Men Of Honor

Cuba Gooding Jr battles racism, prejudice, and a syrup saturated script to become the first Black Navy diver in this inspirational – or, depending on your tolerance for schmaltz, nauseatingly saccharine – biopic.

Thankfully, amid all the heart string tugging speeches and treacly hymns to the human spirit, there’s at least one moment of genuine interest: an exploding helicopter to jolt the film and audience awake.

Early on, Gooding is aboard ship when a helicopter arrives to deliver the mail – quite possibly the least glamorous task a chopper can perform. We watch it lower a postbag to the deck via winch. Gooding heads below… and then, suddenly, a huge crash echoes through the ship.

He rushes back topside to find pieces of helicopter scattered across the ocean. Some unseen calamity has sent the poor thing plummeting into the drink.

Verdict

This is one of the worst exploding helicopter sequences ever committed to film, and director George Tillman Jr should be prosecuted for “crimes against chopper fireballs”.

Despite having a perfect opportunity to stage a glorious aerial inferno, Tillman stages the explosion off screen. It’s a technique some directors can use cleverly to heighten drama. Tillman, alas, is not one of those directors. His attempt is an appalling misjudgement.

Confronted with the challenge of blowing up a helicopter, Tillman simply bottles it. Such cinematic cowardice raises serious questions about whether he should be allowed near another film – certainly not one featuring rotor blades.

Number of helicopters

One.

Relevance to plot

As the film is based on true events, the helicopter’s presence is presumably historically accurate – even if the explosion isn’t.

Artistic merit

Rather than complicate his shooting schedule, Tillman lets the helicopter explode somewhere out of sight. Pathetic.

Exploding helicopter innovation

None.

Positives

The only bright spot is that this otherwise relentlessly earnest Navy diver drama briefly provides something for exploding helicopter enthusiasts to stay awake for.

Negatives

The first rule of exploding helicopters: show the helicopter exploding.

Review by: Jafo

Still want more? Then check out the Exploding Helicopter podcast episode on Men Of Honor. Listen to the show on iTunes, Podomatic, Stitcher, YourListen or Acast.