Blue Thunder is a 1983 thriller directed by John Badham and stars Roy Scheider as Frank Murphy, a Los Angeles police helicopter pilot who is assigned to a top secret military weapons program that involves flying an armed superhelicopter over the city. There is a title card at the beginning of the film that states all of the technology portrayed in the film is real and currently in use in the United States military. The film would inspire two television series: a direct adaptation that aired in the US on ABC and the CBS series Airwolf.
The following weapons were used in the film Blue Thunder:
What appears to be a M61 Vulcan is the main offensive weapon of the Blue Thunder helicopter. The army weapons officer states that Vulcan's six barrels are capable of firing 4000 rounds a minute. The weapon is seen chin-mounted on a turret in the front and is able to be guided by pilot's helmet movements. A pair of Lockheed F-16As scrambled to shoot down Blue Thunder are also armed with M61s.
According to an article from American Cinematographer, the weapon seen on the flying version of Blue Thunder was actually a mockup comprised of six broomsticks painted black. For the closeups of the weapon firing, this also was a mockup consisting of six hollow barrels fitted with spark plugs to ignite bursts of acetylene blown through.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe GE M61 Vulcan 20mm Cannon.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe army weapons officer states that Blue Thunder's six barrels are capable of firing 4000 rounds a minute. The weapon seen here was actually a mockup comprised of six broomsticks painted black.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe weapons officer shows that the Vulcan is able to be guided by pilot's helmet movements.Error creating thumbnail: File missingCloseup of the Vulcan cannon firing. The weapon was specially constructed for the production, consisting of six hollow barrels fitted with spark plugs to ignite bursts of acetylene blown through.Error creating thumbnail: File missingThe turret shows that the Vulcan can be fired at a 90 degree angle.
M230 Chain Gun (mockup)
Twin cannons which appear to resemble Hughes 30mm M230 Chain Guns are mounted on Col. Cochrane's Hughes 500 helicopter. Because these are only seen fired in closeup, these weapons are also likely mockups.
Colonel Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell) takes out his Smith & Wesson Model 10 snubnose and fires at Murphy as he takes off with Blue Thunder. Officer Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider) points his .38 snub at an angry mechanic while he sits in Blue Thunder. Fletcher (David Sheiner) draws one as well when trying to steal the surveillance tape at the TV station.
The Smith & Wesson Model 15 is drawn by the LA police officer (James Read) who stops Kate on the bridge. In some shots, the revolver appears to have changed into a Colt Python.
SWAT officers fire M16A1 rifles as they attempt to take down Blue Thunder during the chase in the Los Angeles river basin.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingM16A1 with 20 round magazine - 5.56x45mm. What distinguishes it from the original M16 was the addition of a raised rib around the magazine release button, changing of the forward Receiver pins, and the addition of the forward assist button on the upper receiver.Error creating thumbnail: File missingA SWAT officer fires an M16A1 at Blue Thunder from his police helicopter.Error creating thumbnail: File missingAnother shot of the officer firing his M16A1.
MGC Replica M16 rifle
A SWAT officer is briefly seen with an MGC M16 replica when exiting the SWAT van.
"Blue Thunder" in reality was a French Aerospatiale Gazelle with the cockpit canopy completely redesigned. Two such Gazelles were constructed for the feature's production. The modified helicopter would also be used in other media including the 1982 film Firefox, where the cockpit section was used as part of a Mil Mi-24 Hind; the pilot episode of the original 1985 MacGyver TV series, in the 1987 miniseries Amerika, where these helicopters were used to represent Soviet attack helicopters, and the 2011 videogame Homefront, where the helicopter was briefly incorporated in the introduction.
