18 Reasons Why Con Air is One of the Greatest Movies of All Time

If you don’t know by now I am a huge Nic Cage fan. Not as a joke and not because it’s “cool” but because I genuinely enjoy his acting. The guy is truly fascinating and has made some of the most interesting movies you will ever see. I am thinking about making this a running blog topic, whether it is on Nic Cage or just some of my favorite movies in general. These 18 reasons are in no particular order as they are all equally important to the cinematic masterpiece that is Con Air. Let’s dive in.

1.     The Cast: Cage, Malkovich, Cusack, Rhames, Chappelle, Buscemi, Trejo, and Meaney. If we are being honest this is one of the greatest casts ever assembled in movie history.

2.     Prisoner Names: Baby-O, Billy Bedlam, Sally-Can’t Dance, CYRUS THE VIRUS, DIAMOND DOG, Pinball, Swamp Thing, Johnny-23, AND Gator. I mean come on, I would love to meet the people that came up with these forever iconic character names.

3.     Nic Cage’S Accent: Nic is playing Cameron Poe, a Southern gentleman in prison for killing a man in a bar fight. His accent is so bad and so streaky, it is perfect. he is really going for it. The way he says his daughters name will be etched into your memory from the first time you watch it. AFTER WATCHING, tHE NAME “CASEY” CAN NEVER BE SAID OR HEARD IN THE SAME WAY AGAIN.

4.     John Cusack: I have always found the love for Cusack kind of strange, I never believed he was that good of an actor. I feel like a lot of people really like him but I don’t get it, has he had any really good performances? Yes, he had one and it was IN this movie playing a U.S. Marshall.

5.     1967 Corvette Roadster: I mean look at it, do I have to really explain this one??  

6. Plot: I cannot believe this was never done before 1997: “Cameron Poe, a highly decorated United States Army Ranger, came home to Alabama to his wife, Tricia, only to run into a few drunken regulars where Tricia works. Cameron unknowingly kills one of the drunks and is sent to a federal penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter for seven years. Cameron becomes eligible for parole and can now go home to his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, Cameron has to share a prison airplane with some of the country's most dangerous criminals, who took control of the plane and are now planning to escape the country. Cameron has to find a way to stop them while playing along.”

7. Nic Cage’S Hair: The flowing locks from my man Nic are incredible in this movie. Hands down one of the best scenes (and GIFs) is when he gets off the plane and his hair is blowing in the wind….iconic.

8. Jacked Nic Cage: Nic is absolutely jacked in this movie, 95% of the film he is running around in a tank top, jeans, and boots. The muscle our guy put on for this FILM IS no joke.

9. Song in the Bar at the Beginning: Shout out to LeAnn Rimes for this classic. Unfortunately this is the downfall for Cameron and what gets him THROWN in the slammer.

10. “This Man is Dead”: After Cameron kills the man who was hitting on his wife at the bar, the sheriff comes out examines the situation and says in the worst Southern accent “This man is dead.” Probably not something a lot of people would consider great but next time you watch, listen for that GEM.

11. Nic Cage: He is a NATIONAL TREASURE, I know he has done a lot of crazy and bad movies but this is legitimately a great performance. Not enough people talk about Cameron Poe when it comes to great action performances.

12. Script: Written by Scott Rosenberg, Con Air has some incredible lines in it. here are some of my favorites: “I am not plausible as a tough guy because I have an effeminate voice”, “Where are you going with my plane, Cyrus? We are going to Disney World”, “Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.”

13. Rewatchability and Access: One of the most rewatchable movies ever. if you turn it on and it’s at the beginning, middle, or end you should be sitting down to at least watch some of it. Another aspect of the rewatchable-ness is the access, if you turn on TBS, TNT, FX, USA, or any of those cable channels, I almost guarantee Con Air is playing at some point during the day.

14. Success: The budget for Con Air was $75 million, guess what the world wide box office was? Go ahead I’ll give you minute…………according to Box Office Mojo Con Air made $224,012,234 world wide!!!!! It basically tripled it’s budget. this movie is a smash hit people.

15. Action Scenes and Slo-Mo: The Bar Fight, The Helicopter Attack, The Airfield Ambush, The Fights Inside the Plane, AND The Vegas Strip, JUST TO NAME A FEW. So many great action scenes and one particularLY PERFECT slo-mo where Nic is running away from an explosion, as his hair blows in the wind, and a huge fire ball shoots up behind him.

16. Memes and GIFs: Do yourself a favor, open another internet tab and type in “Con Air memes”, then open up another tab and type in “Con Air GIFs”. you will thank me later.

17. Trailer: Please watch THIS TRAILER. if this doesn’t get you interested in this movie I am convinced you don’t have a pulse.

And last but certainly not least…

18. The Poster: