Best & Worst Mil Aviation Film and Why
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No film could be any worse than "Blue Tornado"
See trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qg-amWp5x8
See trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qg-amWp5x8
Sadly, I'm not aware of anyone filming 607, which is why I'm trailing the idea...
Pity they'd have to do it all in the studio; unless XH558 is ready. Still no Victors though.
Pity they'd have to do it all in the studio; unless XH558 is ready. Still no Victors though.
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One is always slightly worried about giving the French credit for anything..............however:
The best modern day flying sequences I have ever seen in a released film were in Les Chevaliers du Ciel (English title Skyfighters, literal translation The Knights of the sky).
Crappy plot in which a Mirage is stolen from the Farnborough Air Show. However, the flying sequences are spectacular, truly. Apparantly, the standard safety rules applied, but eventually the minimum allowed altitude was reduced to 3 m (10 ft) and the minimum distance between aircraft was reduced to 1 m (3 ft). The filming of these flight sequences seen in the movie were mainly done from the air, as opposed to Top Gun where most of the filming was done from the ground.
Not sure if it was released in the UK but the French trailer is here:
http://www.leschevaliers-lefilm.com/jeux/bahd.swf
The official website:
http://www.leschevaliers-lefilm.com/site/intro.html
The best modern day flying sequences I have ever seen in a released film were in Les Chevaliers du Ciel (English title Skyfighters, literal translation The Knights of the sky).
Crappy plot in which a Mirage is stolen from the Farnborough Air Show. However, the flying sequences are spectacular, truly. Apparantly, the standard safety rules applied, but eventually the minimum allowed altitude was reduced to 3 m (10 ft) and the minimum distance between aircraft was reduced to 1 m (3 ft). The filming of these flight sequences seen in the movie were mainly done from the air, as opposed to Top Gun where most of the filming was done from the ground.
Not sure if it was released in the UK but the French trailer is here:
http://www.leschevaliers-lefilm.com/jeux/bahd.swf
The official website:
http://www.leschevaliers-lefilm.com/site/intro.html
Th two pairs of jets were an add-on for the B36. This was so that it would achieve a certain speed and alltitude over the target. Six recips were more than enough to get it airborne and in the cruise it was common to shut down a couple of engines. The jet pods came straight off the B47 and had iris shutters to block off the intakes when not being used.
That's what a USAF major told me in the early 60s walking round the one they had at Offut.
It was fully serviceable and had a war target. One of the conditions General Le May had set for it's preservation.
"There are no free lunches in SAC."
That's what a USAF major told me in the early 60s walking round the one they had at Offut.
It was fully serviceable and had a war target. One of the conditions General Le May had set for it's preservation.
"There are no free lunches in SAC."
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607 film
Well a certain Jeremey C. would speak up & do his bit I think - he's proven to fight for the right ( I don't mean politics ) before, i.e. the 'Help For Heroes' campaign and endorsed the 607 book, so may be able to at least point people in the right direction.
Bags a cameo role as ' idiot in bar' - I knew some of the true 'boffins' involved but have been unable to contact them - where are you Mel Q ?!
Bags a cameo role as ' idiot in bar' - I knew some of the true 'boffins' involved but have been unable to contact them - where are you Mel Q ?!
I remember being taken to the cinema to see a film called "The Net", way back in the mid-1950s. It was, I think (but it's a long time ago), an espionage movie about the development of a new secret bomber and information being passed to a foreign state. Its main star, as far as I was concerned, was the prototype (or an early production) Victor and there was a fair amount of flying involved, especially at high altitude for which the crew apparently wore goldfish bowls as helmets. All in black and white, but with a silver Victor and big white clouds there were some good flying sequences.
The denouement involved the deputy test pilot being unmasked as the spy whilst airborne on a test flight. He produced a gun and tried to force the Chief Test Pilot to fly the aircraft to said foreign state. In the ensuing fight he dropped the gun and the CTP pitched the aircraft so that the gun slid back along the cockpit floor. Whilst trying to retrieve it the villain pulled the air supply tube off his helmet and conveniently suffocated.
Anyone else remember it?.........no, I'm not surprised!
Isn't it amazing how trivia sticks in your mind to the detriment of everything else. If I could have remembered what my university lecturers said half as well as I remembered that film, I'd have got a better degree.
GG
The denouement involved the deputy test pilot being unmasked as the spy whilst airborne on a test flight. He produced a gun and tried to force the Chief Test Pilot to fly the aircraft to said foreign state. In the ensuing fight he dropped the gun and the CTP pitched the aircraft so that the gun slid back along the cockpit floor. Whilst trying to retrieve it the villain pulled the air supply tube off his helmet and conveniently suffocated.
Anyone else remember it?.........no, I'm not surprised!
Isn't it amazing how trivia sticks in your mind to the detriment of everything else. If I could have remembered what my university lecturers said half as well as I remembered that film, I'd have got a better degree.
GG
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Les Chevaliers du Ciel
Nice clip.
Sexy women, and some good aerial footage.
Looks like a cross between Iron Eagle & Top Gun.
Cheese potential is high, very high, after all it's a French production.
Sexy women, and some good aerial footage.
Looks like a cross between Iron Eagle & Top Gun.
Cheese potential is high, very high, after all it's a French production.
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Not the Dam Busters, PLEASE
As an aside to the thread,Scots actor James McAvoy is in talks to star in the new $US100 million ($NZ131 milion) Dam Busters film.
The Scottish actor, who is tipped for an Oscar for his role as Robbie Turner in Atonement, has met director Christian Rivers and producers David Frost and Peter Jackson.
The 28-year-old will play Wing Commander Guy Gibson who led the 617 Squadron dropping three bouncing bombs in Germany during the World War 2.He actually looks a bit like a young Gibson
The film, which may also star Ian McKellen as scientist Barnes Wallis, will be shot in Wellington, using replica Lancaster bombers built in China.The moulds for the Lancaster were made in Weta Workshops in Wellington, and shipped to China where apparently 10 replicas are being made.Some filming will be done at Scampton.
Stephen Fry, who wrote the screenplay, wouldn't confirm James was in the cast, but said: "He would certainly be the kind of person one would naturally think of. Gibson was young and glamorous and fresh-faced. It would be stupid not to look at an actor like James McAvoy."
It's not easy finding out anything going on in Wellington, because security is tight, and Peter Jackson isn't talking!
The Scottish actor, who is tipped for an Oscar for his role as Robbie Turner in Atonement, has met director Christian Rivers and producers David Frost and Peter Jackson.
The 28-year-old will play Wing Commander Guy Gibson who led the 617 Squadron dropping three bouncing bombs in Germany during the World War 2.He actually looks a bit like a young Gibson
The film, which may also star Ian McKellen as scientist Barnes Wallis, will be shot in Wellington, using replica Lancaster bombers built in China.The moulds for the Lancaster were made in Weta Workshops in Wellington, and shipped to China where apparently 10 replicas are being made.Some filming will be done at Scampton.
Stephen Fry, who wrote the screenplay, wouldn't confirm James was in the cast, but said: "He would certainly be the kind of person one would naturally think of. Gibson was young and glamorous and fresh-faced. It would be stupid not to look at an actor like James McAvoy."
It's not easy finding out anything going on in Wellington, because security is tight, and Peter Jackson isn't talking!
Don't let Hollywood loose on the Dam Busters.
By the time they've finished with WW2, the UK wouldn't have been involved at all, save for housing the brave heroes that came from over the pond to save the world from the nazis
In another 20 years or so, they'll end up winning the war in SE Asia too
Bring back Ealing and Elstree
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I think those dials could be rotated so that the needles would all sit at the same angle. Once everything was stable with say one temp slightly high another slightly low etc, once lined up you could see any variation at a glance.
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[Thread drift warning]
The other multi-engined bomber was the B52 with 8 installed an 2 Hound Dog as well. They use the Hound Dogs for take-off. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the Captain discovered that the Co had left the Hound Dogs on full power for almost 6 hours.
Some cockpit checks. You would have thought they might have wondered why they could reduce power on the 8 main engines.
[Thread drift warning OFF]
The other multi-engined bomber was the B52 with 8 installed an 2 Hound Dog as well. They use the Hound Dogs for take-off. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when the Captain discovered that the Co had left the Hound Dogs on full power for almost 6 hours.
Some cockpit checks. You would have thought they might have wondered why they could reduce power on the 8 main engines.
[Thread drift warning OFF]
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Blue Tornado
Was on a weekend in Gioia, in 1990 (when I was on 31 Sqn at Bruggen) with the ever redoubtable W****r "Bongs" W****n. We had a typical GR1 snag and had to hang around for a few hours whilst we waited for some useful "assistance" from the local gingers.
Opposite us on the pan, no more that 100 yards away, was "Faceman" and three real F104 drivers filming a sequence for the very same Blue Tornado. Seemed to Bongs and I that he kept on F
g up the climb up to the cockpit because he tried it about 20+ times! We are actually featured, in said film, taxying out, having finally got the CSAS to wind up to speed.
3P
Opposite us on the pan, no more that 100 yards away, was "Faceman" and three real F104 drivers filming a sequence for the very same Blue Tornado. Seemed to Bongs and I that he kept on F
g up the climb up to the cockpit because he tried it about 20+ times! We are actually featured, in said film, taxying out, having finally got the CSAS to wind up to speed. 3P
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great but seems to have been forgotten:
murphy's war http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067458/
murphy's war http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067458/
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No Hollywood in the Dambusters
"Don't let Hollywood loose on the Dam Busters."
LL - read that piece on "The Dambusters" new version again and tell me where the words "Hollywood", "USA" "American" turn up even once (and do try to keep up, this was announced well over a year ago). The man behind it is Sir David Frost, the script is being written by Stephen Fry and the producer and director are from New Zealand. Filming will be done in NZ and the UK. At least one American and a Canadian or two should be in the cast, of course.
You're going to mention the dog next, aren't you?
My vote for one of the worst films - 'Tactical Assault' with Rutger Hauer flying a MiG-29/F-16/Kfir/L-39, often on the same sortie, having crazy hair and trying to kill everyone.
'The Net' - I saw part of it on TV one afternoon a couple of years back. Given it seemed to have no real aircraft in it, they did a good job with the special effects.
JT
LL - read that piece on "The Dambusters" new version again and tell me where the words "Hollywood", "USA" "American" turn up even once (and do try to keep up, this was announced well over a year ago). The man behind it is Sir David Frost, the script is being written by Stephen Fry and the producer and director are from New Zealand. Filming will be done in NZ and the UK. At least one American and a Canadian or two should be in the cast, of course.
You're going to mention the dog next, aren't you?
My vote for one of the worst films - 'Tactical Assault' with Rutger Hauer flying a MiG-29/F-16/Kfir/L-39, often on the same sortie, having crazy hair and trying to kill everyone.
'The Net' - I saw part of it on TV one afternoon a couple of years back. Given it seemed to have no real aircraft in it, they did a good job with the special effects.
JT
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Have to admit I'm quite a fan of 'Aces High' and 'Mosquito Squadron'. Both great films. When at Dartmouth in flight phase, we used to occupy ourselves by watching 'Top Gun'. Turn it up to full volume to cries of 'Fing WAFUs!!'.
ing WAFUs!!'.
Surely Firefox gets the wooden spoon? Dreadful in all respects!
As for best, Dam Busters and Battle of Britain must be somewhere near the top, with a nod in the direction of 633 Squadron. But does anyone else remember a made-for-TV film called Coded Hostile? Nominally about KAL007 and Cobra Ball, but some fine acting and direction -- not to mention highly atmospheric use of John Eliot Gardner's recording of Mozart's Requiem.
As for best, Dam Busters and Battle of Britain must be somewhere near the top, with a nod in the direction of 633 Squadron. But does anyone else remember a made-for-TV film called Coded Hostile? Nominally about KAL007 and Cobra Ball, but some fine acting and direction -- not to mention highly atmospheric use of John Eliot Gardner's recording of Mozart's Requiem.
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Hopefully there will be two versions, one for general public viewing and a second for those of us that can tell the difference between racism and daft PC attitudes.
What a shame that history has to be re-written to pander to the whiney liberals.
What a shame that history has to be re-written to pander to the whiney liberals.