Off Duty - Movie Review

Flight of the Intruder

Reviewed by LCDR Chip Lancaster, USN (Ret.)

While not the best of Vietnam War films, it has its good and bad parts. I picked it for the aircraft carrier strike and CSAR content. The Flight of the Intruder Movie is based on the book by the same name written by distinguished and prolific author, Naval Aviator and Vietnam Grumman A-6 Intruder Pilot, Stephen Coonts.

It opens in South Vietnam on a single aircraft A-6 night bombing run. The ground fire is intense, and the BN (Bombardier Navigator) is hit. They make it back to their ship (USS Independence (CV 62)), but the BN is dead. The pilot, LT Jake Grafton, played by actor, Brad Johnson, is upset because his BN lost his life bombing the jungle on a poorly planned mission. He seems to have died for nothing, leaving Jake frustrated about the war and why they’re there. His CO, CDR Frank Camparelli, played by Danny Glover, tells Jake unceremoniously to snap out of it and removes him from the flight schedule to get his head back in the game.

NFO (Naval Flight Officer) LCDR Virgil Cole, played by Willem Dafoe, checks into the squadron. He’s a third-tour A-6 BN with a nonconformist reputation and specializes in Iron Hand SAM suppression with the Shrike Anti-Radar Missile.

After a quick trip to Cubi Point and back complete with some section flathatting, an in town bar fight, a night of romance, and a day on the beach, Jake and Virgil are back on the ship. Jake and Virgil are scheduled to fly an Iron Hand mission during which they knock out a couple of SAM sites and get chased by a MiG but manage to make it back to the boat. Jake gets the idea for a single plane bombing mission into Hanoi to take out the government headquarters. Hanoi is out of bounds since bombing North Vietnam was stopped due to peace talks. He even checks out maps of Vietnam from the ship’s library to plan his mission. He takes his plan to Virgil who tells him it is illegal and to forget about it until they see a newsreel that night showing NVA SAM sites with jubilant crews around what looks like a drop tank with their squadron stenciled on the side. Virgil is incensed by the newsreel, telling Jake that what they showed was the infamous SAM City and that he was now a go for Jake’s plan. Instead of bombing the Communist Party HQ, they’re going to bomb SAM City which is just next door.

They tag their personal mission onto the tail end of a bombing strike. The strike mission is close to the DMZ, so they’re able to side-step over to Hanoi for a successful strike on SAM City. When they get back to the boat, the CO is more than upset. The North Vietnamese have walked out of the peace talks because of their flight into Hanoi so he grounds them, confines them to quarters and recommends them for immediate court martial. Jake, Virgil, and the CO are flown back to Cubi where Seventh Fleet conducts the court martial. They are convicted with punishment yet to be determined. However, the court martial is rescinded with their strike and the results are covered up via an increase in classification to “top secret.” President Nixon is so upset with the peace talk walk-out that he reauthorizes the bombing of North Vietnam since their unauthorized mission would be a huge embarrassment for the administration if they acknowledged it.

The film returns to the carrier with Jake and Virgil back on board though they are still grounded. An alpha strike is sent out to counter SAM and AAA for the B-52 bombing of North Vietnamese industry. The CO’s Intruder gets shot down in enemy territory and, unable to eject, he takes it in for a crash landing. The BN has been killed by the AAA fire, but the CO survives the landing. He is badly injured and surrounded by NVA troops and anti-aircraft ZSU-23s. The A-1 Sandies and a helicopter are inbound but won’t be able to make it with the ZSUs there. Our boys back on the boat are following the radio chatter in CIC, so they man-up a bomb-laden A-6 and take off to neutralize the ZSUs. They succeed but get shot down in the process.

This is where the CSAR action occurs. Do our boys and the skipper get picked up, and are Jake and Virgil to be assigned to Adak? It does not look good. To see how it all wraps up, you will have to see the flick (don’t cheat and google it). You can find it on Roku or in our NHA Library. We would love for you to come by and check it out. So, what about the movie, is it a watcher or a dud? If you can suspend your military beliefs and professionalism, then it is good for a look, if only to appreciate the actual aircraft carrier, below decks, and flight operations. It was supported enthusiastically by the Navy, letting them use actual ships (USS Independence CV-62 and USS Standley CG-32) and aircraft (although the A-1s were privately owned loaners). I’m going to give it one thumbs up and three out of five stars just for the actual Navy carrier action, although Danny Glover turns in a great, as always, performance and Willem Dafoe as a borderline psychotic is good too. So, get your popcorn and drink of choice and check it out. See if you can pick out the goof during the CSAR operation.