Cool Movies

Kenny Horne · February 20, 2008, 06:31:11 AM

I was going to put this in the reference section, but clearly these aren't exactly historically accurate

Hey Gang,

I love movies! Right now I'm watching the Howard Hawks classic, Air Force. Great B-17 movie and they use a great Solid model for many of the special fx scenes

Actually I've gotta say that the quality is quite good. Very hokey but I love this movie.

The other great B-17 movie I own is 12 o'clock High with Greg Peck. This one's simply a classic! Lots of real action scenes plus a great story and acting.

I've got a degree in History and I do value accuracy but I've never understood the argument that these old Hollywood movies don't cut it 'case they use the wrong mark of Spitfire in Battle of Britain.

How about you guys, what are your favorites?

Kenny

ps I've just reached the conclusion and I forgot... there are great models of the Japanese fleet as well

Jim · February 22, 2008, 07:04:16 PM

Kenny:

I, like you, am a devout movie buff, too, and 12 O'Clocik High and Air Force are among my favorites. To those I'd readily add:

30 Seconds Over Tokyo -- Great story, great aviation history accuracy, fine acting from a good cast

Dawn Patrol -- Has its hokey moments, but how can any movie with Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven AND WW1 aeroplanes NOT be good? Even if most of the planes aren't really what they pretend to be...

Dive Bomber -- A wonderful period piece with a great cast (Flynn, MacMurray, Bellamy, et6. al.) and all those marvelous 1930s Navy aeroplanes ( SB2U Vindicators, Brewster F2As, TBD Devastators, Grumman F-3Fs, etc.) in glorious Technicolor!

Hell's Angels -- The story line and acting are, as my Dad would say, strictly from hunger. But the dogfights are breath-taking, especially when you consider the technology of the time in which it was shot.

Lastly, on the subject of solid models of the Japanese fleet, if any of you should ever-- through whatever bizarre set of circumstances -- find yourself in Schenectady, New York, don't leave without stopping in at the Empire State Aerosciences Museum on Route 50 at the Schenectady County Airport. Among the exhibits there is a 32' scale model of the Japanese aircraft carrier "Akagi" used in the making of the movies "Torah, Torah, Torah" and "Midway". It is truly spectacular -- a magnificent example of the modeler's art, and well worth the trip alone.

Oceaneer99 · February 22, 2008, 07:13:49 PM

I once ate at the Officers' Club at Wheeler Field in Hawaii, which was featured in Tora Tora Tora getting strafed. There are real bullet holes from Dec. 7 in the exterior of some of the buildings at Wheeler, Hickam, and Pearl Harbor, left as a reminder.

R.F.Bennett · February 24, 2008, 07:59:30 PM

Murphy's War with Peter O'Tool is my favorite. It has some of the best (only) flight sequences ever filmed with the Grumman Duck. Turn your sound up and listen to that BIG radial engine roar. It really captures the power and insanity stuck between those pilots and their propellers. He even does loops with it. One of those, "I Wish I was THAT guy!" movies. I play my copy to tick off the neighbours.

Kenny Horne · February 24, 2008, 10:35:18 PM

Ray, do I see you carving a Duck fir the WWII ID cook-up

Puts a whole new meaning toduck carving

Kenny

ps ya that is a great one. For odd ball movies, this was a made for TV movie of the 70's... Death Race! It involved a lame P-40 that landed in the desert in N Africa, and was pursued by the German Army as it drove across the desert. I saw it one afternoon as a little kid probably 35 years ago and I can still picture it as it were yesterday.

R.F.Bennett · February 25, 2008, 04:37:23 AM

No Duck, No way.. Easier to carve a bust of Peter O'Tool!

Kenny Horne · February 25, 2008, 05:11:51 AM

Fair enough Ray

How could I forget A Wing and a Prayer? Not only is this a great movie, but it has plenty of black Spotter models hanging from the Ready Room ceiling. How cool is that!

Kenny

R.F.Bennett · February 25, 2008, 12:15:27 PM

My other favorite "Flight of the Phoenix" not the re-make from a few years back, but the original with Jimmy Stewart. The scene where they try to restart the engine is priceless. Many people don't know it, but the beastie really flew! However it crashed during filming so we never get to see them land. They just come walking over the hill they "Landed" behind. The stunt pilot was killed.

Oceaneer99 · February 25, 2008, 08:04:06 PM

I always wondered why they ended Flight of the Phoenix that way!

Dr. Strangelove has some hokey B-52 models, but the opening title has some great B-52 refueling footage. Was that James Earl Jones as one of the crew members?

R.F.Bennett · February 25, 2008, 10:27:21 PM

Who can forget Slim Pickins' Rebel Yell while riding that h-bomb down. One of the greatest movie scenes ever.
It was meant to show the utter absurdity of it all!

Jim · February 26, 2008, 04:35:49 AM

Wasn't it in Dr. Strangelove where the B-52 was contour-chasing through the arctic, and the shadow of the plane on the ground was that of a B-17?

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