Consider this movie one of the greats in the realm of WWII films.
Draws you right into some huge decisions that had to be made in the European theater in WWII and the difficulties encountered while forming our own air force.
Well acted too, especially for a 1948 movie. Not to slam acting in old movies, it was often more 'wooden'. Not in this movie though.
There's a discourse among the brass where Walter Pigeon had a large piece of dialog. His delivery was electrifying, had me on the edge of my seat. It's not often dialog can grip you like that.
Character development is also at play, where time is taken to identify many types of people and troops, from the heroic to the playboy to the conscientious to the cowardly.
The use of a "situation room" proved pivotal in keeping us focused on the war goals, helps the story along from a historical sense.
Not only were command decisions explored, but the personal decisions were touched on, where you get to glimpse the human behind the command bravado. Excellent.
The use of wartime footage was brief yet appropriate. This is a film about people and decisions, and any further focus on 'action' would detract in my opinion.
Wartime perils, where and how our brave men had to die, for the larger goal. This is a view into the commanders who have been through what they're now asking the troops to go through. They understand what they are asking of the crews, and the crews respect them because of it.
There's also a study on transfer of command, fascinating. These were reasonable men who knew what had to be done and had the will to give the orders, to make the command decisions that needed to be made. Excellent piece of WWII film making, highly recommended.
Draws you right into some huge decisions that had to be made in the European theater in WWII and the difficulties encountered while forming our own air force.
Well acted too, especially for a 1948 movie. Not to slam acting in old movies, it was often more 'wooden'. Not in this movie though.
There's a discourse among the brass where Walter Pigeon had a large piece of dialog. His delivery was electrifying, had me on the edge of my seat. It's not often dialog can grip you like that.
Character development is also at play, where time is taken to identify many types of people and troops, from the heroic to the playboy to the conscientious to the cowardly.
The use of a "situation room" proved pivotal in keeping us focused on the war goals, helps the story along from a historical sense.
Not only were command decisions explored, but the personal decisions were touched on, where you get to glimpse the human behind the command bravado. Excellent.
The use of wartime footage was brief yet appropriate. This is a film about people and decisions, and any further focus on 'action' would detract in my opinion.
Wartime perils, where and how our brave men had to die, for the larger goal. This is a view into the commanders who have been through what they're now asking the troops to go through. They understand what they are asking of the crews, and the crews respect them because of it.
There's also a study on transfer of command, fascinating. These were reasonable men who knew what had to be done and had the will to give the orders, to make the command decisions that needed to be made. Excellent piece of WWII film making, highly recommended.