Man! "Ace Combat 5" still remains as the best out of the franchise what with the deeply driven storyline about 4 pilots of Sand Island (including the faceless and nameless "Blaze") fighting a war that wasn't meant to be, to include an icing of flying air combat action that is very reminiscent of movies like "Top Gun," "Behind Enemy Lines," and "Iron Eagle" and animes like "Area 88," "Macross," and "Battle Fairy Yukikaze" on top of the cake. But wait!!! What if the game was turned into a miniseries. Who would make the series soar beyond the skies at a Mach 2+ speed? Well, here it is, ladies and gents: my Ace Combat 5 Cast Call.
1. Joel Edgerton as Major John "Jack"/"Heartbreak One" Bartlett, Osean Air Defense Force
Joel is best known as the younger Owen Lars in Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3 and, recently, as Brandon Conlon, the certified ass-kicking physics teacher in MMA drama "Warrior," but what drove me to cast him as Bartlett is his other popular roles as helicopter pilot Sam Carter in "The Thing" and as a Navy SEAL team leader in "Zero Dark Thirty," given that he can pull off a genuine role that puts him in a headstrong leadership position, specifically a jet squadron commander.
NOTE: Realistically, commissioned aviation officers with the rank of either Major (Air Force/Marine Corps) or Lieutenant Commander (Navy/Coast Guard) can command a squadron on a case-by-case basis. In the game, since "Heartbreak One" was an Iron Bar officer who never got past the rank of an Air Force captain, he would never be qualified to lead an entire flying unit...maybe just a section (or flight), but that's about it. That's why I'm modifying the ranks of some characters as well as for other factors like age and possible service experience/s.
2. Kristin Kreuk as Captain Kei "Edge" Nagase, OADF
For those who are probably wondering, "Who is Kristin Kreuk?," let me enlighten you for a bit: she was Lana Lang in "Smallville," and, shockingly, **DRUMROLL** sexiest fighting game babe Chun Li Zhang in the 2010 Street Fighter movie "The Legend of Chun Li." Funny, as anyone can recall that Chun Li was an Interpol detective, NOT some young pianist. Anyhoo, I'm sorry if I'm going off-topic here.
3. Chris Evans as Captain Alvin "Chopper" Davenport, OADF
Chris Evans is one of the hottest young actors out there (guys, no homo, but ladies, can I get any of you to agree with me?). Having starred in movies like "Not Another Teen Movie" and "The Losers," Chris also rose to prominence as Johnny Storm in "Fantastic Four" and, better yet, Captain America, which drove me to cast him as Chopper, who I can envision being a gung-ho patriotic Osean fighter pilot dedicated to fighting in order to protect the nation, though he cannot stop the impulse of flapping his mouth like a duck all over the place.
4. Josh Hutcherson as Airman 1st Class Hans "Archer" Grimm, OADF
Josh is an up-and-coming actor who has starred in movies like "Zathura," "Journey to the Center of the Earth," and, most recently, the 2012 remake of "Red Dawn," which is probably one of his more famous films so far. Given that he has quite the babyface, Josh can pull off the role of a young intelligible Air Force airman/mechanic who becomes a flyboy later.
5. Ed Norton as Albert Genette, Oured Times reporter
Ed, as you may already know, was probably mostly known as "Bob," the delusional protagonist of "Fight Club," in which he confronts his alter ego Tyler (played by Brad Pitt), and other films as "American History X" and "The Incredible Hulk." Given that Albert is most likely based on Ed, there is no other choice for the role of the venturing combat journalist who as an itch for thrill, action, and excitement.
6. Kevin Dunn as Peter "Pops" Beagle/Wolfgang "Huckebein the Raven" Buchner/"The Colonel"
Kevin is mostly known as Ron Witwicky, Shia LaBeouf's dad in all 3 "Transformers" movies and Principal Zito in "Warrior," but what got me to cast him as "Pops," the mentor for the pilots of the "War Dogs" squadron, is his role as Lieutenant Commander Block in "Hot Shots," a 1991 movie that parodied "Top Gun."
7. Tom Hardy as Major Allen "Scorpion" Hamilton, OADF
Tom Hardy has recently starred as the towering muscular menace Bane in Christopher Nolan's final Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," but Tom's other works that prompted me to add him to the Ace Combat 5 cast list is his experience in military-themed movies in "Band of Brothers," "Black Hawk Down," and (my most favorite movie of him) "Warrior," in which he appeared alongside Joel Edgerton and Kevin Dunn as Tommy Riordan, a Marine infantry sergeant going AWOL to enter the Spartan MMA Fighting Tournament and reconcile with his dark past. A true actor with class, Mr. Hardy is the best pick as the intimidating adjutant commander of the Sand Island Air Base notoriously known for being a member of the "Gray Men," a group of renegade Belkan Air Force pilots who seek to start another Belkan War.
8. John Goodman as Colonel Orson "Boss" Perrault, OADF
Honestly, I couldn't think of anything to pick as the overweight commander of Sand Island air base other than John Goodman, mostly known as Fred Flintstone in 2 live-action "Flintstones" movies, Sully in "Monsters, Inc.," and Pops Racer in the live-action rendition of "Speed Racer."
9. Denzel Washington as Captain Marcus "Swordsman"/"CAG" Snow, Osean Naval Air Force
Having made an appearance in his recent movie "Flight" as Whip Whitaker, an airline pilot who saves his plane from crashing but has to put up with mind-boggling investigations, Denzel might be able to pull off a tough-as-nails carrier air group commander who eventually becomes one of the Four Wings of Sand Island. Denzel is also known for his roles as a Navy officer/psychiatrist in "Antoine Fisher" and an Army JAG officer in "Courage Under Fire."
10. Harrison Ford as President Vincent Harling, United Federation of Osea
Harrison is one of the only few actors ever put in a role of the Commander in Chief (alongside Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln, Martin Sheen - JFK, etc.) even though his is fictional in "Air Force One." Nevertheless, Harrison's role as President Marshall was heralded as the badass hero who saves everyone on his plane from the hands of Soviet terrorists who took over it, which prompted me to make him my pick as Vincent Harling, the Osean president who was captured by the 8492nd "Grabacr" squadron and was later rescued by the Razgriz.
11. Liam Neeson as Captain Nicholas "Skipper" Andersen, Osean Navy
Liam Neeson is mostly known as Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn in "Star Wars - Episode I: the Phantom Menace," Ra's al Ghul in Christopher Nolan's Batman film series, and Bryan Mills in "Taken," but what caught my mind was his role of Admiral Shane in "Battleship," which would make him suitable as Captain Andersen, the commander of the Osean aircraft carrier Kestrel who led his fleet in numerous combats at sea.
12. Demi Moore as Major Nastasiya Obertas, Socialist Republic of Yuktobania Marines
Demi has had experience appearing in military movies, the most popular of her roles being Navy intelligence officer/SEAL female "recruit" Lieutenant Jordan O' Neil in "G.I. Jane" and Navy JAG officer LCDR JoAnne Galloway in "A Few Good Men." No further statement.
13. Tim Curry as Prime Minister Seryozha V. Nikanor, Socialist Republic of Yuktobania
Tim has recently appeared in "Red Alert 3" as the character of Soviet Army Colonel/Premier Anatoly Cherdenko, in which he flawlessly spoke with a Russian accent and carried a stoic yet maniacal and intimidating demeanor, though these would be opposite of his proposed role as the Yuktobanian prime minister in Ace Combat 5.
POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL CASTS (NOT SHOWN):
14. Tom Cruise as Captain James "Maverick" Weeker (Osean Navy), Executive Officer of the Osean aircraft carrier Kestrel
It wouldn't hurt to have Tom Cruise in a cameo role as the second in command of the Kestrel aircraft carrier, having appeared in what now would be his most popular movie "Top Gun," which inspired the Ace Combat video games.
15. Damian Lewis as Colonel Ashley "Wizard 1" Bernitz, Belkan Air Force
Damian is currently starring in "Homefront" as Marine sergeant/Congress nominee Nicholas Brody, but based on his role in "Stormbreaker" as the Russian agent who assassinated Ewan McGregor's character, I think he would do great in another villainous role. Damian was also popular as Major Richard Winters in "Band of Brothers."
16. Dale Dye as General Dwight Howell, Osean Army
Retired Marine officer Dale Dye is obviously a man of unwavering honor having served in the Corps for several years and technical advisor for numerous military movies including "Saving Private Ryan," in which he also appeared as an army colonel. There is no doubt he would make a great forward-deployed force commander in Ace Combat 5.
There you have it, folks. Please feel free to contribute more suggestions if you want to. Thank you for reading. Until next time.