Air Force the Movie: Danger Close follows nine survivors in a war-torn island nation trying to navigate their way through the conflict and flee from militants while a rescue mission is devised to bring them to safety.
Plot summary
A PASKAU team is tasked with rescuing the humanitarians stuck in the war-torn island nation of Namburi. The team is led by Captain Adib and his mentor, Major Adnan.
The civil war between North Namburi and South Namburi rages on and while there was a ceasefire for some time, it has now ended and one of the deadliest militias there has started wreaking havoc near the base the PASKAU team lift off from.
However, as their plane gains some lift, it’s shot down by the militia members. Nine survivors make it to the ground and covertly make their way to the base. However, it’s treacherous territory and the militia crawls everywhere.
With every mile they cover, they contend with a new peril. Meanwhile, the Malaysian Air Force comes up with a rescue mission for the survivors. Adib’s childhood friend and brother-in-law, pilot Zafran, leads the mission.
While some of their teammates die, the PASKAU soldiers and the civilians are eventually rescued and brought home to safety.
Air Force the Movie: Danger Close ending explained in detail:
Why are Adib and Zaf at odds with each other?
Adib and Zaf grew up together and they have always been best of buddies. They played together and went to school and later join the Air Forces together as well.
However, while Zaf went on to become a pilot, as he had dreamed of, Adib enrolled in the special operations force of the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
This creates a rift between the two, as it rubs Zaf the wrong way. He confronts Adib and asks why he chose to become a commando instead of being a pilot along with him.
Zaf’s sister Hana became the other subject of the tiff between the two when Adib started dating her, but it was mostly a result of Zaf’s frustrations with Adib regarding the aforementioned.
Thereon afterward, they continued to be at odds with each other, with a dynamic not exactly bitter but surely a shaky one, right up until the Namburi mission.
By the end of Air Force the Movie: Danger Close, the two have reconciled and now share the same brotherly bond they once did.
How does Paco die?
From the beginning of Air Force the Movie: Danger Close, Paco acts erratically at times. While Tuai is the hothead, Paco is arguably the most empathetic member of the PASKAU team.
He’s the one who always lends a hand to others and saves them from dire circumstances, especially when it’s someone of a very young age.
This is shown in the part of the film where the PASKAU team moves through a South Namburi settlement.
As all the victims of a country ravaged by a searing civil war crowd around their vehicle, Paco picks up a girl who’s handed over to them by her parents, in the hope to get her to safety.
While Tuai fidgets and rushes to give the girl back to the parents, Paco demands they escort her to safety. Later, Paco breaks off from the formation to run off to a child bound to a tree.
His teammates call on him to stop as the area is rife with explosive mines, but Paco doesn’t care as he runs towards the victim as he steps on a mine, and blows up. While dying, he asks Adnan if Lara is safe and the Major assures him that she is, easing his death even if by a bit.
It’s later revealed that Lara was his daughter’s name, who died some time ago (and was apparently run over by Paco himself). Since her death, Paco sees his daughter in every other young girl, which is why he’s so intent on saving them.
Who makes it alive by the end?
Adib, Tuai, Gaban, Natrah, and Matno are five out of the nine original survivors after the plane crash. Throughout the runtime of Air Force the Movie, the survivors face hell on earth as the warring factions of the island nation of Namburi have nothing but strife and violence to entertain.
By the time the Malaysian Air Force arrives at the rescue of the survivors, three members of the PASKAU team and one civilian died. Out of the PASKAU team, it’s Lejen, Hujan, and Paco while the civilian who falls victim to the enemy gunfire is Trauma Surgeon Susan Livingstone.
Meanwhile, the last surviving members and civilians pay their respect to the ones who passed away at the RMAF burial.
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