Con Air is a 1997 American action/thriller film by Touchstone Pictures that stars Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. It was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of The Rock, and directed by Simon West (in his feature film directorial debut). The film borrows its title from the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, an airline used by the federal government to transport criminals across the United States.

The film featured the 1997 hit single "How Do I Live", originally performed by LeAnn Rimes and performed for the film by Trisha Yearwood. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Song and Sound, losing to Titanic in both categories.

Plot

Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage), an honorably discharged United States Army Ranger, is found guilty of manslaughter for killing a drunken man in a bar brawl while trying to defend his pregnant wife Tricia (Monica Potter) and sentenced to seven to ten years. During his time in prison, he communicates with his wife and daughter while taking time to better himself. He is released on parole eight years later and is scheduled to be flown back to Alabama on the same day as his daughter Casey's (Landry Allbright) seventh birthday. Poe is arranged transport on the "Jailbird", a C-123 airplane, along with a fellow prisoner Mike "Baby-O" O'Dell (Mykelti Williamson) and several other prisoners destined for a new Supermax prison, including William "Billy Bedlam" Bedford (Nick Chinlund), Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones (Ving Rhames), and Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom (John Malkovich). The transfer is overseen by U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin (John Cusack); however, he is approached by Drug Enforcement Administration agent Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney), who asks to put undercover agent Willie Sims (Jose Zuniga) on board the plane in order to gain intelligence from one of the prisoners during flight. Larkin acquiesces but insists the agent go aboard unarmed, but Malloy is able to sneak Sims a gun during the boarding pat-down.