To be honest with you, the main reason I like this film is that parts of it were filmed in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, a Thai town in far northern Thailand where I have spent some time. But it's a fun film if you don't take it too seriously.What I find ironic about this film is that its 2 key stars -- Mel Gibson and Robert Downey -- both later fell from grace. Downey made his comeback. It's not clear if Gibson ever really will. Another irony is that Downey crusades against drugs in the film at the very time he was heavily involved in drugs. Ah well.Yes, these were the days when Mel Gibson was relatively young, handsome, and respected. He's good here, although this is not a particularly strong role. It's just a variation on a buddy pic.This was made right after my favorite Robert Downey film -- "Chances Are". He's good here, but he's been better.It was interesting to see Nancy Travis here, whom we later got to know from "Last Man Standing" on television. And Ken Jenkins, whom we later got to know as a character in "Scrubs". And I've always enjoyed character actor, the late Lane Smith. They all do pretty well here.I don't find a lot to complain about in this film. Nor do I find a lot to applaud. I don't think this film is as far from the truth as some of our reviewers do. The drug lord here is clearly based on the infamous Khun Sa (the actor who plays the drug lord here even resembles Khun Sa).A bit of fun with a sort of buddy picture. That's what you have here.

Air America is over 25 years old and it's still on my list of movies I watch regularly. It's not that I disagree with those who acknowledge its faults, because I knowledge them too. The things that make me want to watch this film over and over are: The music, which is fabulous... The soundtrack is filled with great tunes, some of which are a little out of the period but it doesn't matter. It's great to hear Rick Derringer and Edgar Winter cover their own hit "Free Ride" and Bonnie Raitt & BB King do a great cover of Dr John's "Right Place, Wrong Time". And Charles Gross's score is a perfect fit for this film. The second thing that makes film so great is the cinematography. The flying stunts still hold up to today's CGI effects and they were all pulled off by real pilots. But cinematographer Roger Deakins makes it all so much better with some of the most beautiful shots I've seen. The way this film was photographed reminds me of the beautiful cinematography from David Lean and Jack Hildyard in "The Bridge on the River Kwai". Air American was filmed mostly on location in Thailand and the lush vegetation and rolling hills and mountains are stunning. Air America is the story of a couple of pilots who fly cargo (and heroin) for Air America, the CIA's wartime civilian airline during the war in Vietnam. Mel Gibson plays a seasoned veteran pilot and Robert Downy Jr. is the young, idealistic newcomer who stirs it all up. When it was released it drew harsh reviews from the big publications, mostly because (according to the reviews) it tried to poke fun at, and perhaps dishonor the real life pilots of Air America. Putting politics aside I never thought this film dishonored the Air America pilots. The film's main weakness is the thin plot (based on real events). The acting is great. Downey and Gibson have great chemistry, and the supporting actors/actresses are also spot on. It cost over $35 million to make this film and every penny is seen on the screen. Unfortunately it never caught on at the box office and only grossed $32 million (worldwide). The acting, stunt flying, music and cinematography make it worth multiple viewings, even if you don't understand the plot or find it hard to relate to the characters. If you can watch it in this context, you might love it too.

An amalgamation between drama, comedy and war film - it's not a very convincing mix. What a mess the whole thing is. It's not comedy, action, or drama, yet it likes to think it has elements of all of them. Roger Spottiswoode is not exactly a bad director (remember "Under fire" ? ) but this is not one of his finest movies.The acting is pretty good. Mel Gibson ("Lethal weapon") doesn't fail and the same can be said for Robert Downey Jr. ("Iron man") . Gibson and Downey have a nice chemistry , maybe not tat great as Gibson and Glover in "LW" , but still nice. The rest of the cast is not bad too. There is even Michael Dudikoff ("American ninja") in small unnoticeable role.There is little action here and it's rather goofy. There is no really emotional or serious moment here I could REALLY relate to. This movie has some great Rock N' Roll classics from CCR, The Stones, Edgar Winter and a few others. There is some humor here , but most of it are light stuff , nothing particularly memorable . Oh , maybe except "Take big bag to blue car." That was hilarious.This movie has a really poor script. It doesn't know if it wants to be serious or funny , if it wants to be action movie , comedy or war drama. It tries to be all of that and fails at every level. It won't satisfy action fans , comedy fans or fans or serious movies. It does have some entertaining moments , it's far from terrible , but it's just one big and somewhat entertaining forgettable mess. I give it 4/10.

This film has all the bells and whistles, but in the end, it is a very obvious and blatant attempt to make light of content that is extremely serious ie: war, civilian deaths, covert ops, drug and gun running. In Air America, we see good acting, a cohesive plot and lots of action involving airplanes, but compared to the movie Con Air, we never really are able to relate to any of the characters in Air America (if you do relate with the pilots, I certainly don't want to know you).Frankly, this movie makes me sick in the way that the movie MASH and Good Morning Vietnam did: Hollywood's attempts to get some laughs out of the horror that is war. In Air America, moreover, we not only see war, but the seedy underbelly of the U.S. political war machine that is the C.I.A. and U.S.A.I.D. Also mentioned in the film is the corporation Dow Chemical, which produced Agent Orange, which was widely sprayed by cargo aircraft in Vietnam and Laos. This sickened and killed thousands, and maybe hundreds of thousands of people. The music in Air America is the big tip-off that the movie is almost like a psy-op: We are led to associate the activity therein with the pop tunes from the 1970's. I really despise the fact that the producers of this movie grotesquely tried to combine the blood-thirsty, amoral pilots and others in this film with the rock and roll songs that were a symbol of resistance to the war at that time. Creedence Clearwater Revival's Run Through The Jungle being the most anti-war and ill-placed of all. Anyone who swallows what this movie is shoveling, thinking it is just "entertainment" needs to re-consider their priorities and possibly develop some spirituality. This movie could have been a potent warning, helping to prevent the C.I.A drug-running that is happening today in Afghanistan, but alas, the U.S. citizenry is not capable of such integrity to demand this.