Air America: A Forgotten Action Comedy That Lacks Focus (4K/Blu-ray Steelbook)

The Film:

It's hard to believe that a film starring superstars Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. could come and go while barely making a splash, with it subsequently becoming something of an obscure footnote in their filmographies, but that seems to be what happened with Roger Spottiswoode's "Air America," an action/buddy comedy flick that turns 35 this year. To celebrate this little-known outing, Lionsgate has released a new 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook edition, giving the film an upgrade and providing a few extras to go along with it, so let's delve in and see if this is one that's worthy of more recognition or if it ended up exactly where it belonged.

Taking place in 1969, we meet Billy Covington (Robert Downey Jr.), a helicopter pilot who gets his license suspended for unsafe flying while covering traffic for a local radio station. Shortly after, he is recruited by a government agent to work for Air America in Laos, where the CIA has been up to some very shady drug business (though he's obviously not told anything about that). Upon arrival, Billy meets fellow pilot Gene Ryack (Mel Gibson), who buys black market weapons on his flights with the hopes of eventually being able to retire and spend more time with his family.

Billy quickly discovers just how dangerous this work can be and soon finds himself directly involved with the CIA's business. Meanwhile, a Senator (Lane Smith) arrives to investigate rumors that Air America is smuggling drugs, with the CIA heads of the company trying desperately to keep him from discovering the truth. Will he catch wind of what's really going on and will Billy be able to keep going after finding out the truth himself?

"Air America" has all the ingredients for what should have been a rather compelling tale of a pilot desperate for a job that gets thrown into a complex mess of illegal CIA activity in a country where the Agency is desperately trying to keep things on the down-low. However, for all its attempts to be a number of genres & sub-genres, the somewhat odd result is that it ends up not doing any of them particularly well, turning the film into a kind of strange mix where nothing really stands out.

As an action film, there are a few sequences here and there, including planes being shot down and a conclusion that presents a few war thrills, but it's not quite enough to really label it as as "action film" per se, nor are the sequences themselves particularly memorable. As a comedy, there aren't really that many jokes that land (if any). They try here and there, but their situation just doesn't give them any great opportunities for humor, making the film's status as a comedy a little dubious. Finally, as a "buddy" film, there is a decent amount of chemistry between stars Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr., but the film's rather severe lack of character development makes it rather difficult to get engaged with or care about them, making them mildly pleasant to watch and nothing more.

In the end, the film is just ho-hum and forgettable simply because there wasn't much effort put into telling this take on the supposedly true story. Screenwriters John Eskow and Richard Rush wanted it to be so many different things that it ends up being unable to truly focus on any of it, ultimately leaving behind a bit of a mess that begins to explain why the film slipped into obscurity and is never mentioned in discussions of its stars filmographies. It's one of those films that certainly had potential, it's just a shame that it ended up being another case of the writers being unable to tap into it.

Video/Audio:

This edition of "Air America" comes with the film on both 4K (2160p, UHD) and Blu-ray (1080p, HD) in 2.35:1 transfers of excellent quality. The picture has been cleaned up rather nicely, with a clear & sharp image that highlights the film's multitude of beautiful aerial shots. Likewise, the 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sounds effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Lionsgate has done a great job in both departments for this new Steelbook release.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary with Co-Writer/Producer John Eskow

Making of Featurette (6 Minutes) (4K only)

Short Interviews with Cast and Crew (2 Minutes) (4K only)

Flight Log (4 Minutes)

Pre-Flight: The Storyboards of Air America (5 Minutes)

Return Flight: Revisiting Air America (22 Minutes)

The Steelbook comes with a small collection of extras, many of which are somewhat brief, but at least you get an informative commentary track and a pretty interesting retrospective featurette. Overall, it's a pretty good selection given the obscurity of the film.

Conclusion:

Roger Spottiswoode's "Air America" had the potential to tell a rather compelling tale about a desperate pilot getting mixed up in illegal CIA drug activity in Laos in the late '60s, but sadly John Eskow & Richard Rush's screenplay is far too lacking in focus & character development, ultimately making for an easily forgettable action/buddy comedy that doesn't do any of these things particularly well.

Score: 2.5/5

Now available on 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook.

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