John Badham directs this American action thriller starring Roy Scheider, Warren Oates and Malcolm McDowell. Los Angeles police officer Frank Murphy (Scheider) is charged with testing a new, hyper-advanced, anti-crime helicopter, 'Blue Thunder'. Although the aircraft is designed to be used for crowd control and surveillance, Murphy and his partner Officer Lymangood (Daniel Stern) suspect that the military plan to misuse it for their own nefarious ends, particularly the sinister Colonel Cochrane (McDowell).