The few. The proud. The totally insane.
Air America was the CIA's private airline operating in Laos during the Vietnam War, running anything and everything from soldiers to foodstuffs for local villagers. After losing his pilot's license, Billy Covington is recruited, and ends up in the middle of a bunch of lunatic pilots, gun-running by his friend Gene Ryack, and opium smuggling by his own superiors.
Air America (1990) is a action, adventure, comedy and drama film directed by Roger Spottiswoode, released on August 10, 1990 with a runtime of 1h 52m. It stars Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., Nancy Travis and Ken Jenkins. Viewers rate it 5.8 out of 10 across 678 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for Air America before you stream it.
Official trailers, teasers, clips and featurettes for Air America.
Trailer
Trailer
Teaser
Mel Gibson
as Gene Ryack
Robert Downey Jr.
as Billy Covington
Nancy Travis
as Corinne Landreaux
Ken Jenkins
as Major Donald Lemond
David Marshall Grant
as Rob Diehl
Lane Smith
as Senator Davenport
Art LaFleur
as Jack Neely
Ned Eisenberg
as Pirelli
Marshall Bell
as O.V.
David Bowe
as Saunders
Burt Kwouk
as General Lu Soong
Tim Thomerson
as Babo
Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, written by Christopher Robbins, Richard Rush and John Eskow, produced by Daniel Melnick and Jon Jashni.
Average viewer score of 5.8/10 from 678 ratings.
When "Billy" (Robert Downey Jr.) loses his pilot's licence after a lively misdemeanour, he finds himself working in war-torn Laos with the team at "Air America". This is a CIA-backed operation consisting of a disparate bunch of pilots whose job it is to fly in supplies to local villages. It's there that he meets "Gene" (Mel Gibson) and also where he realises that not only is it pretty dangerous out there, but that…
Reviewed on November 14, 2022
I have a special love for this film, if for no other reason that the bulk of my college experience was spent on the cold war, the alphabet soup of PBSUCCESS, MKULTRA, JMWAVE, PAPERCLIP, COLDFEET, MKOFTEN, The Phoenix Program, ARTICHOKE, and my favorite (just because of how bad it sounds) Midnight Climax. So a comedy about Air America was absolutely priceless. And, given that I am not one of those history nuts that…
Reviewed on January 12, 2023
Entertaining enough action-war movie thanks to the charisma of both Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr. The film also has some solid action scenes and direction, to go along with Roger Deakins's cinematography. From what I read about this, doesn't seem like many had fun making the movie, including Deakins and Downey. Still, I found it enjoyable even if Gibson's character shift didn't felt surface level. **3.0/5**
Reviewed on August 11, 2025
"Air America" is an expertly crafted film with cohesion being the top priority throughout. It perfectly balances some unassuming action sequences with the more realistic aspects of the film to create a fast paced and fascinating motion picture experience which successfully holds your interest principally because it is based upon a true story and like many such stories - especially if it is interested in being…
Reviewed on September 5, 2026
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Air America (1990) is currently available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. No subscription streaming option is listed right now, so availability may change.
The main cast of Air America (1990) includes Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., Nancy Travis, Ken Jenkins and David Marshall Grant. The film was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
Air America was released on August 10, 1990 and runs for 1h 52m.
Air America (1990) holds an average rating of 5.8 out of 10 from 678 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy action, adventure and comedy films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official Air America trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
