Movies - Firefox

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	Movies - Firefox

Firefox is a 1982 Warner Brothers film with Clint Eastwood as director, producer and star. It was based on a novel by Craig Thomas.

The film details an American plot to steal a highly advanced Soviet fighter aircraft (MiG-31 "Firefox") which is capable of Mach 6, is invisible to radar, and carries weapons controlled by thought. Eastwood stars as Maj. Mitchell Gant, a Vietnam veteran who infiltrates the Soviet Union, aided by his ability to speak Russian and a network of dissidents and sympathizers. Gant makes his way to the fictional Bilyarsk air base, where two prototypes of the Firefox have been built. His goal is to fly one back to the United States for analysis. But the KGB is already hot on his tail.

At the time the film was made, President Ronald Reagan had referred to the Soviet Union as the "evil empire" and the Cold War was at a new peak. Naturally, Russian filming locations were not possible, and the producers selected Vienna and other locations in Austria to simulate many of the Eurasian story locations. The film was shot on a $21 million budget.

In 1983, the film was converted into a laserdisc game of the same name by Atari, and is the only such game made by the company.

For fans of the film Firefox there's a highly detailed online resource focusing on the technical and design aspects of this fictional aircraft located at http://www.thinkinrussian.org/

The MIG-31 Firefox

The first mentioned trait of the Firefox is its remarkable speed. In an era where American designs cannot exceed Mach-3, the Firefox is capable of maintaining speeds of up to Mach-6. (Such a speed in a fighter would likely qualify the aircraft as an Interceptor. Similar to the MIG-25, built to catch the XB-70 Valkyrie)

The Firefox's most remarkable system is a weapons console controlled by the pilot's thoughts. Sensors in the pilot's helmet detect his neural impulses, and relay the commands to the fighter. Thus the pilot can launch his missiles without pressing a button. The moment he detects an enemy, he is already sending a missile toward it. The catch to that is that the command has to be thought in Russian, the language it was designed to be used in.

The Firefox is also a stealth fighter. Undetectable by radar, the Firefox can only be targeted by the heat of its enormous engines. To counter this, the Firefox carries a number of rear-firing explosives to neutralize pursuing missiles. (Much more effective then flares and chaffe used in most aircraft to fool infrared and radar guided missiles respectively.) Firefox's armament is rounded out by a pair of 30mm cannons.

Myths, Mistakes, and Corrections

Fans have stated that when Firefox lands and is refueled by the submarine, that it is a mistake that the American fuel nozzles will mate to the Firefox.

: This detail is false; Soviet Aircraft were designed with mostly universal fuel couplings in order to better facilitate operation from captured air bases in Europe. Not to mention that given all the work put into stealing Firefox, it is highly unlikely the Americans would have overlooked such an important detail.

Gant mentions infrared detection beams coming from the Russian Cruiser, this is impossible.

: This detail is true; infrared is an entirely passive means of tracking a target.

Gant should not have had to think in Russian, the aircraft would not be able to tell the difference.

: This detail is false; people think in their native tongue. Firefox was designed to be flown by Russians.

Interesting Notes

The original Firefox from the novels was cosmetically nearly identical to the MIG-25, which it was an enhanced version of. The more intimidating version seen in the movie was created specifically for the film

A third design adding rear canards behind the main wings is seen on the cover of the sequel novel "Firefox Down"

Firefox contains appearances from actors from other notable films such as "Star Wars", "The Winds of War" and "War and Rememberance"

Special effects supervisor John Dykstra pioneered a new technique for shooting the complex flying sequences. Reverse bluescreen involved painting the model with phospherous paint and photographing it first with strong lighting against a black background and then with ultraviolet light to create the necessary male and female mattes to separate the foreground model and the background footage. This enabled the shiny black model to photgraphed flying against a clear blue sky and gleaming white snow (compare with traditional bluescreen technique on The Empire Strikes Back).

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Firefox (film) ]

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Movies - Firefox

The MIG-31 Firefox

Myths, Mistakes, and Corrections

Interesting Notes

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