Nuclear Cowboys

Nuclear Cowboys is a 1979 dark comedy film about a crew of a V-15 Retaliator going rogue and flying towards the United States to drop a nuclear warhead over Los Angeles, the film satirizes the absurdity of nationalism and the Cold War along with the rocky tensions between the Vlokozu Union and the United States at the time.

Plot
Following several fictional events based off of real ones, the patriotic and delusional crew of a nuclear armed V-15 Retaliator, called the Lucky Lady, decide to divert their course and fly towards Los Angeles to nuke it, the US president and the Prime Minister of the Vlokozu Union argue over who is to blame meanwhile the crew of the bomber face attacks from fighter jets, SAMs, and even a US destroyer, however, the crew continues stoically, by the time they reach Los Angeles, the bomber is on its last legs, just before the Lucky Lady is shot down, the crew drop the nuclear bomb which plummets into a park, although it did not explode on impact, while a bomb disposal crew member is investigating, he accidently trips onto it, detonating it and nuking Los Angeles, the movie ends with the view of the explosion from the sky

Cast

 * Elliot Cad as Commander Fern Fiddler, the V-15 bomber's commander and pilot
 * Edd Benton as President of the United States Howard Miller
 * Harrison Ford as Prime Minister of the Vlokozu Union Mica Vlokozu (parody of Michael Vlokozu)
 * Vance Ferris as Norman Key, the V-15 bomber's bombardier
 * Goro Yukimura as Bradley Fujimoto, the V-15 bomber's copilot

Production
The movie's plot was inspired by according to Vincent Carter, the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove, the rising political tensions between the Vlokozu Union and the United States, and a wave of nationalism across both countries, he said in an interview that he wanted to point out the absurdity of the situation, so with his close friend and writer Nellis Segerman (who would also play the V-15's copilot in the film) they wrote the screenplay, the casting was fairly straightforward however for some like Segerman and Vance Ferris this was the first movie they acted in, the studio commissioned for the film a five foot by three foot scaled model of a V-15 Retaliator which was placed in front of a green screen showing a flight over the Pacific Ocean captured by a modified Twin Otter, the nuclear explosion at the end of the film was an aerial video of the Buster Jangle Dog nuclear test composited over an aerial video of Los Angeles.

Release and Reception
The film was released on November 18, 1979, it was distributed by Universal Studios however wasn't marketed much, despite this, the film was a huge success specifically in the United States due to its themes about the Cold War, the film grossed about 9.2 million US dollars during its initial theatrical run and would later add up to 10 million thanks to the home video release sales, the film was well received by audiences with many praising it's writing and acting.