blueliner Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 OK gents...what are your favorite aviation films for aircraft, photography, and story line? My list includes: Battle of Britain - Susannah York... lovely bird 633 Squadron - Mosquitoes The Blue Max - Ursula Andress at differing states of Undress Piece of Cake - Great Flying Dive Bomber - first full Technicolor film with classy Alexis Smith Wing and a Prayer - shows film of the work up of the CV-10 Yorktown Strategic Air Command Bridges at Toko-Ri Dam Busters Twelve O'clock High A Guy Named Joe - only film I recall with P-38s Enough for now...what's yours? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 All of the above plus; -A Bridge Too Far for the parachuting scenes and brilliant music. -Aces High- for the flying scenes And others which I cannot think of at the moment! Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamp Donkey Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The Right Stuff SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Growing up in the sixties it has to be the battle of Britain,seen on the big screen at the pictures,the Bridges at Toko-Ri (we never used to see jets in films) 633 sqn,and Later on Flight of the Intruder,the Right Stuff, NOT Top Gun!Does anyone remember a strange film I think starring Doug Mclure as a P40 pilot shot down in the desert and unable to take off and chased through the whole film in his plane on the ground? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The Right Stuff SD Yes!the scene where Yeager takes up the Starfighter for a flight,epic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denford Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The Sound Barrier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Yes, The Sound Barrier and Strategic Air Command. But always a soft spot for The Hunters (1958) with Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner (the book is better than the film). "George, real george". Nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJP Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 "Captains of the Clouds" 1942 Story of bush pilots who join the RCAF and are posted as instructors. Filmed on location in northern Ontario for the bush scenes with assorted machines including the prototype Norseman, Fairchilds and others. The RCAF scenes were filmed on location at active stations - Uplands, Jarvis and others. The aircraft featured are Ansons, Battles, Fleet Finches, Yales (including at least one still in French markings), Harvards. There is much film work done close in to the aircraft plus excellent flying footage, even practice bombing on the ranges in Lake Ontario. The film ends with some of these instructors ferrying a bunch of Hudsons across the Atlantic. There are only a few model shots, most of it is live footage. There is only one set of phony markings, a Hurricane from RCAF Debert Nova Scotia dressed up as a German fighter for the climax. The cast are Warner Bros. pros - Cagney, Hale, Morgan. and a load of excellent character actors. There are also several hundred RCAF personnel including Billy Bishop officiating at a wings parade. And it is filmed in Technicolor, no colorizing guesswork. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Battle of Britain. Dark Blue World. My other "favourite" films arenot aviation related.... Cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) "Is that a man?" "Yes...it is" The Right Stuff would be very near the top of my list... Thirded or fourthed or whatever for BoB and Dark Blue World The Blue Max, Always And I recently watched Wings, the 1927 silent that won the first ever Best Picture Academy Award (not called Oscars back then...). There are no effects shots, apart from painting on some more flames to the smoke trails of the aircraft plunging towards the ground, so all the flying is real, and they certainly seem to have found a way to carry cameras aloft with their stars. Some huge set piece battles staged on the ground, and some very convincing dogfights up above -- you can really see how the initial contact turns into a melee spread all over the sky. The majority of the pilots (and the director) had flown in combat over France, so they knew what it looked like. The sequences were filmed with the support of the Texas Air Reserves, so there are a lot of Curtis Hawks and some big, early Martin bomber standing in for a Gotha. Oddly, though, they have some real Spads and Fokker D.VIIs, but there's no obvious logic to when they use them -- sometime someone will take off in a Hawk, fight in a Spad, have close ups of guns blazing in a Hawk, and then crash land in a Spad... For a silent film, it's surprisingly gripping, and sometimes really quite moving... bestest, M. Edited January 18, 2014 by cmatthewbacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Jones Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Lots of aviation themed films to choose from , but off the top of my head , in no particular order ; The Dambusters The Sound Barrier Aces High Flight of the Pheonix [1965] Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atom.uk Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 No contest to me - The "Battle of Britain". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorth Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Battle of Britain. Dark Blue World. Seconded! They are actually closely related to each other as a lot of Dark Blue World's flying scenes were outtakes from Battle of Britain that were digitally cleaned up and retouched. It also had this gem of a flying scene: http://youtu.be/0stVlJXAsbQ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wafu Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 It would have to be split in two for me Old school;- Battle of Britain. New school;- Red Tails. Many more come recommended but these two are for rainy Sundays when the family is out. Throw on the surround sound and sit back and smell the petrol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Reach for the Sky Angels One-Five Command Decision (not really aviation but certainly aviation-related) The Purple Plain Like lots of the others previously mentioned - Battle of Britain, 633 Sqn, Dive Bomber etc - but wanted to add a few that are perhaps less well-known...the first in my list excepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonar Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Dr Strangelove. Steve 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueliner Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 Command decision and 12 O'clock High are required viewing for many MBA programs in the states. One I forgot was Final Countdown. That introduced the F-14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avro683 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 There are two more threads on this topic, sorry I cannot paste a link but they are in the chat forum and at least one of them is very recent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzn20 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) All the above plus "24 hours to kill"...... 1st ten and last 5 minutes Great shots of Bierut airport 1965. Swissair CV990, MEA Comet and Caravelle, Malev IL-18 and BOAC 707. The rest of the film is forgettable. The MEA Comet is a Connie for inside shots! The War lover....Steve McQueen... IMO the best B-17 film and a must for all those if you going to build a B-17 kit. Memphis Belle Catch 22 Flight of the Phoenix, James Stewart version. Target Berlin Airport and Airport 75 Appointment in London... Dirk Bogarde drinking in my old pub near Shepperton and driving a car half mile from my old house. Battle of Midway Tora! Tora! Tora! The Doolittle raid Edited January 18, 2014 by bzn20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjames68 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Lotsvof the already mentioned, plus.... Murphy 's War 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ludwig113 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 waldo pepper ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Steal the Sky The Right Stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungo1974 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The Hunters Flying Leathernecks Flight of the Intruder...just for the skyraider scene The Tuskegee Airmen.. The HBO TV movie,much better than Redtails We were soldiers.. Huey's and Spad's Battle hymn for the P-51's Gathering of Eagles for the B-52's 12 o'clock high Always A-26/PBY action There's many more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimmy Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Murphy 's War +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonar Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 About fifty years ago I would have said Dumbo Cheers Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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