Here's the scene: in Suicide Squad #54, part two of "The Dragon's Horde" storyline, a team of Squadies consisting of Count Vertigo, Deadshot, and the scary Russian superman Stalnoivolk are flying to Cambodia in a Blackhawk Express plane.
Stalnoivolk has been drafted by Squad leader Amanda "The Wall" Waller and is none too happy about taking a holiday in Cambodia. Thousands of feet above Southeast Asia, Stalnoivolk decides it's time to leave:
Stalnoivolk is tough as hell so he's not particularly worried about the fall. His rapid descent will give him the head-start needed to escape from his "comrades."
Count Vertigo, who can fly, is about to take off after their fugitive teammate, but he's not happy: "We are most aggrieved." Deadshot gets that psycho look in his eye - it's his job to look after the Russian. He grabs an extra chute, and jumps out of the plane.
Deadshot rockets down to Stalnoivolk, pulls a laser pistol, and the two of them have a mid-air standoff while the ground rushes up to meet them...
Is Deadshot going to go splat? Or is Stalnoivolk going to put on the parachute? F*%$ yeah he is!Deadshot keeps the laser pointer on the Russian's forehead while they fall and forces him to put on the chute. Stalnoivolk's escape attempt is foiled; both of them pop their chutes and continue the job.
I loved that scene. It's a good piece of macho action, but it also shows the reader something about Deadshot as a character. Ever since the opening scene in Moonraker where Jaws and 007 fight in free fall I have been a sucker for mid-air action sequences. You may recall that a previous F*%$ Yeah File post also featured people jumping out of airplanes. There's just something about fightin' parachutists that just works for me.
Celine Dion! Give me a F*%$ Yeah, sister!
Maybe you could compile a list of freefall fights. There's Moonraker, that other Bond movie with Dalton, Delta Force (or was that Delta Force 2), that one episode of Shazam. The list goes on and on.
ReplyDeleteAnd props for the Dead Kennedys reference, Dave.
Speaking of freefall, don't forget issue 1 of Deadshot's first limited series, when Floyd deliberately shoots the hell out of the plane full of drug guys while he's flying on it. After he kills them all, he blows a gaping hole in the ceiling with both magnums and gets sucked out without a parachute. He's plummeting to certain death--and not giving a shit--when Black Orchid flies up out of nowhere and saves him. Floyd, who had no idea he had any back-up on that job, says: "Well, surprise, surprise. What're you doing here?"
ReplyDeleteStalnoivolk was such a bad-ass. Not because of his powers, which were formidable but not exactly unique in a world full of super-strong/super-tough characters, but because he was such a total bastard in using them. Plus he was eighty-something at the time, so he was the meanest old fart ever.
F*@% YEAH on the mid-air action scenes - they are one of my favorite things ever. For simple fisticuffs, I also liked the pilot of that short-lived TV series, Spy Game, where the the hero and a friend-turned villain are fighting over a hand-held mega-bomb of some sort; neither of them start with a parachute, but fortunately the hero has a partner.
ReplyDeleteI like Terminal Velocity way more than I should because of the free-fall sequences, especially the one with the car. Point Break, natch. I also dig variations on the theme, such as the mid-air transfer in Cliffhanger; the parachute escape and shootout with a 747 in Eraser; and the motorcycle-airplane freefall stunt in Goldeneye. There's even a great version of this in the 60s spy game No One Lives Forever, in which you escape an exploding airplane, then shoot a bunch of guys before catching a guy below with a parachute.
After Goldeneye came out, I read about another big free-fall fight/stunt they took out of the movie for budget reasons. It's right when Bond and Natalya Simonova are flying over Cuba looking for the dish. But instead of getting hit by a missile, they're attacked by Xenia Onnatopp's helicopter. They're hit, and somehow Natalya is blown right out of the plane. Bond grabs a parachute and dives after her. The helicopter gives chase. He catches her, then starts shooting at the helicopter as its rotor blades get close. Bullets spark off the rotor, something starts to smoke. Bond looks below, sees a tiny opening in the ground. He and Natalya dive for it. As the helicopter is lighting on fire and getting closer, they see the opening is to a huge underground cave. They make it inside, then open their chute. Through the opening in the top, they can see the chopper, engulfed in flame, plummeting toward them. Bond jerks his cords, they move aside, and the copter falls just past them to explode on the floor of the cave. Since the Bond producers often recycle ideas, I keep waiting for them to pull this one out. (I was half-hoping it would show up in the Die Another Day finale, but instead we got the lame helicopter drop.)
Wait, I'm confused. So Deadshot shot him when he went to grab the parachute, or...?
ReplyDeleteSorry, Rachel I edited text to make it more clear.
ReplyDeleteHoly balls, does that scene rock. And if I recall, it's later revealed that the laser gun (specifically designed to pierce Stalinovik's steel-hard skin) had actually been broken and inoperable for some time. Deadshot knew this when he jumped out of the plane, of course.
ReplyDeleteCause that's just how Deadshot rolls.
Not that it's a good movie or anything, but there's a great mid-air fight in "Reign of Fire."
ReplyDeleteParatroopers vs. fire-breathing dragon. While falling through a cloud, so everyone keeps popping in and out of view. Definitely something I haven't seen before or since.
Enjoying the Squad week. Any chance of a Grimjack week? Or at least an entry on # 37, "The Revenge of John Gaunt"? Last page of that, with Gordon and Bob, is one of my favorite splash pages ever.
That's always been one of the the things Ostrander's been great at - building up a supporting cast, and then picking just the right moment to showcase them. Nice to hear people talking about him again.
Thanks for the blog - always a good read. Keep up the great work.
Actually, the laser gun broke when Deadshot landed--you can still see the beam pointed at Stalnoivolk's forehead while they're falling there. (Plus I just reread that issue, since I was in a Squad kind of mood this week.) But yeah, Floyd just bluffed Gort with it for the rest of the mission and got away with it. It's a wonder Deadshot can walk, with a pair that big.
ReplyDeleteAs good a F*@% YEAH moment as the freefall is, though, my personal all-time favorite Suicide Squad F*@% YEAH moment took place on Apokolips, and involved Count Vertigo. Those of you who've read it probably know the one I'm talking about, and I don't want to ruin it for anybody else.
Even in free-fall, Stalniovolk's mustache is *perfect*. That's a superpower.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave, good to be back. I don't know much about Suicide Squads, but did you see Invincible #44? You've been telling Kirkman about Boob War, haven't you?
ReplyDeleteHaha!! My obtuseness caused an edit! Victory.
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I hate to be that guy, but din't Mythbusters prove this wrong vis-a-vis Point Break/Patrick Swayze/Keanu Reeves/talking in mid-air, etc? :D
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