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. Though it came with some strengths, the Dolby Vision image also brought some odd anomalies.

In particular, colors tended to seem erratic. While the hues often showed fairly good impact, they could feel too subdued.

This especially impacted skin tones, as those often looked strangely pasty. Given the setting and the era, the actors should all boast prominent tans but they frequently appeared like they never saw the sun.

As such, HDR didn't bring the usual punch. Some of the movie's more dynamic hues enjoyed a bit more punch, but the pale complexions and generally flat colors looked off.

Otherwise the transfer did nicely, and 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.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows offered appealing smoothness and HDR added some emphasis to whites and contrast. Although much of the movie looked good, the erratic colors made this a "B-" 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.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Both came with identical audio.

As for the Dolby Vision image, it brought superior delineation and blacks. However, the occasionally pasty and flat colors looked less accurate than the bolder and more natural hues of the Blu-ray. Despite some improvements, the iffy colors of the 4K UHD meant I preferred the visuals for the BD.

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.

A vintage Making of reel goes for five minutes, 36 seconds. It involves Gibson, Downey, Melnick and Spottiswode.  They provide a handful of filmmaking notes but movie clips dominate this superficial piece.

At a mere two minutes, 12 seconds, Short Interviews with Cast and Crew matches its title and brings brief remarks from Gibson, Downey, Melnick and Spottiswode.  This essentially offers the prior featurette with fewer movie snippets.  It's pretty much a waste of time.

The disc includes two trailers. We find the theatrical ad as well as one created for this 4K UHD reissue.

The set also provides a Blu-ray copy of the film. It includes the same extras, though the 4K UHD adds the vintage featurette and the "short interviews" compilation. The BD opens with a promo for Stargate.

The 4K UHD also comes in a snazzy steelbook case. As of June 2025, the 4K UHD only appears in this steelbook edition, as there currently is no "standard" version.

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 4K UHD brings very good audio and a small array of bonus materials but visual seem inconsistent due to flat colors. The film disappoints.