Aurora: Operation Intercept (1995) User Reviews

Intrigue and aerial action with predictable plot but some moment exciting

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 24 August 2007]

The movie tells about a mysterious aircrafts with navigation systems failure crash ,dieing everybody aboard.Another plane suddenly(whose pilot is Corbin Bersen)lose control and crash.Francesca(Natalya Andrejchenko)suspects government is behind her father's killing as a cover-up operation and she develops a technology using an electromagnetic pulse method by means of controlling GPS (Global Position Satellites)formed by 25 satellites for aerial navigation.She threatens to blowing up civilian planes until the murderer is brought to justice.Commander(Bruce Payne)along with officer(John Stockwell)are assigned by Secretary State(Lance Henriksen) to dangerous mission.They navigate into secret aircraft called Aurora 2,a top-secret,ultra sophisticated warplane, with GPS emergency shut down and the target located Aurora 1 must to be destroyed and placed in Kazakhistan,Central Asia.They are taken prisoners and tortured by sadist warden(Dennis Christopher).Meanwhile Francesca threatens to destroy the White House and the Commander's family who's flying in plane.

The movie packs suspense,noisy action,violence and aerial combats about low-altitude fight.The picture is predictable and low-budgeted though on the final contains a plot twisted.Spectacular aerial sequences and aerial battles images but with mediocre FX but are filmed on night sets.The tough starring is Bruce Payne,leaving his usual roles as baddie(Riders,Dungeons and dragons,Passenger 57,Highlander),the revenger Natalya Andrejchenko(married with Maximilian Schell), a cold Lance Henriksen(Milennium,Terminator,Aliens).Besides appear John Stockwell,today a famed director(Blue crush,Into the blue,Turistas), Dennis Christopher(Fade to black,It,Necronomicon) and Corbin Bersen(L.A. law) in a role very secondary.Spectacular soundtrack adjusted to action by Richard Marvin(U571,Lost battalion).The motion picture is regularly directed by Paul Levine. Rating : Below than average but with some moments entertaining.

Mindless fare

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 23 March 2018]

AURORA: OPERATION INTERCEPT is a B-movie about a stolen military jet being used against the United States. It's one of those cheap and boring little films that fetishes the latest technology but forgets to put a convincing human story in with it. A bunch of familir B-movie cast members is the only thing this one has going for it, but sadly they're not enough to make this a remotely interesting or engaging production. I admit that it is fun to see Bruce Payne (the usual movie bad guy of PASSENGER 57 and its ilk) playing the hero for a change, and Lance Henriksen is reliable in support. But the film is poorly directed and too darn dark for the most part. Corbin Bernsen pops up briefly as a pilot and Dennis Christopher hams it up as a pantomime Russian villain, but otherwise this is mindless fare.

I belive the word is 'Lame'

[Vegas-6 · 1/10 · 15 April 2000]

Good lord, this is atrocious. I went in expecting very little, but this didn't deliver what I was expecting. I was thinking some decent explosions and some dogfighting and whatnot, mixed with bad acting and lame lines with cool special effects.

First, we have the explosions/dogfighting/special effects. The movie, as the title indicates, is about a top-secret (and, according to conspiracy theorists, real) plane code-named 'Aurora' which is far faster than anything we currently have, carries more bombs, Nevada to Baghdad in 2 hours, that sort of thing. The planes are computer generated, by and large, and not very well at that.

Perhaps I'm a bad judge, since I play with computer animations quite a bit myself. But, at the same time, -I- (as an amateur!) could have done better graphics for planes, explosions, missles, and the like on my home computer. Really, not good.

Next we have plot/scripting/acting. I came in not expecting much, and I got what I expected. Most of the plot is minor setups for more shots of planes chasing planes being chased by missles. (No machine guns anywhere in the movie. Not one.) The acting is primarily 'This is aurora one, targetting aurora two, preparing to fire, missles away' type of stuff. The actual acting to be done was weak at best.

Worth a good laugh or if you wanna know what really bad movies look like. Never ever ever pay for it. (I saw it on cinemax, so I didn't really pay for it, thankfully) Don't rent it, only watch it on the premium channels when there's _nothing_ else on.

Great for black aircraft enthusiasts

[tmd-3 · 17 September 2003]

Finally a film which deals with the Pentagon's secret hypersonic aircraft and Area 51(Groom Lake - I think this whole UFO madness is being used by the military to shift the public's attention from high-tech secrets to pure imagination, even though i do not rule out the possible existence of alien life)

I also liked Lance Henriksen's performance in this movie. Of course, the plot is somewhat childish, but at least there's another "Firefox"(Clint Eastwood)-like movie, even though of much lower quality (including the special effects and the plot)

Bad. Stupid. Only enjoyable for people with IQ's under 50

[penthane · 1/10 · 24 September 2006]

Seldomly have I watched such a bad movie. The plot is very unlikely at least. A USAF major who denies his orders to drop a bomb on an enemy base, because his colleague is held captive inside that base! Bull; soldiers follow orders! Another stupid scene: a gunfight where a bad guy takes the time to reload his handgun, while there is a loaded Kalashnikov at his feat? The 'hero' in the meanwhile is crying over his empty gun, while there are two loaded guns in the hall, no more then 10 ft away. Then another one. The prime bad guy (in this movie the bad girl), is a scientist, but is somehow not only a highly trained fighterpilot, able to avoid multiple missile attacks, but she also exactly knows how to pilot the top secret Aurora plane, which according to the start of the movie only has 2 classified pilots and 2 observers! And on top of that she can withstand all the G-force during Mach 3+ maneuvers without a sweat!!!

This movie's script seems to be written by a 10 yr old, who has no understanding of physics whatsoever! The movements of the old Thunderbird animations are better then those in this movie.

Gr., Rob

Some redeeming features makes this not all bad

[michaelberanek275 · 7/10 · 11 September 2018]

OK there are numerous flaws, some a little laughable with respect to continuity, plausibility and underdeveloped dialogue, but there's enough to like for the aviation technology enthusiast, and some pacey and dramatic elements. The genuinely Russian female lead is very good - mixing malice with vulnerability and soars above her peers. The actual bits of tech and effects are, well, so nineties, but delightfully quaint. The handing over of floppy disc, yes a floppy disk reportedly capable of holding critical super-bomber mission telemetry raised a snigger, and the obiquius video displays looked pre-PacMan, but all that added to a period appeal. There is an obsession with GPS as some kind of modern mystery. The back story/plot for want of better word is a little sketchy, baffling and tangential, but there's no diversion in the clear trajectory of the testosterone-laced heroic action plot, and the booming and shaking sound effects make the pair of obvious model super-planes that feature in many ways the biggest stars. Overall, quite fun and even dramatic in places.