Thoughts on Clint Eastwood's 1982 flick 'Firefox'
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 7, 2010 01:32
VIEWED: 12067
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Okay , this thread is officially making me feel rather , erm , mature.
I read the novel while I was in high school.
It was rather more interesting than English class...
It was also one of the few books that I've read that had movies that turned out pretty much like I'd imagined the novel.
The other one that comes straight to mind is The Hunt for Red October. Excepting Alec Baldwin !
Good job on the model , Chris. Very imaginative...There was always something familiar about its planform , but I couldn't quite decide just what it was...
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There. Done. Except for one last coat of paint, but there it is.
The obsessive Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
There. Done. Except for one last coat of paint, but there it is.
The obsessive Chrisisall
That's better, the neck, body and intakes look more like the original now.
I've read both books in the past and like them both but I agree that Firefox Down isn't a great sequel. Maybe he should have combined the two?
As for the movie I really like it - although my main attraction to it is Firefox itself. It is such a beautiful looking aircraft and I used to obsess about it myself in my younger days. I would draw it out and redesign it and add all types of hi-tech gadgets to it.
The Russians speaking English thing never really bothered me. I would have preferred subtitles but there are so many other movies that do this (especially war movies) that I go with it. If every character spoke in their native language within their country the subtitles would put a lot of viewers off, which means studios make less money - so it's never gonna happen in Hollywood.
At least they had the part where Gant has to think Russian.
Anyone remember the arcade game based on the film?
It was a very basic shooter with you flying through video footage from the film and occasionally you had to move in the right direction. It wasn't very good but it was Firefox and I played it a lot over one summer holiday.
"The greatest invention ever is not the wheel. It's the second wheel." - Rich Hall
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Quote:Thanks, you have no idea how involved that was *feels sorry for self*.
Originally posted by lwaves:
That's better, the neck, body and intakes look more like the original now.
BUT- a nice outcome!
And, as politically incorrect as it may seem, I love the movie. Yet, not as much as the plane, heh heh.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Final paint job :
Yeah, I'm obsessed. I re-did the wings too. And the windows.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Wait a sec... you're saying that model began life as the Monogram F-19 kit?
Awesome conversion, Dude!
(Hehe, I remember when Testors came out with their F-19 concept, and Congress launched an investigation into who "leaked" Top Secret data! http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/mod/previews/leef19p.htm )
I remember when the movie came out, and the only seats left at that showing were in the front row! 
Then there was the cropped-for-TV version on cable.
So glad when I finally got to see it letterboxed on DVD!
I'm still most impressed by the in-cockpit shots: the reflections on the helmet visors, the shifting shadows, etc.
(BTW, those helmets were the same type Space Shuttle crews wore during Launch/Reentry prior to the Challenger disaster.)
Some cool linkage...
MiG-31 Firefox Online Resource
http://www.thinkinrussian.org/
A couple of MiG-31 Firefox models for SketchUp...
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=d2a60c047a253670a4d
24d0a7a76d519&prevstart=0
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=3265b621ca222d29d00
d52e62bf14ee9&prevstart=0
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Quote:Thanks!
Originally posted by cljohnston108:
Wait a sec... you're saying that model began life as the Monogram F-19 kit?
Awesome conversion, Dude!
I went to Thinkinrussian & noticed some errors on my model & I fixed them, pictures after I get off work....
The laughing Chrisisall
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Yeah, it was based on this:
Then turned more or less into this years ago:
TODAY, it's this:
(Yesterday I noticed from studying some photos that the rear exhausts were too close together, lacked a partial 'housing', and the two small fins underneath were missing- so I corrected it.)
I recently ordered the movie on DVD, so I unearthed the old converted model to make it as good as I could. No doubt, when I watch the movie on my NICE tv on DVD I will notice more flaws...
I found a model in the UK:
http://www.frontiermodels.co.uk/FIREFOX-1-72-Resin-Kit-by-Planet-X-p-1
6800.html
But at 60 pounds (90 dollars) plus shipping, it's a little out of reach for me.
My model's far from perfect, but for my purposes (WHOOOSHING it around to my inner 11 year-old heart's content) it will suffice.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Only 'cause it's Dykstra-related:
Sonisall built a viper in scale to my Galactica model!
My camera won't photograph stuff that small well!!!
The amazed Dadisall
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Quote:Those are sweet.
Originally posted by cljohnston108:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=d2a60c047a253670a4d
24d0a7a76d519&prevstart=0
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=3265b621ca222d29d00
d52e62bf14ee9&prevstart=0
And of course I found more flaws in my model.
I'm going to have to start from scratch. No converting. This will be... involved.
Just got the DVD in the mail.
*rubs hands together in a maniacal fashion*
The laughing Chrisisall
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