This film was bad. Bad acting, bad directing, bad writing. But it wasn't bad in a funny way. It was bad in a boring way. I watched "Surface to Air" because I thought it might be a laugh. It wasn't. Don't make the mistake I did. There are plenty of more enjoyable ways to spend an hour and a half such as watching paint dry or reading the dictionary. Seriously.
9 Reviews
Cheap military actioner.
DigitalRevenantX710 August 2015
When a rogue band of Iraqi soldiers begin an offensive close to the northern border, the US military sends in an aircraft carrier to monitor the situation. Brothers Zach & Dylan Massin, who both despise each other, are thrown together by fate. When Dylan's fighter jet is shot down over the hot zone, Zach (who is a Marine) goes in to rescue his brother & co-pilot.
Another of the numerous military-themed actioners from 1990s' B-grade studio Royal Oaks, Surface to Air is probably one of the weakest. The threat has not been properly written in – it is never clear why the Iraqi soldiers are doing in the area, with one scene suggesting that they were ordered to attack the area, while another contradicts this & suggests an attempted coup. But this pales in comparison to the generic plot given to it. Royal Oaks has probably had some kind of deal with the US military in order to make these films, judging by the sheer number they put out during the decade. Whatever the case, Surface to Air is pretty poor. The only thing that makes the film worth a once-over is probably the impressive stock footage of the military in action.
Another of the numerous military-themed actioners from 1990s' B-grade studio Royal Oaks, Surface to Air is probably one of the weakest. The threat has not been properly written in – it is never clear why the Iraqi soldiers are doing in the area, with one scene suggesting that they were ordered to attack the area, while another contradicts this & suggests an attempted coup. But this pales in comparison to the generic plot given to it. Royal Oaks has probably had some kind of deal with the US military in order to make these films, judging by the sheer number they put out during the decade. Whatever the case, Surface to Air is pretty poor. The only thing that makes the film worth a once-over is probably the impressive stock footage of the military in action.
If you've never heard of this movie - especially mentioned in conjunction with Madsen - there's a reason why. Avoid.
tarbosh2200013 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Lt. Dylan "Raven" Massin (McQueen) has just finished his Navy survival training. He must leave his loving wife Clarissa (Thompson) and go live on an aircraft carrier and go on flight missions with his partner Lt. Lori "Dakota" Forrester (Shatner). When trouble brews in Iraq in the form of a guy who looks nothing whatsoever like Saddam Hussein but is in fact the Soup Nazi (Thomas), U.S. forces are marshaled to go fight in that part of the Middle East. But that also includes surly Gunnery Sgt. Zach Massin (Madsen), who is the estranged half brother of "Raven". Estranged because they don't get along well and they had a fight over a girl many years previously. They're the original odd couple! Can the two bickering brothers come together long enough to be victorious in the name of their country? (don't bother to) find out today! Surface To Air is one of those movies with more airplane and military jargon than much-needed character development and exciting situations. While characters are spouting some meaningless gobbledygook during some stock footage of aircraft carriers, the audience is bored to tears. Who exactly is the intended audience for this sort of movie? Laypeople will be bored, and servicemembers surely won't want to see Chad McQueen Chadding it up with some CGI/green-screen plane explosions. It seems movies like this were pretty prevalent at the time: Desert Thunder (1999), Stealth Fighter (1999), later Air Strike (2002), etc. It's nice that they are patriotic, but they're not doing patriotism any favors.
As far as Chad McQueen is concerned, Raven is obviously the new Skylord. If that sentence immediately made any sense to you, be afraid. It means you've seen at least one of the Chad movies at hand. But it's hard to take him that seriously. He just has a goofy presence, and Madsen has his usual "I don't care" attitude, so seeing as they made a bunch of movies together around this time, someone thought they made a good team? Speaking of slogs, both this movie and Submarines (2003) both use the made-up news station "ZNN" for their news reports. Coincidence? As this is an Andrew Stevens production, don't expect much. But maybe some people at Nu-Image saw this and loved "ZNN". This should tell you how little both this and Submarines have going on. But what this movie really needed was a strong, super-evil bad guy for Raven and Zach to rally together against. Charles as the "Wacky Iraqi" (or, given his pedigree, perhaps he's more of a "Soup Iraqi"?) should have done more to make the audience hate him. Simply having a very familiar-seeming mustache is not enough.
Sadly, despite the presence of fan favorite Michael Madsen, Surface To Air is your standard airplane slog that really has no reason to exist. He can't save this boring, boring crud that lacks excitement at every turn. If you've never heard of this movie - especially mentioned in conjunction with Madsen - there's a reason why. Avoid.
For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com
As far as Chad McQueen is concerned, Raven is obviously the new Skylord. If that sentence immediately made any sense to you, be afraid. It means you've seen at least one of the Chad movies at hand. But it's hard to take him that seriously. He just has a goofy presence, and Madsen has his usual "I don't care" attitude, so seeing as they made a bunch of movies together around this time, someone thought they made a good team? Speaking of slogs, both this movie and Submarines (2003) both use the made-up news station "ZNN" for their news reports. Coincidence? As this is an Andrew Stevens production, don't expect much. But maybe some people at Nu-Image saw this and loved "ZNN". This should tell you how little both this and Submarines have going on. But what this movie really needed was a strong, super-evil bad guy for Raven and Zach to rally together against. Charles as the "Wacky Iraqi" (or, given his pedigree, perhaps he's more of a "Soup Iraqi"?) should have done more to make the audience hate him. Simply having a very familiar-seeming mustache is not enough.
Sadly, despite the presence of fan favorite Michael Madsen, Surface To Air is your standard airplane slog that really has no reason to exist. He can't save this boring, boring crud that lacks excitement at every turn. If you've never heard of this movie - especially mentioned in conjunction with Madsen - there's a reason why. Avoid.
For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com
Was Michael Madsen actually awake during this movie?
john-3534 July 2001
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this film recently on SKY, and I must admit that initially I had high hopes, what with it starring Michael Madsen and Chad McQueen. However, 10 minutes in I had that awfull sinking feeling that this was going to be yet another badly acted, just-in-it-for-the-money duds that seems to be the norm these days. Without running into spoiler territory, the plot runs something like this: Half brothers who fell out years ago receive postings to the same carrier vessel, one's a pilot and the other a gunnery sergeant in the marines. One gets lost flying over enemy airspace (guess which one.... duh....), and the other must put their differences aside in order to attempt a rescue mission.
Now for the bad bits. Was Michael Madsen actually awake during this movie? He seemed to be annoyed and very irritated at the fact that he was there at all, whereas Chad delivered his (mostly) ludicrous dialogue with so much zeal that he came off as a square-headed, bird-brained numb-skull as opposed to the passionate professional that one assumes he was hoping to portray.
The production values, music, action, and to a lesser extent attention to detail got my vote, it was just that the few names that one recognised in the cast seemed to be embarassed at delivering their incredibly inane lines (during the conflict, the senior officer aboard ship lethargically wanders onto the bridge and asks "what's going on?" as if he'd just woken up, and really couldn't be bothered by the whole thing. Even I know that, surely, the USN doesn't operate like that!!). Still, Melanie Shatner (daughter of Capt. Kirk) was nice to look at, but I couln't get over how wet she came across, especially for a RIO!
One final moan, what is it about this type of film that constantly shows fighter pilots flying (and, some how, communicating) with the masks of their helmets flapping loosely about their necks? I know we have to distinguish between each character, but when there's only Chad and Ms Shatner talking, this lapse in logic does seem a bit contrived, doesn't it?!!
Now for the bad bits. Was Michael Madsen actually awake during this movie? He seemed to be annoyed and very irritated at the fact that he was there at all, whereas Chad delivered his (mostly) ludicrous dialogue with so much zeal that he came off as a square-headed, bird-brained numb-skull as opposed to the passionate professional that one assumes he was hoping to portray.
The production values, music, action, and to a lesser extent attention to detail got my vote, it was just that the few names that one recognised in the cast seemed to be embarassed at delivering their incredibly inane lines (during the conflict, the senior officer aboard ship lethargically wanders onto the bridge and asks "what's going on?" as if he'd just woken up, and really couldn't be bothered by the whole thing. Even I know that, surely, the USN doesn't operate like that!!). Still, Melanie Shatner (daughter of Capt. Kirk) was nice to look at, but I couln't get over how wet she came across, especially for a RIO!
One final moan, what is it about this type of film that constantly shows fighter pilots flying (and, some how, communicating) with the masks of their helmets flapping loosely about their necks? I know we have to distinguish between each character, but when there's only Chad and Ms Shatner talking, this lapse in logic does seem a bit contrived, doesn't it?!!
Iraq via Santa Clarita !
adabsiz9 December 2021
Let's face it ... Chad is NOT his dad , and Madsen is never known for "Stallone-style" heroics ! The eye candy (Shatner) is an unbelievable co-pilot. The "Gulf" here is represented by San Diego of course !
If this sounds plausible in any way, then heaven help the dirty rotten Iraqis ... I gave up watching after 15 minutes. What was the point of making this wretched film ... ? I kept wondering if Armitraj managed to get his investment back !
If this sounds plausible in any way, then heaven help the dirty rotten Iraqis ... I gave up watching after 15 minutes. What was the point of making this wretched film ... ? I kept wondering if Armitraj managed to get his investment back !
Famous offspring in a military fetish thriller
Leofwine_draca27 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
SURFACE TO AIR is another war thriller made on a low budget by former actor Andrews Stevens, this time with a Middle Eastern setting. It's a vehicle for no less than two children of famous stars, with Melanie Shatner and Chad McQueen teaming up alongside B-movie veteran Michael Madsen for a story about a man kidnapped by a terrorist group and his brother's attempts to retrieve him.
This low rent thriller ploughs the usual furrows with a lot of weaponry and military vehicle fetishism, with inordinate shots of helicopters the order of the day here. Madsen is on autopilot as always although McQueen and Shatner seem to be trying their best. The action is sporadic and disappointing, but at least this thriller has a kind of momentum to see it through.
This low rent thriller ploughs the usual furrows with a lot of weaponry and military vehicle fetishism, with inordinate shots of helicopters the order of the day here. Madsen is on autopilot as always although McQueen and Shatner seem to be trying their best. The action is sporadic and disappointing, but at least this thriller has a kind of momentum to see it through.
Okay movie!
Movie Nuttball6 July 2004
This film is a fair film. Michael Madsen, Chad McQueen, Melanie Shatner, Teri Thompson, and Larry Thomas are all good in the film. The film has good action scenes. It was different seeing how close McQeen's character was with Thompson's character. There is a brief nudity scene but not much. The musical score by David Wurst and Eric Wurst was good. But I noticed a lot of the score sounded like Jerry's Goldsmith's score from First Blood which is odd. Near the end I laughed when Michael Madsen got a cigarette out and asked his brother if he wanted a smoke and he took it and smoked it. It was funny because it seems Michael Madsen is always smoking a cigarette no matter what his character is. If you like Michael Madsen, Chad McQueen, the other cast members, and want to see a different type terrorist and war film then see Surface to Air!
Surface To Air
rjaywallace113 August 2018
Not a classically great movie, but far from the worst I've ever seen. Similar to British heroic wartime movies of the 40s, but updated with lots of great scenes of jet combat, modern military aircraft, carrier-based troops and military procedures. Likely the procedures were not exactly as rendered, but told well enough to tell an entertaining story. The action is steady and I, who bore easily, was not bored. Worth an hour of your afternoon. - Ralph
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
