You can feel a little more comfortable watching this movie with a Baldwin face amongst the cast. Not that it elevates this movie out of the cheap laugh range. I find it strange how some films get made that have nothing new to say, or nothing new to enjoy, no glamorous special effect value. In fact only the humour in the film was good in my view. Mostly unintentional cliche style.
This is not to say it was dull to watch. It holds a limited interest, and you do hang around to see if the good guys wins.
All things are in order. Bad guys set the plot up, threatening to fire a missile at Europe somewhere, loaded with some deadlier then anthrax thing, and the US must sort it out. Clearly no sensible options are available so it's time for the unreliable wild bunch. Twenty minutes of comedy ensue as Baldwin crowbars in a few flashbacks of why he flies planes no more. Only to change his mind and round up a bunch of dishonourably discharged pilots who all crowbar in their personal disgrace stories.
The training program and internal wrangles is mildly interesting. The spattering of jokes keep things moving, but the realism of small parts such as incompetent pilots and spies does relegate the movie from credibility.
Lots of nice desert explosions towards the end and the climax.. oh missed it, rewind and take another look, nope couldn't see it.
If you want to see a fighter plane movie watch Top Gun, if you're after the middle east related shenanigans there are hundreds of better movies. So this is in my 'nothing else on' category.
