Con Air

Con Air es una película estadounidense de acción y suspense de 1997dirigida por Simon West (en su debut como director de largometrajes ) y protagonizada por Nicolas Cage , John Cusack y John Malkovich en los papeles principales. Escrita por Scott Rosenberg y producida por Jerry Bruckheimer , la película se centra en una fuga de prisión a bordo de una aeronave del Sistema de Transporte de Prisioneros y Extraterrestres de Justicia (JPATS), apodada "Con Air". Cuenta con un reparto coral de reparto formado por Steve Buscemi , Ving Rhames , Colm Meaney , Mykelti Williamson y Rachel Ticotin , con Monica Potter , Dave Chappelle , MC Gainey y Danny Trejo en papeles secundarios.

Con Air se estrenó en cines el 6 de junio de 1997, por Buena Vista Pictures a través de Touchstone Pictures y fue un éxito de taquilla, recaudando más de $224  millones frente a un presupuesto de producción de $75  millones. La película recibió críticas mixtas de los críticos, quienes elogiaron la actuación, la banda sonora y las secuencias de acción, pero criticaron el tono inconsistente, la dirección y el desarrollo de los personajes. La película logró un seguimiento de culto entre los aficionados a la acción y los seguidores de Nicolas Cage. ^{[ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ]} Recibió nominaciones al Oscar a Mejor Sonido y Mejor Canción Original por " How Do I Live ", interpretada en la banda sonora por Trisha Yearwood .

Cameron Poe, un condecorado Ranger del Ejército dado de baja con honores, es declarado culpable de homicidio involuntario por matar a un cliente de un bar en defensa propia cuando este, en estado de embriaguez, lo ataca a él y a su esposa embarazada, Tricia. Durante su condena de ocho años, escribe cartas a Tricia y a su hija Casey, a quien nunca ha conocido. Ocho años después, obtiene la libertad condicional y aborda un vuelo a Alabama en el Jailbird , un Fairchild C-123 Provider convertido en avión de transporte penitenciario, para reunirse con su familia en el cumpleaños de Casey. Acompañando a Poe está su compañero de celda diabético y mejor amigo, Mike "Baby-O" O'Dell.

Most of the inmates boarding the flight are convicts being transferred to a newly opened supermax prison, including mass felon William "Billy Bedlam" Bedford, statutory rapist John "Johnny 23" Baca, Black Guerrilla Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones, and professional criminal Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom. The flight is overseen by U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin while DEA special agent Willie Sims plans to go on an undercover mission to get information from narcoterrorist Francisco Cindino, who is being picked up en route; unbeknownst to Larkin, Sims' partner, Duncan Malloy, smuggles a gun on board for Sims.

After taking off, inmate Joe "Pinball" Parker sets another prisoner on fire as a distraction, allowing Grissom and Jones to take over the plane. They plan to land at Carson Airport as scheduled, pick up and transfer other prisoners and fly to a non-extradition country, presumably Mexico. Sims tries to retake control, but Grissom kills him in the process.

The plane arrives at Carson City and the exchange of inmates commences, with the ground crew unaware of the hijacking. Amongst the new passengers are Cindino, pilot Earl "Swamp Thing" Williams and serial killer Garland Greene. The authorities discover the hijacking upon finding evidence in Grissom's old cell and a tape recorder planted by Poe on one of the disguised guards but cannot prevent the plane from taking off. Meanwhile, Pinball disposes of the plane's transponder, but he is crushed to death by the landing gear during takeoff.

The inmates plan to land at Lerner Airfield, a desert airstrip, and transfer onto another plane owned by Cindino and his cartel. Poe finds Pinball's corpse trapped in the landing gear and writes a message to Larkin on the body before throwing it out. Larkin learns of the news and heads to Lerner after contacting the National Guard. Bedford, raiding the cargo, discovers Poe's identity, and forcing Poe to kill him.

The Jailbird is grounded at Lerner, a derelict strip next to an aircraft boneyard, with no sign of the transfer aircraft. Grissom orders the others to fuel up the plane and prepare for takeoff. Poe leaves to find Baby-O a syringe to give him insulin. Poe meets Larkin and informs him of the situation. They discover Cindino attempting to escape on a hidden private jet, which Larkin sabotages by lowering a crane arm onto it. Betrayed, Grissom executes Cindino by igniting the plane's fuel. Greene meets a little girl playing tea party near the hangar and is tempted to kill her, but he resists his homicidal urges. Johnny 23 spots a National Guard convoy approaching and gives the alarm. As the National Guard arrives, the inmates launch an enormous assault in the boneyard, resulting in various casualties, but Larkin uses a bulldozer as a makeshift shield, rallying the remaining guardsmen and forcing the convicts to retreat. The surviving inmates return to the Jailbird and get airborne. Poe rescues guard Sally Bishop as well.

Poe's identity is revealed when Bedford's body is found. Baby-O takes the blame and is shot by Grissom, when Larkin and Malloy arrive in attack helicopters, damaging the Jailbird's fuel tank. Poe takes command of the cockpit, and Larkin instructs him to have the plane land at McCarran International Airport, but due to damage, Swamp Thing is forced to land it on the Las Vegas Strip, causing mass destruction and killing Johnny 23. Grissom, Jones, and Swamp Thing escape on a fire truck, pursued by Poe and Larkin on police motorcycles; the chase results in the deaths of all three escapees. Poe reunites with his family, Baby-O is hospitalized and the surviving inmates are apprehended, except for Greene, who is last seen gambling in a casino.

Additional actors include Ty Granderson Jones as "Blade", Emilio Rivera as Carlos, Doug Hutchison as Donald, Jeris Lee Poindexter as Watts, David Ramsey as Londell, Conrad Goode as Lars "Viking" Olsson, John Diehl as Poe's defense attorney, and Don S. Davis as the motorist whose car Pinball's corpse falls on. Powers Boothe makes an uncredited voice-over cameo in the opening credits as the Army officer at Poe's leaving ceremony. John Cusack's brother Bill Cusack appears as a Las Vegas EMT.

Malkovich was considered early for the role of Grissom. Michael Biehn, Jason Isaacs, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe and Tom Sizemore auditioned for the role. Bruce Willis turned down the role.^[7][8]

With second unit work beginning on June 24, 1996, principal photography began shortly after in Salt Lake City, on July 1, 1996, and continued until roughly October 29, 1996, at a number of locations.^[9] While most of the interiors of the Fairchild C-123 Provider transport aircraft were filmed in Hollywood Center Studios soundstage #7, Wendover Airport in Utah, as the stand in for the fictional Lerner Airfield, was used for the C-123 flying and taxi scenes.^[10] Director Simon West chose the barren and remote Wendover area "because it looked like the surface of the moon ... My idea was that it was perfect for the convicts who had been locked up for 10, 20, 30 years in little cells."^[11] The old wartime bomber base was also used for the aircraft boneyard scenes while the original swimming pool at the base was used in a scene where Garland Greene was talking to a young girl.^[12]

The jail scenes in the beginning of the film were shot at the Lincoln Heights Jail in Los Angeles.^[13]

On August 29, 1996, Phillip Swartz, a welder employed by Special Effects Unlimited, a Los Angeles–based firm, was crushed to death at Wendover when a static model of the C-123 used in the film fell on him. The film credits end with "In Memory of Phil Swartz".^[14]

Other filming locations included Ogden Airport where the exchange of prisoners is seen. The scene where the aircraft's left wing hits the Fender Stratocaster sign of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (which later played host to the film's premiere), was filmed using a replicated guitar sign and a Jailbird miniature model. The crash site was filmed in the Sands Hotel before its demolition on November 26, 1996.^[15] Producer Jerry Bruckheimer found the right spot for the climactic finale, originally planned for a crash at the White House, but Las Vegas was more in keeping with the theme and visual pun of convicts "cashing in". "We got very lucky ... The Sands was going to be demolished anyway. They blew up the tower on their own. We arranged to blow up the front of the building." The 2nd Street Tunnel in Los Angeles was also used for the tunnel chase scene near the end of the film.^[11]

Three C-123's were used during production and were painted with the Jailbird livery. The actual flying C-123 model used during flight scenes in the film had a series of both military and private owners. In December 2003 it was sold to All West Freight Inc. in Delta Junction, Alaska.^[16] On August 1, 2010, the C-123 was destroyed when it crashed into Mount Healy within Denali National Park in Alaska.^[17] The three member flight crew was killed in the crash.^[18][19][20] Another C-123, formerly registered as N94DT, was used for the crash scene in Las Vegas and then scrapped following production. The third Jailbird movie model used for the taxi scenes was later donated by the filmmakers to the Historic Wendover Airfield Foundation, where it remains on display at the ramp as an attraction for visitors.^[12]

The film used several highly detailed models at 1/15th scale, and a multitude of military and private aircraft assembled for the desert boneyard scene.^{[Note 1]}

The film featured the Diane Warren–penned LeAnn Rimes hit single "How Do I Live", performed by Trisha Yearwood for the film.^{[23][Note 2]}

The Con Air soundtrack album omits two songs featured in the film: "How Do I Live", written by Diane Warren and performed by Trisha Yearwood and "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Although a key element of the film, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "The soundtrack kicks into loud, obtrusive gear ... [and] remains so loud throughout the picture that it practically functions as a distancing device."^[24]

1. "Con Air Theme" – 1:34
2. "Trisha" – 1:04
3. "Carson City" – 3:05
4. "Lear Crash" – 4:44
5. "Lerner Landing" – 3:28
6. "Romantic Chaos" – 1:23
7. "The Takeover" – 3:52
8. "The Discharge" – 1:09
9. "Jailbirds" – 0:59
10. "Cons Check Out Lerner" – 1:56
11. "Poe Saves Cops" – 2:25
12. "The Fight" – 0:23
13. "Battle In The Boneyard" – 7:41
14. "Poe Meets Larkin" – 1:16
15. "Bedlam Larkin" – :49
16. "Fire Truck Chase" – 4:22
17. "Overture" – 4:19

• List of American films of 1997
• List of films set in Las Vegas

• Con Air at IMDb
• Con Air at the TCM Movie Database (archived)
• Con Air at Rotten Tomatoes
• Con Air at Box Office Mojo