Aces High

They regularly classify this one as an anti-war film. But if that conjures up bizarre images of pompous idiot superiors, comically psychotic crazies, and pointless bloody troop offensives, that's not what "Aces" is about. There's no attempt to blame either opponent or humiliate anyone, the object being rather to demonstrate that war is never a glorious exercise for its participants. The movie doesn't preach, just shows you how things stood and lets you decide what the essence of war is, thus striking a fair middle ground between glorification and grotesque.Anyhow, details. The film essentially covers a week in the lives of a British Royal Flying Corps squadron ten miles from the western front in WWI France. Day one, replacement fighter pilot Lt. Stephen Crofts/Peter Firth reports to former Eton schoolmate/present commanding officer Maj. John Gresham/Malcolm McDowell, meets the rest of the crew including warm and well-adjusted elder Capt. "Uncle" Sinclair/Christopher Plummer and seriously shaken Lt. Crawford/Simon Ward. Over the next seven days, the new kid learns to fly and fight and hopefully better the average fighter pilot's life expectancy of two weeks (there's a statistic you remember). People die regularly on the daily patrols, manning their astoundingly rickety machines without even a parachute, while you too are sweating who might be next.The story line isn't innovative, but the acting by the four engaging leads and the expertly filmed action in the airborne battle scenes keep things tense and interesting. Not to be missed if you're into WWI in general or the pioneer flying days in particular.

This is a powerful movie with a strong cast. It is about a young squadron leader being slowly ground down by the burden of command in a tough and bitter war. A lot of things go wrong for him including the death one of his closest friends in a reconnaissance mission over the German lines. He also has to cope with the a new young replacement pilot whom he knew at school and whose sister is a romantic interest to him. He is prone to emotional outbursts and excessive drinking while still trying to carry-on as best he can. Moreover one of his pilots is so overwhelmed my PTSD that he can barely function. And of course, the casualties just keep on coming. The movie is somewhat reminiscent of the much earlier film, Dawn Patrol.Also, here is a full-size model depicting a World War One aerial reconnaissance mission.This exhibit is displayed at the Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

This movie even though it was made in the 1970's is a telling story of the lives of WW1 flyers. Or rather what are the odds of surviving. One book I read that was about flyers in WW1 before 1918 when the US became involved gave some interesting statistics. Out of 10,000 flyers the first 4,000 died learning how to fly; the second 4,000 died of accidents after learning to fly, and the last 2,000 actually died in combat. These statistics pretty well say it all. The young men attracted to flying were courages dare devils who gave their lives gallantly. If you like this movie you will like the 1932 WW1 movie "Dawn Patrol" with Errol Flynn in a different kind of role for him. The two movies together give you a feel of what it was really like.

It has taken surprisingly long for this brilliant film to become available on DVD. Based on a play set in the trenches of world war I, the film adaptation shifts the events to an air force unit in the same context to excellent effect. The play's original intention, which was to invite the viewer to reflect insightfully on the moral effect of the "Great War" instead of merely its notorious cost of life, is conveyed as well as one could have hoped for, and I hope for a good deal. The acting is excellent throughout, the narrative and discourse do not strain the viewer's willingness to suspend disbelief, and the flying scenes are superb. I realise that comparison is ever odious, but to my mind competing offerings addressing the same broad context, such as "The Blue Max" and "Flyboys", whatever their popularity, are entirely dwarfed by this film.

I waited for a long time to get this movie on a NTSC DVD and was rather disappointed with the quality of the transfer to DVD. No matter what I did with the setting on my TV I saw a lot of jagged lines on the screen, which ruined an otherwise excellent aviation movie.

I first saw this as a student years ago - and its still a timeless and horrifying reminder of how the remnants of the English aristocracy happily sent to slaughter thousands of English young men in the name of glory and "playing the game". Centres round a new recruit to the Royal Flying Corps in France during WW1, and his naiive idolisation of his flight commander who was his School Captain, is a 'jolly good chap' and is seeing the lads sister.The brutal aerial photography coupled with a sensitive sub plot makes this a great film - well worth watching but not for the squeamish!

Lost one star only because of the video quality. Not awful, just not spectacular. The movie itself is probably a pretty accurate depiction of the (short) life of a WWI replacement fighter pilot. All-Star cast.

The photography was very good and well done. Lots of flying action. The planes are awesome to watch if you're an early aviation fan. However, the special effects were clearly 3rd rate. But all the other positive attributes that made up the production as a whole cancel out the lack of visual believability in the special effects.