CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

ma-cortes A Howard Hughes War breathtaking film that probably accounts for the brilliance of the cinematography of the aerial dogfights . Classic war film with a magnificent John Wayne as tough Major fighting Japanese and a nice secondary cast who provide stalwart support . This is a flag-waging and patriotic tribute to US fliers . Very decent war scenes along with documentary footage that convey us the assault troops supported by aviation to establish on the Pacific islands, but like the navy, the US army and Air Force fought its way from island to island in the Pacific . The squadron's designation in the movie was VMF-247 "Wildcats" but in the movie was based on VMF-223 "The Bulldogs". The Leathernecks of the film's title is military slang . Leatherneck is a common nickname for marines of the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The film's dedication states : "Dedicated to the United States Marine Corps, and especially to Marine aviation . Appreciation is gratefully acknowledged for their participation and assistance which made this picture possible" . Regarding Marine Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) is tough on his group of World War II aviators , he is even tougher than his subordinate Captain Carl Griffin (Robert Ryan) . As squadron leader fights with his fellow officer in Guadalcanal island . Both of them are two-fisted officers whose inevitable feud ranges from the wartime Pacific to peacetime America . As Kirby proves that his method is more suited to the demands of war and he leads his soldiers to into victorious battle , winning the devotion and admiration of his fliers . As when the real fighting begins all is forgotten . They subsequently bomb a convoy that is nicknamed by Kirby as ¨Tokyo Express¨. The film is based correctly on Guadalcanal battle in a hard-fought US operation , one of the most difficult campaigns of the Pacific theater , detailing this fight as well as other battles in Orient . This is a Howard Hughes production as the opening credits declare . It is well known that Hughes himself was an aviation aficionado who also produced Hell's angel (1930), Sky Devils (1932) and Jet Pilot (1957), the latter of which also starred John Wayne . It's a good film dealing with war in human terms . This colorful movie contains action , breathtaking battles , thrills , stock-shots , historical events and the dogfighting scenes are impressively made . Stalwart main cast , Wayne and Ryan , both of whom give splendid interpretations . Being stunning supported by Don Taylor , Barry Kelley , James Bell , James Dobson , and special mention for J.C. Flippen as grizzled veteran . Big production design , lavishly produced , brilliant photography and rousing soundtrack by ordinary Roy Webb as you'd expect from RKO Pictures at the time . Superp photography in glimmer color by William E Snyder , superbly captured in bright , sharp Technicolor which nowadays' processors never seem able to reproduce .The picture was compellingly directed by Nicholas Ray , author of various master pieces and hits as Rebel without cause , The savage innocents , Johnny Guitar , King of Kings , 55 days at Pekin and many others . Nicholas has a sensitive handling of actors and provides an exact compositional sense . Ray is a classic director , his films deal with a deep description of civilized societies , he believes that corruption is an essential part of it , that society punishes sincerity , innocence and love, vengeance and greed determine the behavior of people. ¨Flying leathernecks¨ is often considered merely another assignment of Nicholas Ray's at RKO for Howard Hughes to prove his political and professional alliance during the Red Scare and being Nicholas Ray's first film in color.

georgewilliamnoble During WW2 In the Pacific war American marine pilots flying Hellcat fighters defeat the Japanese.It is always easy to view a film made six decades earlier and see it as poorly made or badly written or acted or all three as just dated. Well they make plenty of unrealistic films today but war films in particular seem to suffer from the limitations of their time and this is a case in point. While all the aviation scenes are reused combat footage and thus ultra realistic the dialogue and attitudes represented grind hard against modern views and cynicism. This is a John Wayne film first a world war two film second and is undiluted in its patriotism and heroism in the worst American way but typical of the pre-Vietnam fifties. It is worth comparing British films of the same era "The Dam Busters" for example how understated they are by contrast. However as a action war film with lots of fabulous and original combat footage it is worth a look, but the John Wayne performance and part is just pure Hollywood all death or glory and the superiority of American power and the American way.

CitizenCaine Flying Leathernecks is notable as Director Nicholas Ray's first color film and his only war film. Right wing Howard Hughes controlled the production at RKO, while left wing Nicholas Ray made the best of it. As a result, Ray cast Robert Ryan as Captain Carl Griffin to counter John Wayne's Major Dan Kirby. Ryan and Wayne were also politically antithetical as were their characters, creating an interesting contrast and making a standard war film a bit more believable in light of several mishaps. Wayne and Ryan are well-balanced throughout the film as the hard as nails flight commander vs. the more humane second in command. Both have to keep a bunch of young squadron fighters together as they face mission after perilous mission. The film is set during the summer of 1942, following the Pearl Harbor Attack. Several reviewers have already pointed out the anachronisms involving the different planes used in the film, having them appear earlier in the war (in the context of the film) than was actually the case. This was often the case when films were made during the era of a present war, in this case the Korean War, about the era of a previous war (World War II). It's hard to imagine aerial color footage of the period depicted was not available, or it's possible Howard Hughes wanted to use the available footage because of little or no cost vs. researching more appropriate footage. In any event, color aerial and battle footage from the Korean War was used. Some of the wounded soldiers seen in the footage are jarring in such a Hollywood production and serve as a contrast to the largely flag-waving viewpoint of the film. As much as it is carefully interspersed in the film, even the casual viewer can decipher between the actual footage and studio sets because the lighting changes make it obvious. Therefore, the plane sequences with the actors are hopelessly phony due to the repeated actual aerial footage seen. Although usually not often the case, the film also takes time in several instances to highlight those left behind when soldiers are off to fight: parents, wives, children. Jay C. Flippen adds a supporting turn as Master Sergeant Clancy. **1/2 of 4 stars.

DKosty123 This RKO production is good considering that the studio was on life support by this time. Often in the film you can tell where the stock combat footage from news reels of the war are thrown in by the fuzzy quality of the scenes. There is a noticeable mix, particularly when you see the film commercial free on TCM.To me, Robert Ryan and Flippin have the strongest performances. John Wayne has pretty much his usual tough guy image that is as tough as nails. What is impressive is RKO putting a lot into the Technicolor look of the movie. You can see Wayne sweating at times.The story is pretty much standard - tough as nails commander keeping his subordinates at bay while his unit draws the dirty work. Meanwhile, he has a wife & son at home & a Sargeant (Flippin) who is really good at midnight requisitions. Obviously this is the usual Wayne all American hero type of vehicle he had been doing since the war and would do until near the end of his career.