Best / Worst Aviation movie

MAKG1 said:
Well, Roald Dahl writing heavily marketed children's screenplays with obnoxious music is hardly surprising. "The candy man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good." :vomit:
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I didn't see that movie (which is hilarious in a Marx Brothers way) until perhaps 10 years ago, and was really disappointed that Sammy Davis wasn't the Candyman.
 
What about "Firefox" early 80's Clint Eastwood, had to think in Russian to make the plane fly :nono: Then he landed on an ice flow and refueled.:rofl:
 
Speaking of crappy airplane movies, I happened to run across Die Hard 2 the other day. And I was wondering, is there any reason why someone in the tower would be using an E6B? Because one of the controllers had one in his hand.
 
Old Geek said:
I was wondering, is there any reason why someone in the tower would be using an E6B? Because one of the controllers had one in his hand.
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That's illogical.

Spock_E6B_02e.jpg
 
N747JB said:
What about "Firefox" early 80's Clint Eastwood, had to think in Russian to make the plane fly :nono: Then he landed on an ice flow and refueled.:rofl:
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Oh yeah, I forgot to list that in my worst category. I still have it on DVD though. Sometimes a few beers does wonders for a bad movie. Now that I think if it that works for a lot of things.
 
Oh Man, here is some acting....
Loved this scene as a kid. Now makes me cringe LOL

 
Best Movie redux

12 O-Clock high was my best.

Gotta add Dam Busters - a gripping British military procedural if there is such a thing... who was 'M'? There's always an 'M' type or two in British war movies.

Dr Strangelove - great choice - a gripping US military procedural in the middle of a gut punching satire. B-52s rule!

So, self analysis suggests that I'm a WWII bomber commander wannabe, cold war preferred.
 
Best- "Right Stuff" One of my all time faves. I even took a stick of Beeman's with me on my check ride last year.


Worst (and surprised I haven't seen it mentioned yet)- "Con Air" The scene where they pull the control unit for the transponder, wire a battery to it, and put it on another plane so they can throw off the cops :rofl:
 
AvionicsTech said:
Worst (and surprised I haven't seen it mentioned yet)- "Con Air" The scene where they pull the control unit for the transponder, wire a battery to it, and put it on another plane so they can throw off the cops :rofl:
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Hilarious! That movie was terrible.
 
A lot of movies I need to catch apparently. I must have watched Always 200x as a child. Loved that movie.
 
Old Geek said:
Speaking of crappy airplane movies, I happened to run across Die Hard 2 the other day. And I was wondering, is there any reason why someone in the tower would be using an E6B? Because one of the controllers had one in his hand.
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DH2 has got to be the worst aviation movie made.

Nothing in it, from your E6B reference, to a plane with no fuel crashing in a gigantic fireball after having the glideslope "lowered" by the "tower" is remotely realistic.


But what a great action flick! :D
 
Fearless Tower said:
I wouldn't put it in the realm of the Best, but Final Countdown is a worthy mention.
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Dammit, now that's going to be stuck in my head all friggin night!

Final Countdown.... deel dull dee deee... deel dulll dee dee dee... deedle dee dee... deedle dee doo dee.

:mad2:

Also, 1941 and 16R are the stuff! I'm sorry but I LOVE Firefox - "Let me see your papers" and the water spires on the low pass over the ocean were amazing then! ConAir can suck it... "I said... put the puppy... back in the box"
 
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12 o'clock high was the best, written from experiences of the bloody 100th bomb group flying out of England. It's a mad world......Paul mantz flying a beech 18 thru a mock billboard with 3 foot clearance on each side plus Jonathan winters. ( Paul mantz later killed flying the Phoenix during filming) and another great one was the portrayal by George c. Scott of lemay in the great comedy movie ( strangelove)about the A bomb. Worst.....Ronald and nancy Reagan in hellcats of the navy.
 
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I just had a horrible reminder of the Grumman Goose flight in Commando... The engines won't start pumping both throttles, and then Arnold magically starts them by hitting the panel and saying "ahhkhhahhah... vurks evu-ry tyme" hahaha


Shane
The Squawk Shoppe
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
"Charley Varrick"

I don't know if this was actually a good movie or I simply have bad taste.
 
Bill Watson said:
Gotta add Dam Busters - a gripping British military procedural if there is such a thing... who was 'M'? There's always an 'M' type or two in British war movies.
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I found a great doc from PBS called "Bombing Hitler's Dams" where they actually recreated a scale model of one of the dams in the Northwest Territories and Buffalo (Ice Pilots NWT) drop a spinning bomb on it!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/bombing-hitler-dams.html

It's on Netflix.
 
Then there's the Piper Cherokee tour de force in Goldfinger. In the formation of five, traveling at a speed of "two two zero" (km/h maybe?) were a PA-28-140, a -150B, two -180Bs and a -235.

Though most of the plot took place in the US, Sean Connery never set foot in America during filming. All of his scenes were filmed in Britain, some with rear-projection of US locations. Likewise, the helicopter scene with Honor Blackman and Gert Frobe was filmed in Britain. The helicopter's British registration mark G-ASAZ was clumsily changed to make it look American -- "N-ASAZ"
 
Pilawt said:
Though most of the plot took place in the US, Sean Connery never set foot in America during filming. All of his scenes were filmed in Britain, some with rear-projection of US locations. Likewise, the helicopter scene with Honor Blackman and Gert Frobe was filmed in Britain. The helicopter's British registration mark G-ASAZ was clumsily changed to make it look American -- "N-ASAZ"
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Hottest Bond babe ever, and with the best name in the franchise.
 
Archammer said:
Dammit, now that's going to be stuck in my head all friggin night!

Final Countdown.... deel dull dee deee... deel dulll dee dee dee... deedle dee dee... deedle dee doo dee.
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That's the song, not the movie.
 
Also I enjoyed the flying scenes in Aviator.
Leo was an odd pick to play Howard Hughes but the flying was cool.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Also I enjoyed the flying scenes in Aviator.
Leo was an odd pick to play Howard Hughes but the flying was cool.
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I had a different take on that one. I thought The Aviator was pretty bad physics-wise. The computer-generated airplanes looked great, but didn’t move anything like real airplanes would move.

The HR-1’s power-off, gear-up slide through the berry patch — after a cartoonish “flareout” — lasted eighteen seconds before the camera cut away, the airplane still moving at a good clip, seemingly a constant speed (maybe they were greaseberries?). Plenty of time for Leo to mug for the camera. Plus he handled the controls like it was a skiploader, rather than a high-performance airplane. Jimmy Stewart, at least, knew how to “fly” an airplane in the movies.

And how about sound? Over the Hollywood Hills Leo and Cate whisper and coo to each other in the cockpit of a Sikorsky S-38 (Hughes’ real airplane was an S-43) as “Moonglow” plays softly in the background. That would have been kinda tough with the din from the unmuffled R-1340’s and prop tips mere inches from the cabin roof.

In the interview on the bonus disc, director Scorsese admits that before making this movie he knew nothing about aviation. No kidding. Howard Hughes was passionate about technical accuracy in his films; he would have hated the aviation scenes in this movie.
 
JeffDG said:
I found a great doc from PBS called "Bombing Hitler's Dams" where they actually recreated a scale model of one of the dams in the Northwest Territories and Buffalo (Ice Pilots NWT) drop a spinning bomb on it!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/bombing-hitler-dams.html

It's on Netflix.
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I saw that too and loved it!
Pilawt said:
Then there's the Piper Cherokee tour de force in Goldfinger. In the formation of five, traveling at a speed of "two two zero" (km/h maybe?) were a PA-28-140, a -150B, two -180Bs and a -235.

Though most of the plot took place in the US, Sean Connery never set foot in America during filming. All of his scenes were filmed in Britain, some with rear-projection of US locations. Likewise, the helicopter scene with Honor Blackman and Gert Frobe was filmed in Britain. The helicopter's British registration mark G-ASAZ was clumsily changed to make it look American -- "N-ASAZ"
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I was in grade school but I guess I was already a high wing guy... I thought the Pipers were lame. Honor Plenty or Blackmen Galore or whatever her name was; not lame.
SixPapaCharlie said:
Also I enjoyed the flying scenes in Aviator.
Leo was an odd pick to play Howard Hughes but the flying was cool.
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I liked that movie but had a problem with the CGI flying. Liked Leo's portrayal but any portrayal of the strangely gifted and talented Mr Hughes is bound to a bit odd.
 
"Altitude" without a doubt is the best aviation movie ever. This movie made me want to start flying.

Worst is "Airplane". Maybe you have to be born in a certain decade to enjoy that?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9wtWH8Yvg
 
N747JB said:
Firefox is on REELZ tonight! :dunno:
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I watched it. Hell Divers was on TCM (I think) last night, too. I actually think the 1932 flying special effects were way better than 1982 flying special effects.
 
Hocky said:
"Altitude" without a doubt is the best aviation movie ever. This movie made me want to start flying.

Worst is "Airplane". Maybe you have to be born in a certain decade to enjoy that?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9wtWH8Yvg
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I am going to watch this on netflix but if anyone sees it in my queue I am going to deny it was me that watched it.
 
JB1842 said:
I watched it. Hell Divers was on TCM (I think) last night, too. I actually think the 1932 flying special effects were way better than 1982 flying special effects.
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I was flipping back and forth between Firefox and the Braves/Phillies game. The flying scenes are worse than I remembered, funny how good the special effects were in Star Wars compared to some of the other movies of the same era. :D Firefox must have been made on a LOW budget! :rolleyes:
 
N747JB said:
I was flipping back and forth between Firefox and the Braves/Phillies game. The flying scenes are worse than I remembered, funny how good the special effects were in Star Wars compared to some of the other movies of the same era. :D Firefox must have been made on a LOW budget! :rolleyes:
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I love flying and like Clint but something about Firefox kept me out of the theater and away from any later video viewings. Some movies you just know suck it.

OTOH, I watched 1986's Aliens last night and forgot just how enjoyable pre-CGI special effects could be. There's little flying but it's a great movie... actually the flying and crashing of that futuristic Huey-like contraption was pretty cool in a way that CGI stuff seldom is. Sort of like the Starwars AT AT Walkers getting tripped up by the cable.
 
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