Steineded How sad is this?

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Michael Morrison Watching "Air Force" the night of 7 December 2016, I was reminded of how much I dislike war movies, and was re-reminded how much I hate governments and the people who run governments and who create the death and destruction that war is about.As many movies as I have seen in my life, I had never before seen "Air Force" until this night when it was presented on Turner Classic Movies as part of a commemoration of Pearl Harbor Day."Air Force" is an extraordinarily well-done motion picture, one of the best I have seen, ever.Howard Hawks as director and Dudley Nichols as author of the original screenplay make an unbeatable team.There is clever dialogue, some really nice byplay between and among the characters that is believable and, at the same time, enjoyable.There is one scene that might be brushed off as corny (reportedly written by the terribly over-rated William Faulkner, whose work I've never liked), but all the rest is so realistic and well done, I wish I could award more than 10 stars.In addition to the great directing and writing, the under-played acting is as close to perfect as one can expect, or hope.And the number of superlative actors in this one war-time movie is not short of astounding. When this many people can perform as an ensemble, you know you have great and talented actors and one heck of a director.But I'm a pacifist. I oppose wars, and opposing wars I oppose governments, the very basis of which is coercion, theft, violence.When I see a movie such as "Air Force" and its dramatization of the death and destruction that war is, I vow -- if only to myself -- that I will work harder to try to educate others on the evils of surrendering one's individuality to governments, to any kind of collective which requires, which demands, that surrender.When people realize their own lives are their own, that individual human beings are self-owned, are not property of governments, of societies, of tribes, and that all human beings are equally valuable, then we can begin to end this horror that is war.When people realize their lives are sacred, we can begin to attain that proper human state of peace and freedom."Air Force" is an exceedingly good, even important, movie, and we will owe it and its makers a huge debt of gratitude if we can learn from it that peace and freedom are our heritage and our right.

jacobs-greenwood John Ridgley plays Captain Mike "Irish" Quincannon, the pilot of a B-17 bomber (the Mary-Ann) whose crew includes crew chief Sergeant Robbie White (Harry Carey), co-pilot Lieutenant Bill Williams (Gig Young), bombardier Lieutenant Tommy McMartin (Arthur Kennedy), navigator Lieutenant "Monk" Munchauser (Charles Drake), assistant crew chief Corporal Weinberg (George Tobias), and radio operator Corporal Peterson (Robert Wood). There are two new additions made to the crew at the beginning of the film: a greenhorn youngster Private Chester (Ray Montgomery), and a "washed out pilot, now aerial gunner" Sergeant Joe Winocki, cynically played by (who else?) John Garfield.Evidently, there was a little intra-service rivalry within the Army between big plane crews and pursuit plane pilots in those days, so James Brown plays Lieutenant Tex Rader, a fighter pilot. Also recognizable in this film is Edward Brophy, as a Marine Corps Sergeant J. J. Callahan.It is December 6, 1941 as the film opens and a squadron of B-17s begins their journey from San Francisco to Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The first part of the movie establishes the relationship between the crew members which is pretty much as a team familiar and comfortable with each other. Enter the new guys: Private Chester is a gung ho rookie excited about everything, Winocki is wise guy who rains on his parade and can't wait till his last three weeks in the service are up. Apparently, Winocki was a failure in flight school and it was Captain Quincannon, who signed the recommendation that ended his dream of being a pilot. The 20- year veteran crew chief Sgt. White doesn't like Winocki's attitude, especially because his son has just been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel within the ranks.Everything is pretty routine until Hickam Field's radio transmission goes out. The radio operator is able to pick up Japanese voices and background static which doesn't sound good, explosions etc.. When the squadron leader finally gets through to someone in Pearl Harbor, they are told to land at their pre-planned alternate locations. For the Mary-Ann, that means a short, rough runway on the Hawaiian island Maui. Though Captain "Irish" makes a good landing, there is some slight damage which must be addressed. However, while fixing the problem, they are shot at by, presumably, some local Japanese and must take off right away. They then must land on the bomb cratered runway at Pearl Harbor.After a successful landing at Hickam Field, they learn that Tommy's sister, who'd been dating co-pilot Bill, was injured in the attack. Part of the news is related to them by Tex, whom they don't respect from some history and the intra-service rivalry mentioned previously. They think Tex is partly to blame for Susan's condition and assume he was hiding out during the attack. They learn from the Colonel at Hickam Field, however, that Tex shot down four enemy planes (Zeros) before he himself was shot down in the action. They are then told that their new orders are to fly to Manilla, where the crew chief's son stationed, via Wake Island and asked to shuttle Tex to a pursuit wing stationed there.On the way to Wake Island, one gets a sense of just how difficult it was in those days to find a dot on the map without the advance navigation systems and radar of today. The crew is nervous, making the navigator anxious throughout the flight, about finding the island before their fuel runs out. Of course, everyone (including the navigator) is relieved when they do. Unfortunately, Wake too has been hit and after briefly refueling the exhausted, sleep deprived crew is told to leave before an impending Japanese invasion, when all on the island is expected to be lost. Several of the Marines on the island convince Weinberg to take their dog to save it from their fate.It is at this point that Winocki starts to become part of the crew. Once airborne, when the crew chief demands to know how a dog got onboard, Winocki says it was he that did it. Later, when the Mary- Ann makes it to the Philippines, it is Winocki who tells "Irish" that he wants to help and stay on as part of his crew. The Captain is glad, and says that first he must get rid of the dog (which he gives to the first Marine he sees, played by Brophy).More exciting action and interesting plot-line, much of it predictable to fans of this genre, make this film continue until it exceeds two hours on screen and the good guys deliver some comeuppance and payback at the Battle of the Coral Sea. This film, directed by Howard Hawks, won an Oscar for Best Editing and was nominated for B&W Cinematography, Special Effects, and Writing.

starbase202 Luckily, I was able to view this wonderful and inspiring movie last night. And I was unable to bring myself to change channels to watch another program. The actors were very natural in both combat and 'normal' situations. Of course, the special effects were dated but fine considering the movie's production mid-WWII time frame. Maybe the movie industry should consider updating and reissuing it or a new version? The movie reminded me of how so very much all Americans owe to our WWII veterans as well as those who were involved in working and supporting the war effort. I hope that the USA never has to go through such a terrible time fighting a national security threat.

zardoz-13 Not only did Warner Brothers use the Boeing B-17 bomber as the centerpiece of one of its earliest battle front movies, "Flying Fortress," but the studio also used the bomber as an allegory for American tenacity in "Scarface" director Howard Hawks "Air Force." According to World War II film historian Lawrence Suid, Jack Warner approached U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) commanding officer General Henry 'Hap' Arnold not long after Pearl Harbor about making a film about the USAAF. Suid says that Arnold approved Warner Brothers' request, and the War Department provided the studio with a plethora of information about their planes and pilots, which scenarist Dudley Nichols included in his original screenplay. Warner Brothers' studio chief Jack Warner hired aviation enthusiast Howard Hawks to direct "Air Force," and Hawks started shooting on June 18, 1942, at Drew Air Force Base in Florida and completed the picture four months later on October 26."Air Force" chronicles the routine flight of a B-17 Flying Fortress, nicknamed the 'Mary Ann,' from San Francisco to Hawaii. The crew consisted of an ethnically and geographically diverse group of men, a casting theme that recurred throughout World War II movies and reflected the melting pot identity of America. Unlike MGM's "Bataan" and Twentieth Century Fox's "Crash Drive" (1943), however, Warner Brothers never integrated African-Americans into the ranks of its battle front films.As the 'Mary Ann' approaches Honolulu, the crew hears Japanese gibberish on the radio and is even more shocked by the sight of Japanese planes dropping bombs and strafing the base. The Pearl Harbor flight tower diverts the 'Mary Ann' to Maui where it lands to repair a wheel. When Japanese-American snipers open fire on the fliers, the crew flies to Wake Island where the Marines are preparing their a gallant last stand. At Clark Field, the crew reloads their guns and ascends to battle the Japanese. The 'Mary Ann' is so badly riddled with bullet holes and the skipper so severely wounded that he orders everybody else to bail out. A recalcitrant gunner (John Garfield) who washed out of flying school ignores the skipper's orders and lands the bomber.Frantically, despite their orders to destroy it, the reunited crew patches up the plane. Not only do they load up with bombs, but they also remove the tail section and install a machine gun. The crew manages to get their B-17 off the ground before the Japanese overrun the island. During their flight to Australia, they sight a Japanese fleet, radio their position, and sink some of the ships. As the film draws to a close, the 'Mary Ann' survivors prepare to spearhead an aerial attack on Japan.At a time when the government restricted all Hollywood studios in terms of the money that they could spend on a film, the U.S. Army-Air Force's assistance proved invaluable in giving the film an aura of authenticity. For example, the nine B-17s seen in flight during the early scenes of Air Force were actually filmed on location in Florida by Warner Brothers. When the studio staged Japanese plane crashes and tricky B-17 landings in the jungle, the studio relied on miniatures. According to a War Department letter dated June 6, 1942, "It is the policy of the War Department not to allow soldiers or military equipment to be disguised and photographed as representing the personnel or equipment of foreign countries." The War Department sidestepped its own rule when it helped Warner Brothers produce Air Force. According to Suid, the War Department appointed Captain Samuel Triffy as technical adviser, and Triffy "flew both an Army two-place trainer and a fighter painted with the Rising Sun emblem in the combat sequences portraying Japanese attacks on American aircraft and military positions." Triffy sought as much as possible to ensure that Air Force appeared "as authentic as we could make it under the circumstances." All Howard Hawks' movies are about men bonding as a group. Women are few and far between in "Air Force,' but they populate the storyline. Dudley Nichols' screenplay with help from William Faulkner contains many good scenes. Some are tragic, such as the flight crew chief's story about his son, and some are funny, such as the dog that barks at Japanese. The death scene where the pilot takes off from his hospital bed with his companions helping him simulate this take-off to the big hangar in the sky is memorable. Today, "Air Force" seems quaint and corny, especially the aerial gunner's change of attitude. Initially, the John Garfield character doesn't plan to re-enlist, and he behaves like a complete prima donna, particularly because the 'Mary Ann's' pilot washed him out of pilot school, but the aerial gunner changes his mind when he see Pearl Harbor in flames.The U.S. Government propaganda agency, the OWI-BMP praised "Air Force" for five reasons. First, the crew constituted an ethnic melting pot. Second, the crew's perfect teamwork made the mission of the "Mary Ann" successful. Third, the officials applauded the fact that the filmmakers showered glory on an older mechanic sergeant who maintained the plane rather than on the younger more glamorous pilots. Fourth, as a combat picture, "Air Force" proved exciting without "the pitfall of showing too much blood and suffering." Fifth, the plot emphasized a good-natured rivalry between fighter pilots and bomber pilots. Ultimately, the OWI-BMP found the flaws in "Air Force" "serious but remediable; its good points are very good indeed—well worth the effort to revise the script so that it will perform a truly valuable service of war information." Altogether, "Air Force" is one of the best Allied propaganda movies of World War II.