favourite aviation film?
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Ah, Murphy's War, just ordered it on DVD!
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The Right Stuff (..... fairly conventional so far)
The Hunters
The Bridges of Tokori (...... surprised no one has mentioned these yet)
Fly Away Home (...... not mentioned so far, a superbly crafted movie that is particularly suited for family viewing. My daughter loves it.)
pb
The Hunters
The Bridges of Tokori (...... surprised no one has mentioned these yet)
Fly Away Home (...... not mentioned so far, a superbly crafted movie that is particularly suited for family viewing. My daughter loves it.)
pb
Always
Memphis Belle (1943 original)
and an honourable mention to The Aviator, not bad for current Hollywood.
Shan't start on the awful ones
I once got into a brief chance conversation in a restaurant in Los Angeles with Holly Hunter ("Always" star) some years after the film. Apparently Hollywood gets really fed up with those like us who look at the "props" (the film accessories sort, not the Hamilton Standard sort !) rather than the acting. I was trying to explain that it was the aircraft* that were the real stars of Always. Bad plan, an interesting discussion went downhill and was soon terminated after that !
* : "Always" aircraft -
Catalina
B25
C119 Flying Boxcar
Memphis Belle (1943 original)
and an honourable mention to The Aviator, not bad for current Hollywood.
Shan't start on the awful ones
I once got into a brief chance conversation in a restaurant in Los Angeles with Holly Hunter ("Always" star) some years after the film. Apparently Hollywood gets really fed up with those like us who look at the "props" (the film accessories sort, not the Hamilton Standard sort !) rather than the acting. I was trying to explain that it was the aircraft* that were the real stars of Always. Bad plan, an interesting discussion went downhill and was soon terminated after that !
* : "Always" aircraft -
Catalina
B25
C119 Flying Boxcar
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Hot Shots, practically fell out of my seat at the opening scenes in that first time round.
Personal favourites have to include The First of the Few and of course Dambusters, 633 Squadron and any other classics I may have missed.
Personal favourites have to include The First of the Few and of course Dambusters, 633 Squadron and any other classics I may have missed.
Top Gun - American Tosh though good sound track.
Battle of Britain - Too many 'stars' but any film with Miss York in stockings and suspenders has to be good.
Dambusters - Classic 1950's stuff - very good for its time and all the better for being in black and white.
633 Squadron - Dated and cliched but a good yarn with Goodwin soundtrack.
The Right Stuff - very good attempt to recreate the Mercury programme on film.
Memphis Belle - 1940's original very good documentary - 1980's movie version crap.
Angels One Five - awful special effects but a certain charm.
Bridges at Toko-Ri - underestimated Korean War effort even with Mickey Rooney.
Appointment in London - Overshadowed by Dambusters but a good film for a sunday afternoon.
I read somewhere that David Frost wanted to remake the Dambusters - please, please let this not be the case. Some things are better left alone and this film is one of them. Any attempt to create this story with no doubt its politically correct undertones would be a travesty not only to the original film but also to the events depicted and the personnel involved in the attack upon the dams in 1943.
Battle of Britain - Too many 'stars' but any film with Miss York in stockings and suspenders has to be good.
Dambusters - Classic 1950's stuff - very good for its time and all the better for being in black and white.
633 Squadron - Dated and cliched but a good yarn with Goodwin soundtrack.
The Right Stuff - very good attempt to recreate the Mercury programme on film.
Memphis Belle - 1940's original very good documentary - 1980's movie version crap.
Angels One Five - awful special effects but a certain charm.
Bridges at Toko-Ri - underestimated Korean War effort even with Mickey Rooney.
Appointment in London - Overshadowed by Dambusters but a good film for a sunday afternoon.
I read somewhere that David Frost wanted to remake the Dambusters - please, please let this not be the case. Some things are better left alone and this film is one of them. Any attempt to create this story with no doubt its politically correct undertones would be a travesty not only to the original film but also to the events depicted and the personnel involved in the attack upon the dams in 1943.
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Nobody's mentioned the nice little Czech movie Dark Blue World. For shame!
Some personal faves (in no particular order)
Dark Blue World
Battle of Britain
Hell's Angels
Aces High
Wings (silent 1927 movie)
Memphis Belle
Got loads more, but can't think of them all!
Some personal faves (in no particular order)
Dark Blue World
Battle of Britain
Hell's Angels
Aces High
Wings (silent 1927 movie)
Memphis Belle
Got loads more, but can't think of them all!
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
The Blue Max....
One of the stunt pilots used in the film was Derek Piggott. Piggott was the only pilot to agree to fly the stunt at the climax of the film in which the two rivals challenge each other to fly beneath the spans of a bridge.
Taking the role of both German pilots and with multiple takes from contrasting camera angles, he ended up flying through the wide span of the bridge, in Fermoy Co. Cork Ireland, 15 times and through the narrower span 17 times. The Fokker Dr.I triplane replica had four feet of clearance on each side when passing through the narrow span.........
One of the stunt pilots used in the film was Derek Piggott. Piggott was the only pilot to agree to fly the stunt at the climax of the film in which the two rivals challenge each other to fly beneath the spans of a bridge.
Taking the role of both German pilots and with multiple takes from contrasting camera angles, he ended up flying through the wide span of the bridge, in Fermoy Co. Cork Ireland, 15 times and through the narrower span 17 times. The Fokker Dr.I triplane replica had four feet of clearance on each side when passing through the narrow span.........
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cut & Paste from Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Stunt flying
One of the stunt pilots used in the film was Derek Piggott. Several pilots helped recreate the live dog-fights scenes for the film, but Piggott was the only pilot to agree to fly the stunt at the climax of the film in which the two rivals challenge each other to fly beneath the spans of a bridge. Taking the role of both German pilots and with multiple takes from contrasting camera angles, he ended up flying through the wide span of this bridge in Fermoy Co. Cork Ireland 15 times and 17 times through the narrower span. The two Fokker Dr.I triplane replicas had about four feet of clearance on each side when passing through the narrower span. The director had placed a flock of sheep next to the bridge so that they would scatter as the plane approached in order to demonstrate that the stunt was real and had not used models. However, by later takes, the sheep had become accustomed to the planes and continued to graze, creating a continuity error which can be seen in the finished film. The sheep had to be scared by the shepherd instead. He was able to fly through the arch reliably by aligning two scaffolding poles, one in the river and one on the far bank.
I personally like "Man in Sky" about David Perrin who was a personal Inspiration to me, and Wind in the Wires.
Stunt flying
One of the stunt pilots used in the film was Derek Piggott. Several pilots helped recreate the live dog-fights scenes for the film, but Piggott was the only pilot to agree to fly the stunt at the climax of the film in which the two rivals challenge each other to fly beneath the spans of a bridge. Taking the role of both German pilots and with multiple takes from contrasting camera angles, he ended up flying through the wide span of this bridge in Fermoy Co. Cork Ireland 15 times and 17 times through the narrower span. The two Fokker Dr.I triplane replicas had about four feet of clearance on each side when passing through the narrower span. The director had placed a flock of sheep next to the bridge so that they would scatter as the plane approached in order to demonstrate that the stunt was real and had not used models. However, by later takes, the sheep had become accustomed to the planes and continued to graze, creating a continuity error which can be seen in the finished film. The sheep had to be scared by the shepherd instead. He was able to fly through the arch reliably by aligning two scaffolding poles, one in the river and one on the far bank.
I personally like "Man in Sky" about David Perrin who was a personal Inspiration to me, and Wind in the Wires.
Hanover Street.
1.Lots of real footage of B-25'(There's a great documentary about flying them across the Atlantic.)
2. Harrison Ford (always good as a pilot)
3. Lesley Anne Down (yes please)
1.Lots of real footage of B-25'(There's a great documentary about flying them across the Atlantic.)
2. Harrison Ford (always good as a pilot)
3. Lesley Anne Down (yes please)
It seems to me that the more modern films are high on special effects but low on authenticity and character substance. I watched the remake of Flight of the Phoenix the other day and was very disappointed. Full of posturing one-dimensional stereotypes and the ending was right out of an Indiana Jones plot. The gritty original was far superior imo. Likewise with Memphis Belle. But, I suppose they're good entertainment for those who don't know much about aviation. And those who haven't attained middle-aged whinginess too.
:^)
:^)
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tele-movies
For a couple of tele movies-
Peice of Cake, magnificent lot of spitfires and battle scenes
Half a world away, 1930's Mac Robinson Londen -Melbourne air race.
Peice of Cake, magnificent lot of spitfires and battle scenes
Half a world away, 1930's Mac Robinson Londen -Melbourne air race.
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Originally Posted by Mercenary Pilot
Anyone know if there are any (good) aviation movies featuring modern airliners?
No Highway. Based on the Neville Shute novel and starred Jimmy Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Jack Hawkins and Glynis Johns.
Cone of Silence. A competent, "by the book" pilot gets nailed for an A/C design fault. Starred Michael Craig, Bernard Lee, Peter Cushing and George Sanders.