Production
The film was based on the creation of a "mythical" super fighter: the MiG-31 Firefox. The original Firefox from the novel was, cosmetically, nearly identical to the MiG-25, of which it was an advanced version. The real Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-31 "Foxhound" is also similar in appearance to the MiG-25 and generally regarded to be derived from it. The more intimidating version seen in the movie was created specifically for the film, and takes many of its design cues from the North American XB-70 Valkyrie. In the sequel novel, Firefox Down!, the Firefox's appearance is described as matching the one in the film. For filming, four large-scale replicas were created (two were capable of flying), along with one full-size model that had dimensions of 66 feet long, 44 feet wide, and 20 feet high. The full-size model was built from a radio station broadcast-antenna skeleton and was capable of taxiing at 30–40 mph.
Filming occurred in Vienna, Austria; Montana; California; London; and Greenland's Thule Air Force Base.
Special effects supervisor John Dykstra pioneered a new technique for shooting the complex flying sequences, called reverse blue-screen photography. This involved coating the model with phosphorus paint and photographing it first with strong lighting against a black background and then with ultraviolet light to create the necessary male and female mattes to separate the foreground model and the background footage. This enabled the shiny black model to be photographed flying against a clear blue sky and gleaming white snow; compare this with traditional bluescreen technique used in The Empire Strikes Back.
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