35 years ago, Mel Gibson stood as a major movie star and Robert Downey Jr. enjoyed a career with an upward trajectory. Eventually, they’d self-sabotage and experience hard times, from which Downey emerged triumphant… and Gibson not so much.

1990’s Air America offers their only co-starring effort. It takes us back to the late 1960s and conflicts in Southeast Asia.

Due to a stunt gone wrong, radio traffic pilot Billy Covington (Downey) gets fired from his job. With nothing left to lose, Billy ends up in Laos as part of a crew called “Air America”.

Essentially an airborne arm of the CIA, this “organization” doesn’t officially exist, so Billy finds himself among a group of misfits. Billy bonds with pacifist Gene Ryack (Gibson) and tries to navigate this Wild West of warfare.

While I remember the existence of Air America, I don’t recall if I actually saw it theatrically back in 1990. Maybe, but as I viewed this disc, it rang literally zero bells.

If I missed Air America 35 years ago, I enjoyed a lot of company, as the movie failed find much of an audience. With a US gross of $31 million, it landed in that 37th place for 1990, stuck between Darkman and Predator 2.

That left Air America in a Neverland of Not a Hit But Not a Flop. However, with the star power of Gibson and Downey as well as a not-inexpensive-circa-1990 $30 million budget, its performance definitely disappointed.

Largely poor reviews didn’t help, and the movie’s promo campaign bordered on false advertising. These clips sold Air America as a raucous buddy comedy.

And the film leans in that direction at times, but it comes with more of an edge than one might anticipate. Air America aspires to the grand tradition of other anti-war satires like M*A*S*H and Catch-22.

Unfortunately, Air America lacks the real bite or consistency it needs to pull off those themes. Again, some of this stems from the manner in which the film attempts to pull off its various elements.

Air America stabs in a variety of directions but it doesn’t pursue these in an especially coherent way. One minute we get snarky satire, the next we find broad buddy hijinks, and the next we locate typical action fodder.

Though Air America aspires to become akin to the black comedy of M*A*S*H, it tends to feel more like 1987’s Robin Williams hit Good Morning Vietnam. This means that while it comes with some socio-political barbs, it tends to get somewhat mushy as it proceeds.

Once Air America establishes its band of misfits, it sets out inevitably to humanize them. That becomes especially true in the case of Gene, as we learn more about his motivations along with his local family.

In better hands, this shift might work, but in Air America, it tends to feel gratuitous. As implied, the film ricochets from one tonal choice to another with abandon, and this means that its stabs at Deep Drama don’t really connect.

Buried in here somewhere, we could find a good movie. If Air America chose one coherent path and stayed with it, the end product might prosper.

The movie’s lack of consistency dooms it, however. While Air America shows occasional signs of life, the final film doesn’t click.

Air America appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a solid presentation for a 35-year-old movie.

Sharpness worked well. A few interiors felt a little soft, but the majority of the film offered accurate, distinctive delineation.

No issues occurred related to jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain felt fairly natural, and I saw no print flaws.

Air America opted for a generally natural palette. These seemed well-rendered and clear.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows offered appealing smoothness. I felt pretty impressed by this quality image.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 7.1 audio also fared well, as the soundscape proved to be fairly active and involving. The front channels demonstrated the best movement/integration, but the surrounds got a fair amount of work as well.

The rear channels brought a nice sense of place and action, and they bolstered the music as well. A few good instances of split-surround material occurred, and the whole thing fit together nicely.

The quality of the track seemed fine. The lines were always intelligible and usually appeared reasonably natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music was peppy and bold, while effects came across as clear and distinctive. I felt we got a solid “B+” soundtrack here, with some compensation for age.

As we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from co-writer/producer John Eskow. He provides a running, screen-specific look at story and characters, historical elements and factual liberties, sets and locations, stunts and action, cast and performances, music and related domains.

Though Eskow delivers a decent array of notes, he doesn’t tend toward a lot of depth. Throw in too many gaps in the discussion and this turns into a spotty track.

A few featurettes follow, and Flight Log runs a mere three minutes, 53 seconds. It offers remarks from producer Daniel Melnick, director Roger Spottiswoode, and actors Robert Downey Jr. and Mel Gibson.

The reel comes with a few production basics. It remains promotional and doesn’t tell us much.

Pre-Flight goes for five minutes, 17 seconds and offers a running look at some of the movie’s storyboards via a split-screen comparison to the final film. It comes with some interesting art, but the DVD-level quality of the material causes this segment to lose points.

A retrospective called Return Flight fills 22 minutes, three seconds. It provides notes from Spottiswoode, Eskow, University of Georgia history professor William M. Leary, journalist/author Martin Lee, and actors Marshall Bell, Tim Thomerson, Art LaFleur, and David Bowe.

With “Flight”, we look at shooting in Thailand, cast and performances, story/characters and historical elements, and the movie’s reception. This doesn’t become the most coherent overview but it includes some good anecdotes.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a promo for Stargate.

Because Air America never decides where it really wants to go, the end product lacks coherent. We wind up with a messy mix of satirical comedy, heartfelt drama and buddy action flick. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio along with a small array of bonus materials. The film disappoints.