Themes: Technology Run Amok, Air Disasters, Race Against Time
Main Cast: Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard, Joe Morton, Richard Roxburgh
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
The latest innovation in high-tech defense hardware turns out to have a very dangerous mind of its own in this action thriller. Kara Wade (Jessica Biel), Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx), and Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas) are three highly ranked U.S. Navy pilots who are part of a top-secret project involving the next generation of stealth fighter technology, the Talon Jet. Wade, Purcell, and Gannon are surprised when their commander, Captain George Cummings (Sam Shepard), introduces them to the new member of their team -- "Edi," an "extreme deep invader" developed as part of the "Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle" program. Utilizing the latest innovations in artificial intelligence, Edi is a computer-based flight controller that will take over the wingman's position in the team's formation, and while the pilots initially balk, Edi performs admirably in its first mission. However, after Edi is struck by lightning on a return trip, the computer's circuits and software begin to change in unexpected ways, and Edi not only begins to think for itself, it begins to violate direct orders. During a mission investigating the forces of a dangerous Chinese extremist, Edi starts an attack that could launch World War III, and it's up to Wade, Purcell, and Gannon to stop both Edi and its dangerous plan before it's too late. Stealth also stars Joe Morton and Richard Roxburgh. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Rob Cohen brings his patented brand of flashy action to the skies with Stealth, an aerial assault on the senses that both wows with its explosions and bores with its plodding plot. This is definitely the type of summer flick that could have done well to snip a few million from its 100-million-dollar budget, as there's simply too much on the screen to fully take in in one sitting. From the overdone-already Fast and the Furious camera trickery that speeds through the jet's electric systems to the gimmicky crane shots that pull from the engines into the cockpit one too many times, it's obvious that Cohen went a bit too wild on his visual flair with this one. Despite this, there are moments that truly pay off, such as Jessica Biel's exhilarating free-fall sequence or almost any scene that ends in a massive explosion sure to rock you out of your chair. Not surprisingly, the acting is what you'd expect, with Josh Lucas being charming when he needs to be, but wooden when the times get tense. Biel mainly survives unscathed (save for her gratuitous bikini scene), though poor Jamie Foxx sounds like he's still caught in Ray Charles-mode as he wraps his head around dialogue that's not quite cocky, serious, or even vaguely interesting for that matter. When it comes down to it, inflatable dummies could have headlined the pick, and it'd still been a good ride if not for the script by Buckaroo Banzai director W.D. Richter, who slathers on the layers to a point where the movie unjustly becomes longer than it need be. Still, adrenaline-rushers could do a whole lot worse than Stealth, as evidenced by the dreadful Cohen-produced sequel of the same year, XXX: State of the Union. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Richard Hobbs - Art Director, P.J. Voeten - Associate Producer, Michelle Glass - Associate Producer, Marc Pitre - Associate Producer, Kwame Parker - Associate Producer, Christine King - Casting, Randi Hiller - Casting, Sarah Halley-Finn - Casting, Lizzy Gardiner - Costume Designer, P.J. Voeten - First Assistant Director, Rob Cohen - Director, Lance A. Gilbert - Second Unit Director, Stephen E. Rivkin - Editor, E. Bennett Walsh - Executive Producer, Arnie Messer - Executive Producer, Randy Edelman - Composer (Music Score), BT - Composer (Music Score), Bob Badami - Musical Direction/Supervision, J. Michael Riva - Production Designer, Jonathan Lee - Production Designer, Dean Semler - Cinematographer, Laura Ziskin - Producer, Mike Medavoy - Producer, Neal H. Moritz - Producer, Andrew Powell - Set Designer, David Lee - Sound/Sound Designer, Guy Norris - Stunts Coordinator, Lance A. Gilbert - Stunts Coordinator, David Young - Special Effects Supervisor, W.D. Richter - Screenwriter, Brad Shield - Second Unit Camera, Joel Hynek - Visual Effects Supervisor, Bruce Stambler - Supervising Sound Editor, Digital Domain - Visual Effects, Animal Logic Film - Visual Effects, Susan Maybury - Set Decorator
"Key technologies that have been identified are the following," said the magazine Aviation Week in 1979, "Stealth technology. Engines and fuels. Avionics."
After the invention of radar (1941), successfully used for nearly half a century, the next advance in weaponry was the invention of an airplane that would resist radar detection. The first airplane designed to do so, the B2 Stealth bomber, was a U.S. Air Force project so stealthy that even the name (with a capital letter) did not become visible until the late 1970s. The successful Stealth combination of materials and angles which absorb and deflect radar signals was developed for that airplane during the 1980s. During that decade, the Navy began to consider its own Stealth technology for submarines under water.
But the story of stealth does not stop there. It appears, or rather disappears, on Mars, where "much of the large black feature near the equator...has been informally dubbed 'Stealth,' since it shows no radar return whatever," according to Science News in 1989.
And on Earth, stealth has slipped into political jargon. A stealth candidate is one who avoids the traditional public forums, or who avoids taking a stand on the issues, or whose support does not show in the polls, thus remaining undetected as a serious threat. A 1992 article explained that stealth campaign is "a term coined from an interview made after the 1990 elections by the Virginia-based Christian coalition's Ralph Reed.... 'It's like guerrilla warfare,' Reed was quoted as saying.... 'If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly, with stealth, under cover of night.'"
Any military technology intended to make vehicles or missiles nearly invisible to enemy radar or other electronic detection. Research in antidetection technology began soon after radar was invented. In World War II the Germans coated their U-boat snorkels with radar-absorbent material. By the end of the 20th century the U.S. had developed models of stealth technology, including the F-117 Nighthawk fighter-bomber and the B-2 Spirit strategic bomber. The aircraft featured surface materials and coatings that absorbed radar transmissions, faceted or rounded surfaces that reduced radar reflections, and shielded engine exhausts that reduced infrared radiation. Stealth technology has also been incorporated into the design of naval submarines and surface vessels.
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