On June. 6, 1997, an explosive blockbuster film titled Con Air by Jerry Bruckheimer landed in cinemas around the world to make a statement. Besides being a high-speed, action-packed movie, the star was Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage, the king of '90s action cinema. To this day, Con Air is still one of the best action films, and here's why.
Inspired by Real Life Events About America’s Prisoner Transport Planes
During a 1997 interview by the American TV journalist Charlie Rose, film producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that Vice President of Touchstone Pictures, Donald De Line read an LA Times' article about the U.S. program that transported approximately 150,000 prisoners every year. One of the prisoners who was transported through the program was the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh - A domestic terrorist who killed 168 people and injured 680 others.
The article became the breeding ground for a story that would create the perfect screenplay. Now, reading about a prison story and preparing for such a movie are different things. For instance, for Nicolas Cage to prepare for his role as Cameron Poe, he had to visit Folsom prison to learn about prison life; he described the process as “intense” in a 1997 interview with Bobbie Wygant. The idea of sitting down with convicts to listen to their crime stories was not a walk in the park. But, he learned how to ask questions about their lives before prison and as inmates. Interestingly, Cage was not the only person with questions; inmates also asked for advice about how to venture into the Hollywood business. So, it was a balanced process that helped him connect and learn a lot about them in a short time.
Learning about the prison program by the production team did not bear many fruits. Bruckheimer discussed it with Charlie Rose in the interview, saying, “The Marshalls who run the real plane say it’s never been taken over by the prisoners, and wouldn’t cooperate with us, which is nothing unusual. The government couldn’t cooperate with us on Crimson Tide, either.” But, as a world-class producer and storyteller, Bruckheimer stretched the reality, added some drama, and brought about the idea of prisoners taking over the plane.
A Perfect Mix of Action and Romance Scenes
Con Air's opening scene starts with a thoughtful and compassionate message of appreciation for the services of the U.S. Rangers. Once Army Ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) disembarks a boat to meet his pregnant wife Tricia, viewers are escorted by the warm and romantic music, “How Do I Live”, performed by Trisha Yearwood. The calm and serene atmosphere in the Oyster Bar, combined with the heart-warming embrace before a sensual kiss is an introduction that will make you smile. Shortly after, the sweet scene turns sour with a bar fight that ends with Poe in prison for several years, robbing him of the experience of seeing the birth and growth of his daughter.
Throughout the film, there are many instances of contrast, perfectly pairing romance or love with action. This deliberate move of coupling these two forces is the vessel that takes Poe on a wild journey to meet his wife and daughter. As a viewer, your emotions are both cuddled and torn to pieces, engaging you to empathize with Poe and other characters even more. Let’s look at another example of this contrast. After years in prison, Cameron Poe is paroled and released to go back home. Building up to the parole, Poe and his daughter were writing to each other for months, trying to imagine their first-time meeting. The castle they build in the air is threatened by a plane trip that is hijacked by the deadliest prisoners from Alabama’s super max facility, the Feltham Penitentiary. It's only at the end of the movie that we see Poe hugging his wife and daughter for the first time, and nothing bad happens. It also gets teary with the addition of the soundtrack. Apart from Cage acting brilliantly in action films, he is also great at comedy movies.
After the movie was released, an exit poll was conducted on the first weekend where 60% of the young women below the age of 25 rated the movie excellent because it was romantic. The quest of Poe to meet his wife and daughter captivated people who were not comfortable with action movies. Even Bruckheimer recounted the comments from his mother, 93, at the time, “It brought tears to my eyes. I don’t like these kinds of movies, where you blow everything up. But I liked this one because it had a lot of heart.”
Jerry Bruckheimer and Academy Award-Winning Actors Worked on the Film
The relationship between Bruckheimer and Cage was already cultured, since both were working on the movie The Rock when Bruckheimer walked to Cage’s trailer to hand him the Con Air script. Bruckheimer then interviewed Simon West, a young commercial director at the time, who had never worked on a project like this before. West intrigued Bruckheimer because he was a visual director like Tony Scott and Michael Bay. While Scott Rosenberg was writing Con Air’s script, he envisioned certain roles for actors like Steve Buscemi and John Cusack. Hand-picking the right team and writing for specific actors like Cage who perform flawlessly brought about a special look and feel to the movie.
Bruckheimer also had experience working with comedians like Eddie Murphy, who had a big break with the successful Beverly Hills Cop franchise. This time, he picked Dave Chappelle, an up-and-comer who had been featured in movies like Robin Hood: Men in Tights. In Con Air, Chappelle acted as Pinball, a motor-mouthed henchman for Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich).
Con Air became a two-time Oscar nominee in 1998 for Best Original Song ("How Do I Live") and Best Sound Mixing. It did not win in any category because of the blockbuster picture, Titanic, which had a great year in cinema.
An Actual Plane Crashed into the Real Sands Casino
A lot of credit goes to Simon West and the production team for using miniatures and practical effects for explosions instead of employing lots of CGI effects. The most iconic shot of the movie is filming the smoking Jail Bird plane as it falls above the Las Vegas Strip. The display was so realistic that many people called the authorities, freaking out about the smoking plane. The spokesperson for the McCarran International Airport divulged to the Las Vegas Sun that they got many calls about a plane going down. But the control tower and the FAA were well aware of the filming.
The coolest moment of the production was crash-landing the plane at the entrance to the Sands Casino in Las Vegas. The casino was already scheduled for demolition, and the filmmakers wanted to participate in the demolition job. The owners blew up the tower, and the film crew planned to blow up the front part. Since there was room for only one take, 14 cameras filmed the entire crash. Just by looking at the movie trailer when it first came out, viewers could tell that it was going to be one of the greatest action movies ever.