
created 11 Mar 2014
 
a list of 30 titles
created 19 Jul 2014
 
a list of 30 titles
created 6 months ago
 

Related Items

Search for "Blue Thunder" on Amazon.com

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Blue Thunder (1983)

Blue Thunder (1983) on IMDb 6.3/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Blue Thunder.

User Polls

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Blue Thunder (TV Series 1984)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

An advanced prototype police helicopter and their ground support crew battle crime.

Stars: James Farentino, Dana Carvey, Sandy McPeak
Stakeout (1987)
Comedy | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

Two cops have to observe a woman. One of them falls in love with her.

Director: John Badham
Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Madeleine Stowe
Firefox (1982)
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

A pilot is sent into the Soviet Union on a mission to steal a prototype jet fighter that can be partially controlled by a neuralink

Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Freddie Jones, David Huffman
52 Pick-Up (1986)
Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

A secret fling between a man and his mistress leads to blackmail and murder.

Director: John Frankenheimer
Stars: Roy Scheider, Ann-Margret, Vanity
Airwolf (1984–1986)
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

As part of a deal with an intelligence agency to look for his missing brother, a renegade pilot goes on missions with an advanced battle helicopter.

Stars: Jan-Michael Vincent, Alex Cord, Ernest Borgnine
F/X (1986)
Action | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

A movie special effects man is hired to fake a real-life mob killing for a witness protection plan, but finds his own life in danger.

Director: Robert Mandel
Stars: Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Diane Venora
The Hard Way (1991)
Action | Comedy | Crime
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

An action movie star researching a role is allowed to tag along with a hardboiled New York policeman, who finds him superficial and irritating.

Director: John Badham
Stars: Michael J. Fox, James Woods, Stephen Lang
Outland (1981)
Action | Crime | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

In the distant future, a police marshal stationed at a remote mining colony on the Jupiter moon of Io uncovers a drug-smuggling conspiracy, and gets no help from the populace when he later finds himself marked for murder.

Director: Peter Hyams
Stars: Sean Connery, Frances Sternhagen, Peter Boyle
Action | Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks.

Director: Hal Needham
Stars: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett
The Seven-Ups (1973)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.

Director: Philip D'Antoni
Stars: Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco, Victor Arnold
Action | Drama

A secret military drone program recruits a police officer for its pilot program. Inspired by the 1983 film, 'Blue Thunder'.

Documentary
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  

The early American films of Michael Ballhaus, director of photography of movies like "GoodFellas" (1990), "The Fabulous Baker Boys" (1989) and "Working Girl" (1988)

Director: Milan Pavlovic
Stars: Michael Ballhaus, Irwin Winkler
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Kate
...
Paul Roebling ...
Icelan
...
Fletcher
...
Montoya
...
Ed Bernard ...
Sgt. Short
Jason Bernard ...
Mayor
Mario Machado ...
Himself
...
Alf Hewitt
Pat McNamara ...
Matusek
Jack Murdock ...
Kress
Clifford A. Pellow ...
Allen (as Clifford Pellow)
Edit

Storyline

Blue Thunder is a specially modified helicopter. It is for police work, but is armed and designed to counter street insurgencies. Its makers want to show what it will do, but have to train Los Angeles Police pilot Frank Murphy to fly and use it in order to allow it to operate in the city. Murphy and the project pilot have differences going back to Vietnam. The conflict between them continues to heat up as Murphy begins to suspect that Blue Thunder is more than has been disclosed. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

He's Out There... See more »


Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

13 May 1983 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Relámpago azul  »

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$42,300,000 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(70 mm prints)| (35 mm prints)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The control stick in the F-16 cockpit is identical to the one from the Viper starfighter cockpit in Battlestar Galactica (1978). See more »

Goofs

Murphy, after downing Montoya's helicopter says, "AH! Not again!" without moving his lips. In the same scene he says, "Ok chaps, How'd you like to follow my leader?" His lips say, "Follow my leader now!" See more »

Quotes

Frank Murphy: Grab your ankles and kiss your ass goodbye Jafo. We're going down.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The hardware, weaponry and surveillance systems depicted in this film are real and in use in the United States today. See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Big Sleaze (2010) See more »

Soundtracks

Theme From Blue Thunder (Murphy's Law)
Written by Arthur B. Rubinstein (as Arthur Rubinstein)
Performed by Arthur B. Rubinstein, Cynthia Morrow, Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli (as the Beepers)
Produced by Evan Pace
Associate Produced by Reno Romano
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Top Gun hold your hat!
17 February 2006 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

Clearly, Blue Thunder's introduction shows the state of the art in computer technology at the time. Looked like a Wang computer at work.

I saw this movie for the first time at a drive-in. Those were the days!! .. before DVD's and when VHS recorders were manually tuned. Guess you might say that this was the end of an era and the beginning of video.

My girl and her two boys will remember this movie as long as they live. The movie that played right after this at the drive-in was Xtro. Remember when you could have the entire family see two full length movies for under $10.00? Now, popcorn alone costs $10.00 for one medium bucket.

I have the original Blue Thunder VHS tape in my library, played it last night. My favorite part of the movie is when a heat seeking-missile is launched into a B-B-Que chicken factory and chickens come raining down on the street and cars. The suspense that built up to this point made it funny however tragic for the factory workers.

25 years prior to this movie there was Whirly Birds in black and white on TV. It is interesting to see the advance in aeronautical technology from the early Korean War birds to stealth flight in choppers. I seriously doubt that any helicopter today can achieve or survive inverted flight as was depicted in the final scenes of Blue Thunder. As unbelievable as it seemed, it was exciting to watch.

We still have increased concerns of the privacy of citizens and terrorist activity. In the days of Blue Thunder it was only fantasy to think of wire tapping without a warrant .... today? This reader comment could be intercepted before it makes your review.


19 of 27 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
The dumbest film I've see in a long while... Anscules
They changed the soundtrack. pbandj4evr
Would a Blue Thunder remake fly? comments? theattitude
Funny Quotes from Blue Thunder Zach126
Blue Thunder vs. Airwolf plutoniumcore
So who else died? skl810
Discuss Blue Thunder (1983) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?