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DVDs | The plot | Specifications | Trivia | Behind the scenes
Production helicopter history | After the movie | Filming Location

Both the original and special edition DVDs of the movie are available from Amazon.com. The special edition includes: Commentary by director John Badham, editor Frank Morris and the motion control supervisor "Ride With the Angels: Making Blue Thunder" multi-part featurette "The Special: Building Blue Thunder" featurette Archival 1983 promotional featurette Storyboard galleries Original Theatrical Trailer

Roy Scheider stars in this intense action thriller as a courageous police-officer pilot battling goverment fanatics planning to misuse an experimental attack helicopter. Chosen to test Blue Thunder, Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider) is amazed by the capabilites of the high-speed, high-tech chopper. It can see through walls, record a whisper or level a city block. Distrusting the military mentality behind Blue Thunder, Murphy and his partner Lymangood (Daniel Stern) learn the remarkable craft is slated for use as the ultimate weapon in surveillance and crowd control. Jeopardized after being discovered by sinister Colonel Cochrane (Malcom McDowell), Murphy flies Blue Thunder against military aircraft in a spellbinding contest over Los Angeles.

The whole ship is heavily protected with 1" thick armoured plates. It is equipped with a forward-mounted 20mm electric cannon which can fire 4000 rounds of ammunition per minute.

Contributor Eddie Duca notes that writer's Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby's original concept was similar to the movie "Taxi Driver" with Robert DeNiro. According to interviews O'Bannon did for the July/August 1983 issue of Film Comment Magazine and an August 1985 issue of the L.A. Times, the original story had Murphy as a paranoid schizophrenic who would have bizarre hallucinations from his helicopter. Eventually he becomes convinced he's a reincarnation of the Norse god THOR, god of thunder. As O'Bannon put it, he would devastate L.A., turning it into a Beirut like nightmare. O'Bannon mentioned that they even had a scene where the Hollywood freeway collapses (never filmed). The story was changed to make Murphy heroic (and therefore more commercial).

An eight minute behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the movie was shown on HBO about the time the movie was released.

• Helicopter number: N77GH
• Jet turbine engine with boost capability, enabling 360° loops
• Heat sensing infra-red filter for night vision
• Closed circuit TV-camera with a 100:1 zoom-lens
• ¾" code-numbered video-system; the tapes can be erased on signal
• Wide-band scanner
• "Whisper Mode" for silent flights
• Three TV-monitors. The center monitor is connected to a vast array of data-banks
• Twin long-range, high-sensitivity shotgun microphones
• Cabin microphone; records cockpit conversations
• A Harrison helmet-mounted fire control/targeting system

Contributed by MightyMcT (from France), Oct. 9-10, 2007:

In 2002, there were at least two mentions of a Blue Thunder movie remake by director John Milius:

1. "Blue Thunder. John Milius's $70m remake of the actioner, set to star Matt Damon, Burt Reynolds, and Ben Affleck, currently in development with Rastar Productions and Sony/Columbia." (reference)
2. A brief mention in a 2002 interview with John Milius, where he states that he will start "the cop movie" (reference) in June--this movie being identified as "Blue Thunder" in the article intro: "He soon begins directing Blue Thunder..." and "I have to make another one first--the cop movie, starting in June." (reference)
3. "Blue Thunder Cast (Attached) Active Development" (reference)
4. "Don Safran has worked as an executive on many Rastar films, including (...) Blue Thunder and Smokey and the Bandit, both starring Burt Reynolds" (reference)

Note: as of this writing (Oct. 9, 2007), the Internet Movie Data Base lists no movie remake of Blue Thunder in progress.

Contributed by Bayard Lawes, Dec. 28, 2006:

"I used to fly the original SA341 Gazelle (N777GH) which I sold to Columbia Pictures for the film. I delivered the ship from Detroit, Michigan to Cinema Air in Carlsbad, California, who fabricated the conversion to Blue Thunder. My father and I made the trip from Rochester, Michigan to Carlsbad, California in October of 1981. Great trip with the exception of the radios failing in Texas. It was a lot easier getting in and out of controlled airspace back then so we just continued without radios the rest of the way."

Contributed by Brian Campbell:

"If you freeze-frame the movie just after the roll, Blue Thunder no longer has the 3-bladed Gazelle helicopter rotor system. It has a 2-bladed Bell/Huey rotor system with a stabilizing bar."

Contributed by Rick Markel, Jan. 25, 2005:

"John Simone Jr., with the help of his good friend Lowell Draper, built and flew the radio controlled Blue Thunder helicopter used in the movie; two of which were built at 1/6 scale. Another well known modeler, Ernie Huber, built and flew the Hughes 500 models used in the film. Ernie also built the "Towering Inferno" movie R/C helicopters, which was John's first film. John went on to work on the Clint Eastwood film "Firefox." John Simone Jr. founded the "American R/C" helicopter company in 1976, and was the only R/C helicopter manufacturer in the US at the time. John was the first person to perform a perfect "loop" with a fixed pitch helicopter in national competition. He was also the first person to do a true engine-off "auto rotation" with an American R/C "Commander" (a 60 size ship) back in 1979. The Blue Thunder R/C helicopter was also pictured in magazine ads for some of American R/C's other helicopters in production at the time, until the company folded a few years later."

Contributed by Rick Markel, Jan. 25, 2005:

"The infamous "loop" at the end of the movie was done with a aerobatic rotor head on the ship; the flybar paddles can clearly be seen in the movie during that shot. John flew Blue thunder and performed some 40 loops for the camera with a ship that weighed over 14 pounds--the director loved the loops so much he wanted John to do another each time one was completed. Lowell Draper flew the Hughes helicopter that was shot down by Blue Thunder at the end of the movie. There are several other shots of the model with a scale head (and not as aerobatic) flying between, and around some of the scaled-down buildings. In fact, John had to fly the model between the 1/6 scale buildings for several seconds at a position where he could not see the helicopter, and the crew did not understand that he had to see the ship as he flew it."

Two of the radio-controlled helicopters used in the making of the movie; contributed by Steve Lumsdon, Jan. 1, 2007:

Steve shares that:"I just purchased two R/C helicopters used in the making of the movie Blue Thunder. The Blue Thunder model is approximately six feet long and the Hughes 500 is approximately four feet long."

The rendering of Blue Thunder sent to Bayard by Cinema Air; contributed by Bayard Lawes, Dec. 30, 2006:

An article from March 8, 1982 on the downtown battle scene, sent to Bayard by a friend in Los Angeles; contributed by Bayard Lawes, Dec. 30, 2006:

Two photos of the original Gazelle helicopter used in the movie; contributed by Bayard Lawes, Dec. 30, 2006:

Bayard notes that: "I had to lay around San Diego for about a week for funds to transfer to the bank. Rough duty."

An excerpt from Starlog magazine, 1983:

But the true "star" of the movie is Blue Thunder itself. To build it, the production company purchased a French Gazelle (Aerospatiale) helicopter, which can fly at speeds of 200 MPH, and added several prop gimmicks to it. The Gazelle is so maneuverable that the stunt pilots were able to effectively reproduce the 360° loop which Scheider is seen performing on screen. *** Note: This latter (struck-out) statement made by Starlog magazine is false. The weight of the Blue Thunder modifications (the very angular canopy, gun turret, and additional "wings" on the side) made the weight very heavy, especially as the original Aerospatiale SA-341G Gazelle was never designed to fly with additional weight added to it. The first helicopter to ever truly do a complete 360 degree loop in real life was in fact, a Sikorsky S-52 in 1948. Here's a YouTube video clip to prove it. ***

To give Blue Thunder as realistic a look as possible, John Badham mounted cameras on the helicopters, flew them over downtown Los Angeles and shot his daytime close-ups in the sky. It wasn't an easy accomplishment. "Planning to pilot helicopters 50 feet above street level among and between the tall buildings involved a tremendous amount of persuading, cajoling and care," he says.

The production crew had to work on weekends, with the police cordoning off up to 12 blocks at a time. The procedure involved stopping traffic (both motorized and pedestrian) for three-minute periods while shooting took place. Circulation was then allowed to resume for 15 minutes, before another lensing session began.

"It was all very dangerous and very tricky work," Badham remembers. "Our care paid off though, especially the day that one of the helicopters blew an engine while it was 40 stories up and plummeted straight to the ground! The pilot was okay. He had the tremendous skill to be able to put the helicopter down safely. But who knows what would have happened had there been people under there! I was right up there with it in an adjacent helicopter, and it was terrifying."

All was not gloom and doom on the set of Blue Thunder. Badham fondly remembers Malcolm McDowell's fear of flying. "He was terrified. He used to get out and throw up after a flight. But he was also professional enough to get right back in! I had to re-shoot a few scenes, because there were some times when Malcolm's eyes would get wide as saucers. He had held his composure all through the shot, his face would be all stern, but there would be those great big eyes. It was very funny. His wife, Mary Steenburgen, told us, 'I don't know how you got him up there, I can't even get him in a 747!'"

(Note: Two helicopters were used in filming; one as a backup. Hughes Helicopters was the company hired to convert the Gazelle into Blue Thunder. Their main goal of course, was to make the helicopter appear as menacing as possible).

Contributed by Stipe Zivaljic:

SA.341G; S/N 1066; Prod. Yr. 1973; temporary regd. F-WKQD to SNIAS; regd. 31/7/74 N57936 to Vought Helicopter Co.; regd. 2/10/74 N37LR to L.T. Ruth Coal Co.; sold to Kentucky Gem Coal Co. Inc. 10/10/74; purchased to Continental Flying Service, Inc. 19/11/76; regd. 17/12/76 same reg. to Continental Flying Service Inc.; 20/12/76 purchased to L.T. Ruth Coal Co.; reg. N37LR reserved 10/76; regd. 11/1/77 N37LR to L.T. Ruth Coal Co.; purchased 19/8/81 to Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.; allocated experimental reg. 28/11/83 N51BT to Columbia Pictures; purchased 25/10/84 to Mr. Michael E. Grube; w/o 23/6/94; dismantled for parts; NOTES: a) during 1981 modified for movie requirements on 1704.7 total hours done by R.W. Martin, Inc. (Cinema Air); b) used as mod for film "Blue Thunder" and "Amerika" TV miniserial (pilot: Jim Gavin)

SA.341G; S/N 1075; Prod. Yr. 1973; regd. 7/8/73 N94494 to G. D. Turner (Vought Helicopters Co.); re-regd. 25/9/73 N94494 to N777GH Holley & Beck; regd. 2/3/77 to F.R.B.C. Leasing Co.; leased 14/3/77 to Mocomb Contracting Corp.; leased 29/9/80 to P. Bosco & Sons, Inc. (fmr. Mocomb Contr.); 17/8/81 purchased by F.R.B.C. Leasing Co. to Moceri Management Co.; purchased 19/8/81 to Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.; allocated experimental reg. 16/11/81 N52BT to Columbia Pictures Inc.; regd. 21/3/86 same reg. to Mr. Michael E. Grube; Cof Reg. cancelled 16/8/88; dismantled (scrapped) for parts, w/o; NOTE: a) during 1981 modified as movie requirements by R.W. Martin, Inc. (Cinema Air)

Contributed by C.M. Owens, January 3, 2002:

"I have some information about one of the helicopters used in the movie. After the film was made, the helicopter was sold to an aviation salvage type guy named Mike Groovy in Clovis, New Mexico. He then leased it out to a film company that was filming the made for TV movie AMERIKA [an ABC mini-series about Soviet occupation of the USA; the helicopters were painted black, and the surveillance microphones were missing.] After he got it back it was dismantled and sold for parts. My uncle used to have the canopy and the mock up gatling gun that was mounted on the front of it. Unfortunately the canopy was sold about two years ago, and the gun was destroyed when it fell off the trailer my uncle was hauling it on."

(Note: Apparently spare parts from the helicopters were highly valued).

Contributed by Martin Lakin, June 17, 2002:

"Just thought you might like to see these shots I took of apparently all that remains of the two Blue Thunder helicopters--they're residing in pretty poor shape on the backlot tour of MGM studios in Florida. They really are in poor state, but the magic is still there. The annoying thing is you make the tour on a train and don't stop--so you have to take pictures on the move."

Contributed by Lee Malone (owner of the Motion Picture Prop Company, LLC), March 14, 2009:

"I just spoke to the head of the prop area here at Disney Orlando, very nice and extremely helpful. The Blue Thunder was on loan from Columbia/Sony pictures, Disney called to let them know the piece was completely eroded and looking pretty bad. Since the piece was on loan they asked if they wanted it returned and it was decided by the lending studio to scrap it. I tried to save it folks, but I was too late unfortunately. She's gone."

Note: These Blue Thunder remains were actually the mock-up used to film closeups of actors pretending to fly the helicopter. The third photo from the left contributed by Michael Meyers, June 23, 2007. Fourth through the sixth from left are from the Blue Thunder Wikipedia page.

Contributed by Tom Higginson, January 2, 2009:

I'm an Airwolf fan and have done extensive work on the locations used in that show. I recently discovered the exact location for Pinkville (the Blue Thunder Test Range) during my Airwolf location hunts. I visited the location just a few days ago:

Standing on Pinkville

Blue Thunder flies over these rocks

Prop Jet Ranger from Blue Thunder

You can see Pinkville in Google Earth by copying and pasting the following coordinates as-is into Google Earth's "Fly To" search bar:

34°54'41.46"N,118°13'11.99"W

I've attached some work I did about the location a few weeks ago, and also a few shots of the spot, taken this week. I had a chance to fly with Doug Holgate, Frank Holgate's son, and can get some great stories for you about his dad's work on Blue Thunder. Frank was a legendary aerial cinematographer, and Doug is easily following in his footsteps. Also, I sat down with Peter McKernan, Sr., who supplied the helicopters for the show (except the Gazelles) and also did the JetRanger crash-landing stunt onto the "break away" construction building. See attachments and last link about that story.

hawkevision, 4b	hawkevision, 5a	hawkevision, 6
hawkevision, 8	hawkevision, 9	hawkevision, 10
Pinkville, 4	Pinkville, 5