Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

wes-connors "They were the terror of the sky, a small daring band of American mercenaries who soared into battle against the Japanese in defense of China's freedom. They were aces, adventurers and heroes, America's hottest fighter pilots - 'The Flying Tigers'! Possessing unmatched skill and bravery, Jim Gordon (John Wayne), the Tigers' commander, is the top gun of China's skies. But he faces a battle on the ground when his good friend Woody Jason is suspected of recklessly causing the death of a fellow pilot and is accused of stealing Jim's fiancée. Jim's fight to retain his respect for Woody while maintaining the solidarity of his pilots is an explosive battle of courage and heroism that lights up the sky with action!" according to the DVD sleeve description.This looks like it was rushed together from other war stories featuring brave flight commanders and his heroic crews, with all the familiar theatrics - the exception that Captain Wayne (as "Pappy" Gordon) doesn't ease his pain with alcohol can be explained as the film's release during wartime necessitated a pro-war slant. Director David Miller and Republic Pictures owe their greatest debt to Howard Hawks, which can be evidenced by viewing "The Dawn Patrol" (1930) and "Only Angels Have Wings" (1939). "Flying Tigers" is usually claimed to be Wayne's first war picture, though he'd been fighting mightily in previous films. Herein, Mr. Wayne is a steadfast but easy to pushover leader, hotshot John Carroll (as "Woody" Jason) gets most of the script action, cute nurse Anna Lee (as Brooke Elliott) cleans up quickly in the bath, and Paul Kelly (as "Hap" Davis) supports the team well. Mouseketeers will recognize a young Jimmie Dodd.The picture should have been titled "Flying Sharks", to match the painted airplanes. It starts with a quote from "Generalissimo" Chang Kai-Shek, who praises United States forces for their glorious support of his invincible Chinese people. So sad, the Chinese are unable to conjure up a plate of roast beef for Captain Wayne. No matter. The first big story stumble occurs when Wayne advises Mae Clarke (as Verna) to have her husband report for duty in the morning without revealing that the two had spoken; hopefully, Ms. Clarke was able to figure something out. The film is so programmed and artificial, it's difficult to recommend - but, many in the cast are enjoyable, and they've included some good, action-packed aerial footage.***** Flying Tigers (10/8/42) David Miller ~ John Wayne, John Carroll, Anna Lee, Paul Kelly

Stacy I am serious. Words cannot describe just how bad this movie is. You have to see it to believe it! But I don't suggest renting or buying this at all. I am NOT a John Wayne fan. He always gets on my nerves- But- I just so happened to catch this while watching television with my Grandfather some years ago. I will never forget how miserable I was and how much I wanted RUN out of the room. No joking. I almost had an anxiety attack! I just wanted to run away and you know its bad if I was willing to give up quality time with my Grandad. That's something I never give up on. But..well.. Terrible acting all around. The plane scenes are some of the most boring scenes in cinematic history. You sit there thinking: "When will this end?! How long have they been up in the frigging air?!" John Wayne was a terrible actor but this was the worst film he ever attempted. I just know it will either put you to sleep or it will make you want to shoot your own television. Please believe me. And in case you're wondering- No- my grandfather didn't like the film either. 1 star....if it deserves THAT!

rugalatorray I'm trying to identify the type of cargo/airliner plane that was used in the movie. Woody and Alabama were flying it when their characters were introduced and when Wayne and Woody ran the nitro bomb run, it was used again. It looked like a DC-3 with a "box tail" elevator. Anybody know what type of plane this is? it's worrying me to death! I'm familiar with Some of the Douglas transport aircraft of that period and the Curtiss C-46. This plane looks like a pre WWII model, but closer to the 1936-38 era. I've tried looking through the internet at the sites for Douglas, Lockheed, Beech, Boeing and other aircraft companies, but no luck in locating this plane. I really have to know what type of plane it is.

grahamsj3 This film, made in 1942, is naught but a US propaganda film. This is an early John Wayne film and, unfortunately, his acting is absolutely not up to his later standards. The rest of the cast, quite frankly, isn't very good either. While the story is decent and it's quite well-written, I had to give it a pretty low score. It seems that most of the good actors were either already engaged or had joined the US Armed Forces by the time they filmed this. I don't think it was very well directed, either, or perhaps it was very hurried. I think they did everything in one take. It's sad, really, because the Flying Tigers story is epic and heroic. Instead, several of the pilots are shown to be nothing but money-hungry mercenaries whose only motivation is the bounty paid per aerial kill. Oh, well...sorry about that, but it wasn't even a very good try.