While being fairly lackluster and about a half hour too long, this film is worth viewing at least once to appreciate its decent storyline based on a decent novel and to view a movie interspersed with a few notable actors plus a surprising amount of then relatively unknown actors, such as Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), David Schwimmer (Friends), Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan), and John Corbett (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). The extensive aircraft carrier scenes were filmed aboard the U.S.S. Independence (CV-62) soon after I had arrived onboard during my active duty U.S. Navy stint. During the time of filming, I got a chance to have an impromptu one-on-one breakfast with the director (John Milius), got to read a copy of a script left in a stateroom by an actor, watch the just-developed reels of fight deck operations with Milius himself, and actually participate in a few scenes (one of which included the final flyover scene of the "Independence" in which I was one of many 'manning the rails'; a tradition of lining the edges of the entire flight deck while entering a port, and another of which was ostensibly left on the cutting-room floor).
This movie presents itself as many of the other movies of director John Milius (Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn) - slow and ponderous, with hints of something potentially greater going on just out of reach of the director (and the viewer waiting for something more interesting to happen). Danny Glover and Willem Dafoe both came across as fairly believable and likeable bomber pilots, although I can now see why Brad Johnson never really became more prominent as an actor. Very interestingly, the U.S.S. Independence (CV-62) actually directly participated in the Vietnam War very similarly as depicted in `Flight of the Intruder' (POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT: she was the first Atlantic Fleet carrier to deploy in support of Vietnam operations, and participated in the first major series of coordinated strikes against vital enemy supply lines north of the Hanoi Haiphong complex, successfully evading the first massive surface-to-air missile barrage in aviation history, plus the first successful attack on an enemy surface-to-air missile installation). Although `Flight of the Intruder' is one of the weakest Vietnam-related motion pictures, and as of early 2004 not yet released on DVD, it is still shown on TV occasionally and would definitely be enjoyed by military movie lovers.
This movie presents itself as many of the other movies of director John Milius (Conan the Barbarian, Red Dawn) - slow and ponderous, with hints of something potentially greater going on just out of reach of the director (and the viewer waiting for something more interesting to happen). Danny Glover and Willem Dafoe both came across as fairly believable and likeable bomber pilots, although I can now see why Brad Johnson never really became more prominent as an actor. Very interestingly, the U.S.S. Independence (CV-62) actually directly participated in the Vietnam War very similarly as depicted in `Flight of the Intruder' (POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT: she was the first Atlantic Fleet carrier to deploy in support of Vietnam operations, and participated in the first major series of coordinated strikes against vital enemy supply lines north of the Hanoi Haiphong complex, successfully evading the first massive surface-to-air missile barrage in aviation history, plus the first successful attack on an enemy surface-to-air missile installation). Although `Flight of the Intruder' is one of the weakest Vietnam-related motion pictures, and as of early 2004 not yet released on DVD, it is still shown on TV occasionally and would definitely be enjoyed by military movie lovers.