History Main / EveryHelicopterIsAHuey

Characters in action films are particularly prone to stumbling across them fuelled up, ready to fly and very often fully-armed. This is pretty unlikely now never mind TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, but even there [[AnachronismStew everyone will be flying Hueys]]. In action movies it's likely one of the cast will also [[SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat know how to pilot one]], however unlikely it is they'd have had any chance to learn how. In the few cases that the characters are ''not'' travelling in a Huey it's possible it'll still [[DidNotDoTheResearch sound like they are]], which is rather like suggesting every prop plane sounds like a Cessna. Perhaps because the UH-1 is so ubiquitous that [[TheCoconutEffect it's just how helicopters are expected to sound]].

* While actual Huey's would be rather out of place in {{Film/Avatar}}, the Scorpion VTOL [[FutureCopter]] used extensively by the humans is remarkedly similar, right down to the choice between a missile-carrying gunship configuration or a troop transport configuration with M60 [[{{Expy}} Expies]] to be fired by the passengers.

* While actual Huey's would be rather out of place in {{Film/Avatar}}, the Scorpion VTOL used extensively by the humans is remarkedly similar, right down to the choice between a missile-carrying gunship configuration or a troop transport configuration with M60 [[{{Expy}} Expies]] to be fired by the passengers.

* In the second ''TheFastAndTheFurious'' movie, a Huey is seen flying low overhead in one of the shots for no reason at all.
* The helicopter in ''TheMatrix'' is a Bell 212, a Huey variant known in the military as a UH-1N Twin Huey.

* The ill-fated rescue chopper in ''{{Cliffhanger}}'' is a Huey.
* The second ''UnderSiege'' movie has a train being hijacked by terrorists in a matched pair of Hueys, one of which apparently vanishes into thin air sometime before the climax. This appears to happen more because it'd be a [[RuleOfCool really cool way to hijack a train]] than because it makes ''any logistical sense at all''.

* In ''SupermanII'', a TV news channel shows Zod and his allies being attacked by an entire ''squadron'' of them, in what's clearly a piece of recycled Vietnam-era StockFootage.

* In the original ''{{Predator}}'' movie, Dutch and his team are flown into the jungle in Hueys. The actual [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic Vietnam allegory]] comes later.
* Despite being set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture ''{{Terminator}}: Salvation'' features several combat-ready Hueys, or possibly the same one showing up and getting shot down over and over again.

* The Huey was the helicopter of choice for [[JamesBond Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] in ''DiamondsAreForever'': he has two of them on the oil rig he's using as a base.
* In ''[[StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]'', it's revealed that even in the 23rd Century people will know how to fly Hueys when Sulu uses one to deliver plexiglas.
* Hueys appear repeatedly in ''ConAir'', despite the [[TheNineties late-90s]] setting. While the prisoners are boarding the plane, there are Hueys hovering over the airfield, and once the plane is hijacked a group of National Guardsmen chase after it in a Huey escorted by two smaller gunships.
* ''IndependenceDay'' is generally pretty good as regards appropriate use of aircraft - not that this stops two Hueys from appearing to escort the doomed S-64 Skycrane '[[IComeInPeace Welcome Wagon]]'. They explode moments later when the aliens open fire, seemingly having shown up simply so they could be blown up.

This trope is becoming less common as time goes on. More recent films tend to rely more on the Aérospatiale [=AS350=] Squirrel (or its two-engine counterpart, the [=AS355=] Twin Squirrel) as their go-to helicopter of choice. Its sleek look, especially when depicted in black, seems to lend itself to the slicker attitude of more modern action films. Examples include ''[[DieHard Live Free or Die Hard]]'' (which does feature some Hueys but primarily uses Squirrels), three out of the four live-action ''ResidentEvil'' movies (''Apocalypse'', ''Extinction'' and ''Afterlife'') and ''{{Shooter}}''.

* A Huey features prominently in the opening sequence of ''Film/TheATeam'' - possibly justified despite the modern-day setting as a CallBack to the [[Series/TheATeam original TV show]], where the BadassCrew are Vietnam veterans.
** Also justified by the fact that it's clearly been sold off as surplus and refitted as an air ambulance.

* In ''{{UnderworldEvolution'', even helicopters that ''aren't'' Hueys turn out to embody this trope. A modified SA 360 Dauphin, a noticeably smaller make and model of helicopter, is used in long-shots - though nobody appears to have told the Foley editors as the ship [[TheCoconutEffect sounds like]] a Huey throughout - but when it lands and TheSquad pile out of the back, they're [[TheyJustDidntCare very obviously getting out of a Huey]].

* In the second ''{{Underworld}}'' movie, even helicopters that ''aren't'' Hueys turn out to embody this trope. A modified SA 360 Dauphin, a noticeably smaller make and model of helicopter, is used in long-shots - though nobody appears to have told the Foley editors as the ship [[TheCoconutEffect sounds like]] a Huey throughout - but when it lands and TheSquad pile out of the back, they're [[TheyJustDidntCare very obviously getting out of a Huey]].

Every time the heroes in an action movie or TV show have to go somewhere by helicopter, chances are they'll be doing it in a member of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Huey_family Bell Huey]] family. This is justified in [[TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] movies: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Huey1.jpg UH-1D Iroquois]] is a symbol of US involvement in Vietnam, with over 7,000 of them seeing service. As one of the few helicopters able to carry more than 1-3 passengers, it's a natural choice for TheSquad - it's hard to roll out after a LockAndLoadMontage in an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD_Helicopters_MD_500 MD-500]] which only fits two actors. Their looks also help convey a [[RuleOfCool tough, militaristic feel]] and suggest a military movie in the way a less easily-recognizable helicopter might not. In a gunship situation, expect two heavily-armed attack choppers flown by nameless pilots in formation with a Huey carrying a named character.

* The ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movie franchise absolutely ''loves'' Hueys:
** In the third movie, Ethan and his team escape in a Huey after rescuing a colleague who's been captured and interrogated. Given [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys how amazingly well-equipped]] the IMF are in every other direction, it seems odd they don't have any more up-to-date aircraft to hand.

* In CombatHospital, the primary MEDEVAC helicopter for the Kandahar Airfield Role 3 is some kind of Huey. While the Canadian Forces continue to use Twin Hueys, at least one pilot for the helo is American, and the characters most commonly using on the helo are US Air Force Pararescuemen, who would not be using Hueys.

* ''IndependenceDay'' is generally pretty good as regards appropriate use of aircraft - not that this stops a Huey from appearing to escort the doomed S-64 Skycrane '[[IComeInPeace Welcome Wagon]]'. It explodes moments later when the aliens open fire, seemingly having shown up simply so it could be blown up.

* In ''Film/ShortCircuit'' nn officer refers to the helicopters as "choppers," but is told by a subordinate, "[[InsistentTerminology We call them hueys now]]." The superior officer is annoyed that he wasn't notified earlier of the nickname update.

This trope is becoming less common as time goes on. More recent films tend to rely more on the Aérospatiale AS350 Squirrel (or its two-engine counterpart, the AS355 Twin Squirrel) as their go-to helicopter of choice. Its sleek look, especially when depicted in black, seems to lend itself to the slicker attitude of more modern action films. Examples include ''[[DieHard Live Free or Die Hard]]'' (which does feature some Hueys but primarily uses Squirrels), three out of the four live-action ''ResidentEvil'' movies (''Apocalypse'', ''Extinction'' and ''Afterlife'') and ''{{Shooter}}''.

* The second ''{{Rambo}}'' movie features at least one Huey.

* ''Film/ShortCircuit'' eventually sees the [[spoiler:decoy Number Five]] chased down and destroyed by a rocket-firing Huey gunship. An officer refers to the helicopters as "choppers," but is told by a subordinate, "[[InsistentTerminology We call them hueys now]]." The superior officer is annoyed that he wasn't notified earlier of the nickname update.

** In the original film, a villain attempts to use a Huey as a HelicopterBlender while chasing a speeding TGV through the Channel Tunnel. It's probably not a good idea to try this in ''any'' kind of helicopter, still less one as large as the UH-1.

* In ''{{Swordfish}}'', Gabriel [[CrazyPrepared inexplicably happens to have a Huey to hand]] and tries to use it to escape in. Stan blows it up with a heat seeking missile [[spoiler:that Travolta's character also left lying about the place as part of his game of XanatosRoulette]].

* ''ShortCircuit'' eventually sees the [[spoiler:decoy Number Five]] chased down and destroyed by a rocket-firing Huey gunship. An officer refers to the helicopters as "choppers," but is told by a subordinate, "[[InsistentTerminology We call them hueys now]]." The superior officer is annoyed that he wasn't notified earlier of the nickname update.

Characters in action films are particularly prone to stumbling across them fuelled up, ready to fly and very often fully-armed. This is pretty unlikely now never mind TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, but even there [[AnachronismStew everyone will be flying Hueys]]. In action movies it's likely one of the cast will also [[IKnowKungFu know how to pilot one]], however unlikely it is they'd have had any chance to learn how. In the few cases that the characters are ''not'' travelling in a Huey it's possible it'll still [[DidNotDoTheResearch sound like they are]], which is rather like suggesting every prop plane sounds like a Cessna. Perhaps because the UH-1 is so ubiquitous that [[TheCoconutEffect it's just how helicopters are expected to sound]].