WWII aviation films every one should watch
 

Spurred by MATALIEBRES posting about suggestions for WW2 films that had aerial combat I thought we should have a thread so eveyone can post aviation films!

I'll kick off with these:

Battle of Britain (don't tell me you haven't seen this) edit: here's the original trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaX3m...e_gdata_player
The Dambusters (currently being remade by Peter Jackson)
Tora Tora Tora (save for this I'll leave the pacific films to my 'colonial' mates here!:rolleyes:)
Dark Blue World
633 Squadron
12 O'Clock High
Appointment in London


As the saying goes 'fill your boots gentlemen'

The Tuskegee airmen.
Memphise Belle.


Just to add 2 more :)

You've hit the nail on the head with the Battle of Britain though, what an incredible film. Have it on DVD and must of seen it hundreds of times. 633 and the Dambusters to :D

How about ones to avoid? Mosquito Squadron!! Just a poor film that takes some parts out of 633.

Is it bad when Dave, Jack, Kav or McQ phone me and the ringtone is the BoB theme....
This demonstrates what that theme tune does....how beautiful is this soundtrack but oh so much more when the music comes in...I dare you not to get a wry smile of pride!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBlnF...e_gdata_player

will contrubute more later...but for starters
Catch 22
Midway
come to mind along with those on that list you began with.

WOW Mate

I dont see Max Manus amongst yours !
Did the sheepleg and the Norwegian liquer from McQ put you off :-P

Left it for you mate, it being your favourite and all that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxbEv2xMnU
I know this is not a dogfighting scene but this is one of my favorites from the longest day.

I know it's not WW2 or even air combat, but Airplane is still my favorite movie of all time :-P

Battle of Britain is a close second. I remember seeing it in the theater w my dad when it first came out, a big reason why I became a pilot.

All the best ones have been mentioned so I will mop up with:
The good
The Machine Gunners - great 70s childrens program about kids who find a HE111 and use it to down another german aircraft and capture the pilot
Reach For The Sky - Douglas Bader, classic

The bad
Pearl Harbour - I could write an essay on this one but will keep it brief. Michael Bay must die

The ugly
1941 - great film but it's a real mess. John Belushi in a P40 is a treat

I loved that series! Chas McGill finding the ultimate war souvenir!!

The Battle of Britain is essential, one of the best films about of military aviatión.

I´m waiting for the next Lucas film, Red Tails; about of the Tuskegge airmen. The first preview is schedule july 29 in EAA AirVenture festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin

nice thread GILLY!

my favorite are :

the battle of midway
tora tora tora
battle of britain
menphis belle
the red baron

gilly,the dambusters remake by p.jackson?

have u more infos about it?
cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Dambusters remake was due to start filming last year but those plans were made prior to Guilermo Del Torro dropping out of directing The Hobbit. Peter Jackson stepped in to take over The Hobbit meaning he couldn't start dambusters. Stephen Fry wrote the remake script so if there are any updates we will find out quick as he is always putting updates on twitter
One thing that is known is they had to change the name of the dog for obvious reasons

thanks dk my friend for those details.

+1. I don't mind watching the harbour attack action scene on youtube occasionaly though, even with all its historical inacuracies and mistakes.

The flying tigers. John waynes in it come on lol

Piece of cake 1988 TV series. Even better, just read the book by Derek Robinson that it's based on.

A modern remake of that could be amazing. Using cgi hurricanes instead of those BoB movie spitfires and sticking very close to the book this time. Two series of 20+ episodes could do the whole story I think. It would be epic.

+1 :-d

sir,sir me sir
blue max
those magnificent men in their flying machines
dawn patrol (the howard huges one)
angels one five
one of our aircraft is missing
first of the few
bridges at to-kore, korea but nice flying footage
ooh ill have to think some more!

Yup those are some great movies there. I have had a fascination of WW2 since I was a child, not the politics of the war but the machinery and battles. With the advent of the internet age that brought on a whole new wealth of media, videos. I have over the years scoured the web for WW2 related video and have one massive collection, alot of it related to aircraft. Anyway one site in particular is a treasure trove of such film and I figured you guys would appreciate it.

A documentry of the Memphis Belle, basically following the crew from an airfield in England to a bombing raid over Germany in which they encounter flak and interceptors.

http://www.archive.org/details/TheMe...FlyingFortress

Another about P-47s and a mission to blow railroad bridges plus strafing runs in the Italian theater.

http://www.archive.org/details/thunderbolt

Here's a US goverment video for new pilots flying B-26s.

http://www.archive.org/details/HowToFlyTheB-26Airplane

Just a few examples, if you look around the site you'll find tons of this stuff. I know these arent 'movies' but thought I'd share.

Cheers

"Catch 22"! That is one of my personal favourites! Bobby it in his notes. A must see! Read the book too!

Every 15th September I hook up the video and kick the wife an kids out......watch them back to back every year......then at 7.00pm....lay a wreath at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Fern ..... "Piece of Cake"....oddly British.....Great acting...lost in time :rolleyes:





Thanks for the trip down memory lane Mr Pope......Bang on with your choice........;)
.

just want to make sure you guys know it was josef prillers attitude that i thought was funny not him strafing allied soldiers.

Thanks Gilly, some movies that I see this holiday (some WWI) are:
-Air Force 1943
-Bombers
-Captains of the clouds
-God is my copilot
-The Great Mitchell
-The long day of Eagle
-Enola Gay
-633 Squad
-Fighter Squadron 332
-Mosquito Squad
-History of Malta
-Flying Leathernecks
-The Dawn Patrol
-The incursion of a thousand planes
-The dark Blue world
-Bow to heaven
-The Dam Busters
-Torpedo bombers
-Dark Blue World
And a little more modern for women and the kid will not get bored lol

Hmmmm.

I joke!! His attitude was rather good,especially when he strafes the beach, fires off his ammo (just him and a wingman) and then laughs at the insignifigance of it and says something along the lines of "theirs the Luftwaffes greatest achievement".

malta story
aces high
porco russo ha ha

I grabbed a copy of Piece of cake when Dave& I was down at Hendon last summer. Love it. That '80's visuals and short-cuts with the spits. And the right scarfs. Brilliant.
Just saw 12 O'clock high a cpl of weeks ago. A true Classic.

I'm not sure if the WWII flyboystory to the movie I most want to see is yet written, but if it is or ever will be, I hope I live to see the Cohen-brothers do it. They do know how to play.

I want this film NOW!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waZM5W2kNP0

Birds of Steel and Red Tails, I can´t wait for 2012

Tickets reserved!! Hope this will be showing at IMAX!! Listening the the Merlin purring in surround sound like that.... EPIC!!

Good find hicks.

Thanks. I've been waiting for this movie since it was announced in 2009. Air combat with actual CGI tecnology :grin:

No offense Foz, but why do you think Lucas would use authentic merlin engine sounds in one of his films? Why would he bother? I didn’t hear any merlins in the clip, and the dialogue sounds like the usual cliché filled tripe that Hollywood is famous for. With as much respect as I have for the Tuskegee Airmen and what they accomplished, I sincerely hope that I am wrong and that this film turns out to be a masterpiece. I’m not holding my breath though LoL.

What made the Battle of Britain such an outstanding film was that it wasn't made with modern special effects or outdated clapped together gun camera footage, but with the actual aircraft that fought the battle, beautifully choreographed in a sort of aerial ballet. My only complaint is that it had too many merlins! :-P The Luftwaffe planes all had the wrong engines since they came from Spain, and they made the 109's look fat and sound funny LoL

Hi mate,

Prior to seeing the trailer i've been watching clips of filming etc in Croatia, they used 3 P51's to film alot of scenes and in a clip the fly over the airfield very low... thats no CGI ;) and they sound great!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=athETK-ba5w

One of the clips i saw.... 1:25 a nice low pass by those merlins :D

Yup and Skywalker sound are the best there is in sound recording and effects. The movie & story could be shit but the visual and sound effects are certain to be outstanding.

What a sweet sound! Nice to know that Lucas is at least trying to give it some authenticity. Maybe I've been too hard on him LoL. I saw they had Bud Anderson's Old Crow on the location, sure hope they don't scratch it!

Now you guys have me looking forward to this film :grin: But I still wonder if Lucas can do the Tuskegee Airmen justice. They certainly deserve it.

This kid remind you of anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tztl6...eature=related

Christian Bale - Empire of the Sun!!

P51- CADILLAC OF THE SKY!!


Its funny how you have posted this, it was on tv a couple of nights ago and it was late to!! 11pm!! so the film was on until 3am. 3 of us (me,pope and a friend of mine) were all in XBL party chat and watched the whole film haha. Even the boring parts, just to see the P51 attack.

yep, its batman! and he is in town ( pittsburgh ) this week. they are shooting the new flick around here.

Actually, I was thinking about most of us when I asked if the kid reminded you folks of anyone. Empire of the Sun is not a great movie, It has just about every Hollywood cliché and Spielberg gimmick there is and it’s at least an hour longer than it needs to be. But it also deals with the childhood fascination with flight better than any film I’ve seen. The kid in the movie reminds me of myself, even though he sings better than I ever did and I’ve never been to a prison camp. I bet he woulda loved playing BoP :-P

Hey Foz, Look what I found on Youtube now. I need to find a better quality version without the subs. Awesome Short movie Directed by Nick Ryan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjfob66zPw8

That English pilot is a right madman. The ending made me laugh.


If you haven't seen it before, you should watch Nick Ryan's other short film called 'A Lonely sky' . Thats pretty awesome too. Ive found that in 720p here http://dekku.nofatclips.com/?s=Nick+...hsubmit=Search

Sweet!! finally got to watch it,good find mate.

Looked good, sounded good, and was rather enjoyable.


My only concern......

Without spoiling the plot, how did they manage to get from where they were flying at the start to where they ended up? Can the fuel tanks take them that far.... how would you not notice?

About "The German" (warning: Spoilers)



The short film is not bad but I see two "little" problems.

1. From the English Channel to Ireland in 8 minutes, a true record

2. I don´t belive as the Messerschmitt is shoot down; the planes without the one of the wings, the belly landing is impossible.

If you watch closely they clearly exit a wormhole as they break through the cloud cover :P

:lol: Thanks Pope, I needed that.

Spielberg has decided cash in on all his hit movies by morphing them with a new subject. first is "aliens and cowboys" out now. next? a mix of starwars and pearl harbor....heres a screen shot from "Jedis and Japs" due our the 5th quarter of 2012.

I'm pretty pumped about Red Tails (as described in the other thread) and apparently John Woo is working on a movie about the Flying Tigers, which as long as it's not loaded with subtitles, should be pretty good.

I'm watching Catch-22 on the suggestion of this board and am rolling with laughter. It's a little obscure and the air combat doesn't seem to be anything special, but the off beat humor (and Orson Wells) is a riot.

ETA: Just finished the movie and wow. Parts of it were still funny, but I stopped laughing part way through. The film is incredibly dark. I still stick by my initial thought that the air combat isn't anything special. The B-25 shots were nice, but otherwise there wasn't much.

It would be nice to see a film made about the Black Sheep squadron and I don't mean the 70's Tv show. though Col. Pappy Boyington ret. make it fun to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkOjA...eature=related
I know typical hollywood.I do have this movie on vhs.

wasnt WW2 but was a good flick about the early days of aviation...barnstorming, movie making, and airshows....some great flying scenes for the day ( 1975 ).

The Great Waldo Pepper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlQT6m7StAY

That is magnific, epic, say what you want a true thing of beauty. I'd give my left ball to fly one of those. Maybe even both ballz! :-o

Neat little site this ......... had a quick stint over it what i seen was good anyways

http://www.world-war-2-planes.com/index.html


couple ........... they may have been mentioned already though.

Enola gay
30 secs over Tokyo
The Target for Tonight - olde Lancaster movie film directed by Harry Watt. There is a docudrama of similar title about
The star of Africa

Big list of films in here aswell.......................

some epic as mentioned ............... some aweful lollol

http://www.coastcomp.com/av/fltline2/avmovie.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3u5pqwNjGw
sorry but i didn't want to dig up an old thread for this.I was listening to some you tube videos of p51 engine start up and i wondered what four would sound like.this is for guys like me who havn't or probably never will hear it in person.

Very nice.
Now If that was a CloD Lancaster

With No3 engine startup It would be yawing hard to port
With No4 engine startup It would be veering uncontrolably to port
With No2 engine startup No3 would be starting to overheat
With No1 engine startup No3 would be cooking No4 overheating
and you would be getting the dreaded messages......
"blown cylinderhead gasket No3 engine... radiator leak No4 engine...Oil leak No3 engine...

Agree good movie and no CGI. I also wouldn't doubt if parts of the movie"red tail" was filmed there (Valencia,Ca.) also were Ba,Ba Black Sheep was filmed. Just outside from L.A. and about accuracy I would agree about not holding your breath. But that's Hollywood! Next, Battle of Britian flying P-51B sorry to my British friends.

Not being biased in any way whatsoever but a symphony of merlins on the Lanc turns me into the 5 year who remembers the first time I saw them. In no way do I get at all giddy as the Duxford Wing will testify too......

Anyone seen anything recent about John Woo's Flying Tigers project? I'm interested to see the Chinese take on the AVG and perhaps a more accurate portrayal of the AVG as opposed to John Wayne's old B&W film.

It was supposed to start filming this past spring, but there hasn't been any news since August 2010.

At least Red Tails is on the horizon. Might need to turn my brain off for some of it, but I plan on being entertained.