Blue Thunder

Blue Thunder (1983)

26 mistakes

(4 votes)

Other mistake: Murphy lands the helicopter on a railway line so an oncoming train will destroy it completely, and this happens exactly on cue with huge, dramatic explosions and flying debris. Apparently the train driver doesn't think this is important enough to interrupt his busy schedule - he doesn't stop the train. We do not hear brakes being applied - the wheels would make a noise like the sky coming down - and the train doesn't slow down at all - it just keeps on going.

Plot hole: Apart from the impressive pyrotechnics, what is the point of destroying the Blue Thunder helicopter? By far the most expensive, time consuming and technically complex part of producing any aircraft is the design and development phase - once the prototype is in the air production is relatively straightforward. The bad guys can make new Blue Thunders any time they like, and Murphy has destroyed the only evidence he has that there was a criminal conspiracy behind the whole programme - the 'videotape' he has of blurry, false coloured characters will convince nobody. Without the helicopter to back him up that tape is of no value to him.

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Suggested correction: The Blue Thunder is caught on camera by a TV helicopter during the aquaduct chase which is evidence it existed.

A helicopter is filmed on CCTV, yes, which gives no detail at all to its use, where it came from, or anything about the conspiracy behind it. The helicopter is proof of the sinister plot and Murphy just destroyed it.

Suggested correction: What you are forgetting is Murphy is already a criminal with or without the helicopter. He stole blue thunder, destroyed two police helicopters, a jet and a police car, endangered civilians lives and finally killed Cochrane. Even if he could prove the conspiracy, there was no way he was avoiding jail. When he walks off at the end, he knows the future is bleak for him.

Gavin Jackson

In no way does that correct the posting. Murphy would have an open-and-shut defence against all "criminal" charges if he could show he was acting against a much larger criminal conspiracy, which he now cannot do. Not only has he scuppered his own chances of defending himself he has handed the real criminals a Get Out Of Jail Free card. The posting is absolutely correct.

Blue Thunder mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Roy Scheider's partner is killed, he is run over by a car. After the car runs him over, his body rolls and you can see his arms swinging freely even though his hands were bound by the plastic ties. Later when you see his body, his hands are bound again. (01:10:30)

Blue Thunder mistake picture

Deliberate mistake: When Cochran sabotages the Jet Ranger helicopter by loosening the nut on the bolt securing the linear actuator governor, the bolt is inserted in the wrong direction. The bolt should have been heads up to prevent it from falling out as it did causing the helicopter to crash. Moreover, the linear actuator is on the opposite of the engine from where Cochran disconnected it. (00:38:05)

William Bergquist

Revealing mistake: Right after a fleeing felon is shot dead and falls into the pool (whereupon Murphy says "He's bought it"), he appears to be swimming to stay afloat. (00:12:10)

Factual error: Cochrane chases Murphy in a Hughes 500 which has a top speed of 147 mph and easily keeps up with him, demonstrating that Blue Thunder's top speed is less than 150 mph. The F-16s sent after Blue Thunder have a stall speed of 175 mph. They would have to slow down to the point of falling out of the sky to have a shot at Murphy. Its utterly impractical and far more likely that the military would have sent AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters after him.

Grumpy Scot

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Suggested correction: Not necessarily. The F16 (and other fast movers) can and do engage slow moving helos all the time. They just engage them by missile from a long distance, where speeds are irrelevant.

stiiggy

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't think the US Military keeps helicopter crews on Alert Status like they do for fighters. This film was during the Cold War, so maybe, but it wouldn't make sense to keep an attack helicopter crew (and ground crew) on Alert like they would for fighter jets. Even after 9/11, I wouldn't think a (armed) helicopter crew would be beneficial to keep.

Factual error: When the F-16s take off to shoot down the Blue Thunder, both planes have the same tail number 068. All military jets have individual tail numbers. (01:30:25)

Continuity mistake: When Frank Murphy, his girlfriend, and her son are in the car, the boy asks to borrow Frank's wristwatch, and Frank gives it to him. Moments later, Frank is still wearing the watch. (00:43:45)

Allister Cooper, 2011

Other mistake: The weather in L.A. sure is interesting, as well as the sunset/nightfall time. Near the end, before Frank Murphy notices the train and lands the helicopter, it is near sunset. The sky is still blue when we see a close-up of the train operator. By the time the latter notices the helicopter flying above the train, it is already night time. And just before landing on the rails, at night, the helicopter hovers a bit, and you can see that it is raining. When Frank exits the helicopter, it is a clear night. (01:43:00)

Allister Cooper, 2011

Blue Thunder mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the climactic chase scene, when Murphy is shot through the window, he is shot in his right arm and there is a hole in the window with blood on it. When he does a 360 degree loop in the helicopter the broken window and blood appears on his left sideĀ—the opposite window to that which he was shot through. (01:42:20)

Blue Thunder mistake picture

Revealing mistake: When the van gets flipped over outside the BBQ chicken place, you can see the cannon that flips the van over. (01:32:20)

Other mistake: Look carefully at the helicopter during the strafing scenes; at one point, the gunfire is not coming from the Blue Thunder at all, but from a Bell helicopter at a distance. Also, when we see the Blue Thunder helicopter during the attack, the cannon does not seem to be pointing at its targeted shots, let alone turning.

Allister Cooper, 2011

Continuity mistake: As the Chevrolet Vega arrives at the TV studio, the roof is shown to have sustained significant damage, as if something huge has fallen on it. The right headlamp area is also smashed and the light gone. But at no time in the chase does anything occur to cause any of this damage. (01:27:50)

johnrosa

Deliberate mistake: The Army Sergeant that gives the Blue Thunder presentation's mustache is out of military regulations - much too thick and too long. (00:30:20)

Continuity mistake: When Murphy drives into the parking lot to use the pay phone, we see his license plate as 909 KMB. But when the police dispatcher announces Murphy's license plate, it's "909 King Edward Boy" (KEB).

Excelsior

Visible crew/equipment: As Blue Thunder performs its loop just before the bad guy's helicopter is destroyed, there is a shot of him looking around in his helicopter. In this shot you can see the camera helicopter reflected in the glass.

manthabeat

Character mistake: When Murphy shoots down an F-16, the guy says "we just lost a M-16."

Other mistake: His rank on the cap and the collars are different. Three rockers on the collars, two rockers on the cap.

Frank Murphy: Catch ya later.

More quotes from Blue Thunder

Trivia: The registration number N77GH is visible on a gold placard on right surveillance camera' but only civilian aircraft are given November numbers. Military helicopters only have a series of numbers like on the tail. You aren't supposed to notice Blue Thunder's real "N" number, but it is there throughout the movie making it known it was truly a civilian helicopter.

More trivia for Blue Thunder

Question: Just a question and an observation: When does Lymangood find out what JAFO means? He didn't know when he got into Blue Thunder for the first (and last) time: "When are you going to tell me what JAFO means?" 1. They find out about the evil plot. 2. Lymangood gets the tape after they land. 3. He leaves a recording for Frank inside Blue Thunder using "Big Brother", the cabin recorder. 4. He drops the tape off at a drive-in movie dumpster. 5. He calls and leave a voice-mail for Murphy. 6. He goes home and is attacked. So when was he told what JAFO means? Also, someone had a sense of humor about naming the Special helicopter. It was to be used in project THOR (Tactical Helicopter Offensive Response, the "proposed use of military helicopters to quell disorder"). Thor is the god of thunder in Norse mythology. Did they name the helicopter Blue "Thunder" because it was going to be used in Project THOR? It would have been nice to connect the two references in the movie.

Excelsior

Chosen answer: There was plenty of time from Lymangood asks what Jafo means to when he gets killed. For all we know it could have been weeks. It was only a simply question really. As for any connection between blue thunder and Thor, it could have been an in-joke, but only the filmmakers really know.

Gavin Jackson

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