13/05/2024
On this date in 1983, "Blue Thunder" was released.
The helicopter used to portray Blue Thunder was a French-made Gazelle with bolt-on parts to change its appearance. The chin cannon assembly was too heavy, necessitating a weight attached to the tail to keep the nose from dipping forward in flight. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had to approve every single piece of equipment hung on the helicopter. The agency actually had inspectors checking the manufacturing of the helicopter to make sure it would be airworthy.
Malcolm McDowell actually hated flying and no one could persuade him to overcome his phobia. During the final battle scene between his character Cochrane and Roy Scheider's character Frank Murphy, McDowell's grimaces were caught on film for all to see, clearly displaying his discomfort at being in the air. When thenwife Mary Steenburgen saw the movie, she was incredulous and asked the filmmakers, "How did you get him inside that little helicopter? I couldn't even get him inside a plane!"
Despite the fact that they played characters that were enemies in this film, both Scheider and McDowell became very good friends while working on it. As McDowell would state at various science-fiction conventions, they enjoyed working together so much that they couldn't leave each other alone. When Scheider passed away, a very saddened McDowell was unable to attend his funeral due to a film project that he was working on and could not leave at the time, much to his dismay. As a result, he immediately ordered some flowers and sent a letter of condolence to Scheider's family.
Real chicken was used during the "chicken rain" sequence. Four huge vats of barbecue chicken were lifted by crane and released over the police car and three other cars. When the scene was over, homeless people quickly appeared to help the film crew "clean up" the scene (in exchange for the chicken). No rubber chicken was used, according to director John Badham, because rubber chicken costs four to ten times more than real chicken. (IMDb)
