I recently viewed my flat print of Blue Thunder with a buddy. It has stunning color and sharpness and the movie was much better than I remembered it. We both felt it really took you into the action and I commented that it would hold up as a good action movie in a theater today. I stumbled upon Tom Photiou's review of his print and it must be the same film stock he has. Tom has called this an AGFA print and a polyester print. It would not play on my Kodak Pageant projector (I have several prints which won't play on this favorite projector). They must be polyester or mylar prints. But the print plays very well on my Kalart/Victor Easy-Load projector. I would like to know more about these polyester or mylar prints if anyone has that knowledge. Why are they low fade and why are they hard to play on some projectors. I have been collecting 16mm prints for many years and never see Blue Thunder offered (I got it in a trade many years ago).

Hi Tony,

I don't have an answer for your question on poly/Mylar prints and the Kodak Pageant, but I am sure someone else here will offer some thoughts.
Blue Thunder is a good one and I think collectors hold on to these titles for many years--which may be one reason why we do not see them for listed for sale much!

Thank you Greg. Yes, after watching it again, I would not be interested in selling or trading it either. It's one of my best, and most recent, 16mm prints. They didn't make many after that.

Hello Tony, Welcome to this excellent forum,
Blue Thunder, as you say, is a very good 80s movie, i will double check the film stock on my own print later and let you know exactly what stock its on. The colours and image are all very good, i would love to have got hold of a scope print as the sequence where the helicopter pops up from below the bridge would look even better.
Hopefully Maurice may be looking in and give his verdict on the polyester and mylar stocks etc. Maurice has great knowledge of our hobby, as do many others on here.
This one is a keeper for me as well. It was the title that got me back into the 16mm side of the hobby along with our scope copy of Kidnapped.

Thanks Tom. I actually discovered this nice forum because of your review of your 16mm print of Blue Thunder. I had googled 16mm print of Blue Thunder, hoping to find film stock information and other details. It just seems so rare in 16mm. I think by the time it came out the 16mm prints were dying out. I still can't believe they once showed 16mm on airplanes, even scope. I never saw one on a plane. I used to book 16mm films for my college in Wisconsin. Then I worked for a tv station that was supposed to dispose of their 16mm library. From that I was able to save about 80 prints and so my collection began. I got into scope because my favorite movie became available in that: Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was in mint shape (probably a college print) but it was faded as most Deluxe color prints are.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a great film.