... and by my count this line was spoken at least seven times here.

This is a cold war thriller from Clint Eastwood about a Vietnam vet fighter pilot sent undercover and across the iron curtain to steal a new Soviet super-plane. The first two-thirds of the film are a treat, with a lot of tense scenes of Clint and his sympathetic Russian contacts narrowly escaping capture. The last section is where the film loses steam, with a lot of repetitious, dated fx shots of the jet in action.

Warren Clarke is memorable as Clint's chief contact. Also featured are Freddie Jones, Ronald Lacey, Nigel Hawthorne, and Kenneth Colley. As you may have noticed, there are no women listed; this is the rare film with no substantial female presence at all. The real star, though, other than Clint, is the fictional MiG31 "Firefox" fighter jet, invisible to radar, capable of Mach 6 speeds as well as full nuclear armament. The film also borders on science fiction with the jet's thought-controlled weapon systems.

It is a 50/50 proposition as to whether you will like this one. For me it was fun to see Eastwood stretch his directorial skills in a different direction, and even more fun if you actually remember the cold war...or were even alive during the cold war for that matter.

I think out of Clint Eastwood's films, Firefox is one of my least favourites. It does have its good points, such as the supporting cast who give it their all, above-decent flying sequences, a riveting final twenty minutes and some nice cinematography and score. However, what makes this film dull is the pace, Firefox moves along at a snail's pace pretty much and not helped by a routine story and some insipid dialogue. Eastwood himself is part of the problem. Eastwood is a fine actor and director, but I didn't feel his heart was in it. His direction here is by-the-numbers, and his acting is quite weak even for him. So all in all, a rather dull and disappointing film, but not a complete disaster. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Firefox is an unusual film in that for once Clint Eastwood who usually plays a very lone hand in his films as a hero has to depend on a team of people to accomplish his mission. And this is some mission he's got.

I'm not quite sure why they didn't just spirit the scientist who developed the Firefox against his will out of the Soviet Union or at least the plans for the plane so the USA won't lag in that area of defense, but then we wouldn't have the basis for this film. Clint Eastwood is one of the Air Force's best pilots who was also a POW during Vietnam with the resulting horror stories from that experience. Eastwood still flashes back to Vietnam. But he also through his mother speaks fluent Russian.

He's had no experience at intelligence work and it shows, but the Americans, British, and dissident Soviet Jews have put together a team to get him through to where this super MIG-31 is being developed. NOt only are its speeds greater than anything yet devised, but the pilot controls the weapons and guidance with mere thought. They don't even do that on Star Trek.

As a spy Clint is strictly an amateur and makes some bad mistakes, but pulls through. But when he gets in the air with the stolen prototype of Firefox, the film really perks up in excitement.

If you liked Top Gun and are an Eastwood fan, Firefox is definitely the film for you.