Con Air
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: June 6, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
11
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostRita Kempley
Preposterous, predictable, but excessively entertaining, this frenzied thriller draws both story and characters from such action classics as "The Fugitive," "Die Hard," "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Silence of the Lambs." Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Con Air, a summer blast of a movie, teaches us many things: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer never met an explosion, a car crash or 20 tough guys talking trash he didn't like. Nicolas Cage is one of our most enjoyable screen heroes. As long as you're funny, you can literally get away with murder in a movie. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Director Simon West hits just the right note between self-conscious silliness and real dramatic intensity in this 1997 action thriller, which uses typecast actors to make the characters' one-liners and predictable behavior resonate. Read full review
80
EmpireCaroline Westbrook
Yes, disbelief is required not so much to be suspended as removed altogether, but it barely matters as this is an adrenaline blast of the highest order. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This is a movie that knows it is absurd, and does little to deny it. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Apart from not knowing to quit while it's ahead, Con Air provides quite an exciting flight prior to its crash and burn. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The colorfully written Con Air is a solid chip off "The Rock," pumped up and very well cast, with the prettiness and polish of advertising art. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Numbing but not boring, it's finally more dispiriting than exhilarating, like a wild night of debauchery that leaves only a fearsome hangover for a souvenir. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Con Air is entertaining in an extravagantly decadent sort of way. It just isn't a movie. Read full review
60
SalonCharles Taylor
How's the movie? Big, loud, brutal and stupid, that's how it is. But then, you don't need a critic to tell you that -- anyone with a grade-school education who's seen the previews can figure that out. Read full review
60
Film ThreatRon Wells
This is a big, silly film. Is it full of explosions and one-liners? Of course. Is it entertaining? Of course. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
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. Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The saving grace of Con Air is its sense of its own absurdity. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This movie is a perfect example of what's wrong with many big-budget films today: no characters, no intelligence, and, worst of all, little fun. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Mega-budget action extravaganzas don't get much sillier than this. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
From scene to scene, the tone shifts from supposed sincerity to arch and amused, until the picture begins to seem like some mad, desperate, scattershot attempt to hold an audience's attention from moment to moment, by any means. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Director Simon West makes an impressive feature debut in this relentless action-comedy that is, more than anything else, about how funny it is to see hundreds of people exploded, shot, knifed, propellered and burnt to death, and how to land a plane on the crowded Vegas strip. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's so shameless, so psychotically nervous about keeping you ''thrilled,'' that the phrase over the top won't do it justice. It's like a drug designed for people who've done every drug and now want to be jet-propelled into numbness. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
There's nary a hint of suspense in West's film, though, mainly because he loudly trumpets the upcoming disasters so early in the film. Read full review
37
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Con Air has all the signs of a hit. That's depressing. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Nicolas Cage, Ving Rhames, and Steve Buscemi are among the few performers who emerge with a shred of dignity at the end. Read full review
20
SlateDavid Edelstein
Con Air is boring to the marrow. Read full review
20
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
While tyro director Simon West fills Con Air with all the slam-bang action and well-honed wisecracks that were the more positive qualities of its predecessors, the film brims even more with all their worst qualities. Read full review
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