Con Air

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Cage, Buscemi, Rhames, Malkovich — the coolest of the cool, an indie-film fan's dream cast. But there's a catch. Con Air is no arthouse movie. In fact, it's one of 1997's biggest summer blockbusters from the biggest name in action: Jerry Bruckheimer. If you can overlook the predictability and some painfully cliched one-liners, Con Air makes for a thrill-a-minute joyride that comes crashing down on the Las Vegas strip. Paroled after serving eight years for involuntary manslaughter, Army Ranger Cameron Poe (Cage) hitches a ride with a group of the country's basest criminals who are en route to a new maximum-security prison. The cons, lead by Cyrus the Virus (Malkovich) and black militant Diamond Dog (Rhames), take over the plane. It's up to Poe to save the day. Not many summer action adventures quote Dostoyevsky, but Cusack's U.S. Marshall Larkin does early on, giving every indication that this is not a typical blockbuster.