Con Air

1997 Action/Adventure

Former war hero Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) is sentenced to eight years in prison when he accidentally kills a man in a barroom brawl while defending his pregnant wife. When his release comes through, he's eager to see the daughter he's never met. However, Poe's original flight is delayed, so he's put aboard a flight transporting ten of the most dangerous men in the American penal system to a new high-security facility. One of the criminals, Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich), is a serial killer and insane genius who has hatched a diabolical plot: with the help of several other hoods, including Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames), Johnny 23 (Daniel Trejo), and Garland Greene (Steve Buscemi), Cyrus and his men will hijack the plane and fly to a neutral nation where they can live as free men. Poe finds himself stuck in the middle; he has to find a way to get home, keep himself alive, look after his cellmate Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson), who will die without proper medicine, and try to help the cops on the ground, including agent Vince Larkin (John Cusack). Producer Jerry Bruckheimer's first film after the death of his partner Don Simpson, Con Air shows he learned well how to assemble the formula all by himself, with plenty of action, stunts, and special effects and not a lot of story to get in the way. more..

Director: Simon West

Starring: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack,John Malkovich,Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames

Reviews

  • Con Air, a summer blast of a movie, teaches us many things: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer never met an explosion, a car crash or 20 tough guys talking trash he didn't like. Nicolas Cage is one of our most enjoyable screen heroes. As long as you're funny, you can literally get away with murder in a movie.

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • Preposterous, predictable, but excessively entertaining, this frenzied thriller draws both story and characters from such action classics as "The Fugitive," "Die Hard," "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Silence of the Lambs."

    Rita Kempley - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

  • This is a movie that knows it is absurd, and does little to deny it.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

  • The colorfully written Con Air is a solid chip off "The Rock," pumped up and very well cast, with the prettiness and polish of advertising art.

    Elvis Mitchell - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

  • Numbing but not boring, it's finally more dispiriting than exhilarating, like a wild night of debauchery that leaves only a fearsome hangover for a souvenir.

    Kenneth Turan - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film

    ALMA Awards (1998)

     
  • Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures

    ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards (1998)

  • Best Music, Original Song

    Academy Awards (1998)

     
  • Best Supporting Actor

    Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1998)

     
  • Mark Mancina

    BMI Film & TV Awards (1998)