Firefox (1982)

Clint Eastwood stars as a pilot who has to infiltrate the Soviet Union disguised as a drug smuggler, and steal a state of the art aircraft known as the ‘Firefox’ by flying it to the west; essentially so the Brits and the Americans know what they’re up against during the cold war. For a plot so simple yet ludicrous, Firefox does an excellent job of conjuring up a genuinely tense espionage thriller, ably directed by Eastwood himself. Based on the 1977 novel of the same name, Eastwood nails the obligatory old school spy thrills; double agents, dissidents, you name it, it’s all present and correct, and while this certainly doesn’t have the nous or subtlety of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965), it plays out like an eighties Mission Impossible film, complete with a really quite impressive airborne final act as Eastwood is hounded by another Firefox that the Soviets release making for a thrilling finale. Panned by many, Firefox is far from a dud, quite the opposite in fact; it’s very much a worthy addition to the pantheon of cold war espionage thrillers, anchored by a man who knows exactly what he’s doing almost every time he steps in front (or indeed behind) a camera. 7.1/10