John Wayne Airplane Movies

terzap

terzap

Line Up and Wait
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terzap
Wow, has anyone checked out the remastered DVDs of John Wayne's airplane movies? Fan-freakin' tastic! I'm watching Island In The Sky right now and only by the grace of needing a pit stop paused it long enough to do that and write a note to the board.

I thought The High and The Mighty was good but a bit too melodramatic (most regarding the passenger vignettes), but Island In The Sky is really good! I have to compliment my local video store on having them available.

terry
 
terzap said:
Wow, has anyone checked out the remastered DVDs of John Wayne's airplane movies? Fan-freakin' tastic! I'm watching Island In The Sky right now and only by the grace of needing a pit stop paused it long enough to do that and write a note to the board.

I thought The High and The Mighty was good but a bit too melodramatic (most regarding the passenger vignettes), but Island In The Sky is really good! I have to compliment my local video store on having them available.

terry
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I watched TH&TM twice, that was enough of that. Island In The Sky I could watch again and again and again and... Read the book, other than the type a/c I thought the movie was every bit of the book.

I watched The Flying Tigers tonight. Cheesy, but a good cheesy. (Look for the Stearmans in the dogfighting scenes.)
 
Totally agree with you regarding Island in the Sky. Fantastic movie. One of my favorite JW movies is Flying Leathernecks. Lots of excelent air combat footage.
 
That scene in Island In The Sky when the search planes pass within sight but do not locate the stranded crew: John Wayne looked like he was going to cry. M'gosh, you know it's bad when the Duke is feeling down in the chips. I thought he played that scene especially well because it let the audience get even a small taste of what it feels like to be stranded in extreme conditions with little hope.

Earlier today I watched Guadalcanal Diary. I had just reread a book on the Canal so I was watching to see if the movie was accurate. It was.
 
Richard said:
That scene in Island In The Sky when the search planes pass within sight but do not locate the stranded crew: John Wayne looked like he was going to cry. M'gosh, you know it's bad when the Duke is feeling down in the chips. I thought he played that scene especially well because it let the audience get even a small taste of what it feels like to be stranded in extreme conditions with little hope....
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I agree.

Also, regarding the DVD, it has great special features and -- amazing for an older film -- a commentary. (I'm one of those people who LOVE the director's commentaries) When you realize that all the aerial shots were actually being flown and not done in a computer--as they are today--it's even more amazing. Of course they duplicated the exterior icing in a studio, but it sure convinced me.

I watched the movie again today with the commentary. I think I can watch it one more time before having to give it back.
:)

terry
 
terzap said:
When you realize that all the aerial shots were actually being flown and not done in a computer--as they are today--it's even more amazing.
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A good example is the recent The Aviator. All of the computer-generated airplanes look great, but none of them move in the air anything like a real airplane. And that scene of the gear-up forced landing -- I thought that airplane would never stop sliding through that tomato field. :rofl: I guess a realistically-sudden stop wouldn't give Leo enough time to "emote."

The explanation can be found in the interview of director Martin Scorsese on the bonus disc packaged with The Aviator. He says before working on The Aviator he knew nothing about aviation. Do tell. :rolleyes:

In The High And The Mighty and Island in The Sky, on the other hand, director William Wellman's respect for and familiarity with the subject matter are very apparent.

-- Pilawt
 
Pilawt said:
A good example is the recent The Aviator. All of the computer-generated airplanes look great, but none of them move in the air anything like a real airplane. And that scene of the gear-up forced landing -- I thought that airplane would never stop sliding through that tomato field. :rofl: I guess a realistically-sudden stop wouldn't give Leo enough time to "emote."

The explanation can be found in the interview of director Martin Scorsese on the bonus disc packaged with The Aviator. He says before working on The Aviator he knew nothing about aviation. Do tell. :rolleyes:

In The High And The Mighty and Island in The Sky, on the other hand, director William Wellman's respect for and familiarity with the subject matter are very apparent.

-- Pilawt
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bean field
 
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These two movies were taken from books written by the same man. Do you know this mans name? Clue: He lived in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands before his death.:)
 
Bob Bement said:
These two movies were taken from books written by the same man. Do you know this mans name? Clue: He lived in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands before his death.:)
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And his initials are EG.
 
Surely, everyone here has read the Ernest K. Gann books?
 
Gann also wrote the screenplays and was on as a technical advisor to the movies. In the commentary for Island in the Sky, they said he was flying the airplane from which the cameraman shot the aerial footage. I'm not sure if this was for the entire movie or only for a few scenes.

So its no wonder the movies are good and true to the aviator/airplane/tech end of things.

I haven't read his books, but I am getting them from the library this weekend. :)
 
Have Read the Following:
Fate is the Hunter
High and the Mighty
Blaze of Noon
Island in the Sky

Fate is the Hunter is my fav but can't wait to own Island and HighnM Dvds. Blaze of Noon was ok, it was more about the sacrafices aviators make.
 
When I was reading Fate is the Hunter, an article came out in the Flying Magazine about Ernie Gann. It showed a page from his log book about a flight in a DC2, in which they picked up a lot of ice. I had just read about that in his book. At the end of his entry about the trip in his log was three letters I C E !!! It was ironic.
 
According to one of the interviews on the bonus DVD sold with The High And The Mighty, Bob Cummings was originally considered for the part of the captain, eventually played by Robert Stack. Cummings was an accomplished pilot and USAF colonel, and would have been more realistic than was Stack in handling the controls. That's what I like about Jimmy Stewart's flying movies; you can tell he really knows how the controls are supposed to move and respond.

Cummings was a great advocate for G.A., and often worked his own Beech 18 into the scripts of his 1957-59 comedy series, The Bob Cummings Show (retitled in syndication, Love That Bob).

-- Pilawt
 
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