Con Air

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2:24

Con Air

R

1997

1h 55m

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

70 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Just-paroled army ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) is headed back to his wife (Monica Potter), but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" with some of the worst criminals living. Along with Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames) and Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson), genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich) unleashes a violent escape plot in mid-flight. Secretly working with U.S. Marshall Vince Larkin (John Cusack), Poe tries to foil Grissom's plan.

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Critics Consensus

Con Air won't win any awards for believability - and all involved seem cheerfully aware of it, making some of this blockbuster action outing's biggest flaws fairly easy to forgive.

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David Ansen

Newsweek

The saving grace of Con Air is its sense of its own absurdity. Rosenberg and director Simon West seem to know just how preposterous their story is.

Feb 28, 2018

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Carol Buckland

CNN.com

It's exhausting rather than exhilarating.

Jan 5, 2018

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Duane Byrge

The Hollywood Reporter

Packed high with explosive action and loaded with high-stakes jeopardy, Con Air charts a generally sound narrative course, although it hits some story turbulence before it hits its climactic jackpot.

Jun 6, 2017

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James Croot

The Post NZ

Writer Scott Rosenberg throws in plenty of conundrums, curveballs and extra characters...

Rated: 3.5/5

Nov 7, 2022

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

The bunny is a good indication that the script, by Scott Rosenberg, was intended as a deadpan goof on stupid action flicks.

Rated: C

Sep 1, 2022

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

“Con Air” never takes itself too seriously. It knows how preposterous it is and doesn’t try to be anything other than wild raucous popcorn entertainment. And sometimes that’s all I’m in the mood for.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 16, 2022

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ja A.

A guilty pleasure movie. It’s so bad but so good. So many fun one liners .

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/14/25

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tucker s

Really great film. Anybody who gives this movie a bad rating has simply failed to understand what was happening.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/11/25

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Noel L

This such a rewatchable, sweet, and awesome film. Maybe some of the dialogue and accents could've used some improving, but overall a great movie

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/03/25

Full Review

Old P

I saw this movie in theaters. When it came out liked it a lot. Still watch when I can John Malkovich is a really good actor too

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/12/25

Full Review

Darsou C

On entertaining scale, this movie is 10/10. This is a real adrenalin film with Nicholas Cage action and awesome thriller. The story is simple but as most of NC action/thrillers, the action and thriller made this movie a must watch. This movie doesn't bore us and we want to watch more which means a cult-classic. The plot and story are simple and no one cares because the movie's not made for giving a social messege or show the reality of world or underworld whatever. It was made to provide entertainment to those people who are tired of their everyday work and now sat on a Sunday afternoon after taking a nice afternoon bath with something good to eat and it successfully does that. It became one of my favourite action-thrillers.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/07/25

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Travis C

Did Nicholas Cage's character really need a southern accent?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/24/25

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Simon West

Director

Nicolas Cage

Cameron Poe

John Cusack

U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin

John Malkovich

Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom

Steve Buscemi

Garland 'The Marietta Mangler' Greene

Ving Rhames

Nathan 'Diamond Dog' Jones

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93%

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Rotten Tomatoes is Wrong About… Nicolas Cage

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Con Air: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Just-paroled army ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) is headed back to his wife (Monica Potter), but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" with some of the worst criminals living. Along with Diamond Dog (Ving Rhames) and Baby-O (Mykelti Williamson), genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich) unleashes a violent escape plot in mid-flight. Secretly working with U.S. Marshall Vince Larkin (John Cusack), Poe tries to foil Grissom's plan.

Director: Simon West
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenwriter: Scott Rosenberg
Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Runway Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Kouf/Bigelow Productions, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Hiett Designs of Las Vegas
Rating: R
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 6, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $101.1M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Surround, DTS, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Scope (2.35:1)

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