Fans flock for glimpse of ‘Con Air’ superstars

Melissa Schorr

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

IN the blue sky above, four helicopters slowly circle the crowd below.

Cue: Ominous soundtrack music.

A dozen men with mock rifles and uniforms reading "DEA" and "U.S. Marshal" leap out of two dark blue vans.

Fade in: The distant wail of a siren.

An ambulance comes into view; the crowd quivers with anticipation.

The ambulance drives on by, false alarm.

Cut.

Let's try that again, shall we?

"Con Air" Las Vegas premiere -- Take Two.

This time, there was no miscue.

The three celebrity-laden Hummers rolled over the red carpet at the Hard Rock hotel-casino Monday night, as Nicolas Cage, star of the film opening Friday, stood and waved to the cheering crowd.

That was all the movie fans could ask for -- and about all they got. After two hours of being crammed into bleacher seats, asked inane trivia questions by radio DJs, and then excluded from seeing the flick, the 500 star-struck rubberneckers had to make do with some prime celebrity spying -- and for some a "Con Air" souvenir T-shirt and cap.

It was a crowd hungry for raw starpower, and the celebs selflessly sacrificed their bodies into the gauntlet.

Although neither of Cage's "Con Air" co-stars John Cusack or John Malkovich attended, plenty of their namesakes did -- from Jon Lovitz to John Stamos.

Colm Meaney, Officer O'Brien on "Star Trek: the Next Generation," who plays a D.E.A. agent in the film, paused when asked if he'd be back in July for the opening of the Star Trek attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton. "If they want us to come, I imagine we all will," he said in his thick Irish brogue.

There was also some local talent who had no need to catch the chartered planes from L.A. -- Penn sans Teller, and comedienne Rita Rudner, in a black spiderweb-like pantsuit and clutching a Prada purse, who stopped to say how pleased she was that the premiere was worked around her busy schedule headlining at the Monte Carlo.

And what would a Nevada movie event be without Gov. Bob Miller stopping by to plug the booming film industry? "Nicolas Cage is an honorary resident at this point," said Miller. "And we're certainly lucky to have him."

Indeed. What with recent films "Leaving Las Vegas," "Honeymoon in Vegas" and now "Con Air," Nicolas Cage has done more to raise the town's visibility than the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

After diligently working the crowd for about an hour, Cage, cleanshaven in a black leather jacket and jeans, and wife Patricia Arquette, in a metallic beaded dress with fishnet stockings and blackened fingernail polish to match, bypassed the rush of proffered autographs and pictures and turned to enter the faux airplane entranceway.

But not before 19-year-old fan Lisa Landino ran up to Cage. "I'm glad you're finally getting the recognition you deserve," she told him. "I've loved him since 'Raising Arizona,'" she said.

While the film was shown only to guests, some advance critics see the film as "'The Rock' in the air" but without wings, dismissing it as just another action flick. On the other hand, there haven't been too many flicks that didn't fly for Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of "The Rock," "Crimson Tide" and "Top Gun."

Directed by Simon West, a director known for his TV commerical and music videos who is making his feature film debut, "Con Air" tells the story of Cameron Poe, played by Cage, a prison parolee, who finds himself aboard a plane used to transport convicts which is hijacked by a group of hardened criminals led by John Malkovich.

The film does offer some temptations to draw the Las Vegas audience: A crash landing right on the Strip, as well as the chance to get a glimpse of the imploded Sands Hotel, pre-destruction, on the large screen. Because of the hotel's inevitable demise, filmmakers convinced the hotel to allow them to film a single-take explosion of the building's facade.

Not missing a thematic trick, Disney minions transformed "The Joint" at the Hard Rock into a hangar/screening room complete with airline seats, complimentary in-flight peanuts, and, just in case the movie was too turbulent for some folks, a Con Air airsickness bag.

After the movie, the guests settled their stomachs on tiramisu and key lime tarts under a hastily constructed tent. A propeller plane hung from above, while neon-lighted table fixtures shaped like Hard Rock guitars buzzed, and computer terminals with the movie's website shone off the screen.

By evening's end, it was time to be ushered on board for a flight back to Hollywood, to prepare for days of reading reviews, chatting up talk show hosts and counting the box office receipts.

But for now, as director West would say, that's a wrap.