Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford is gazing out the window, having a moment.

"Oh ... that's nice" he rumbles, pulling out his specs to get a better look.

The object of his affection is below us on Sydney Harbour. It's a sleek black helicopter which has touched down on a helipad a kilometre or two away, its rotors still spinning.

You have to ask: Is it a bit like your one?

"Yeah, but it's got no horizontal stabilisers. That's an A-Star."

Hey, we're chopper-spotting with Indiana Jones, talkin' horizontal whatsits with Han Solo. For many a guy of a certain generation, this would be pretty darn cool.

Having started taking lessons in his early 50s, Ford flies helicopters and planes. Being of a certain income bracket, he owns a small squadron. Ford - with fiance Calista Flockhart - is in Sydney to promote his latest thriller, Firewall. The previous night they had autographed their way up a red carpet which weaved its way through a Bondi Junction shopping mall to the film's Australian premiere in the multiplex above.

Behind the barricades there were many guys of a certain generation proffering Indiana Jones and Star Wars DVD box sets to be signed - which Ford inscribes with an efficient whisk of the pen and a wry grin.

The next day Ford presents in one of the hotel suites being used for interviews. Unlike many film stars, he's as tall as you imagine he should be. He's certainly more rumpled of face and grayer of hair than the space swashbuckler or the whip-cracking archaeologist of the 80s. But he still looks younger than his 63 years. Or than he does on screen in Firewall, where he gets to ruin yet another suit and tie in yet another fight to save his loved ones/country/all of the above from men with exotic accents.

Once again he's called "Jack" (See also the Tom Clancy thrillers, Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games). Once again he does most of his own stunts and fight scenes. ("I'd rather see into the eyes of a character under that kind of pressure than the back of a stuntman's head.")

Only this time, he's a bank security expert whose family is kidnapped to force him to co-operate in a cyber-robbery. Which sounds modern but isn't.

If the film comes with a creeping sense of deja vu, Ford isn't worried. Thrillers like these - the cinematic equivalent of airport novels and, hey, Ford pretty much owns an airport - allows him to do the very occasional film outside his usual genres.

And, though Firewall has had a sluggish start at the US box office, there will always be an audience who want to see the dependable Ford slugging it out.