The Blue Max

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Luke G Dec 10, 2018 Although it could have been a half hour shorter, I wound up liking this movie. The cast all give good performances and I really liked the aerial combat sequences. See more

Harry S Sep 29, 2018 Clumsy and padded but entertaining. 1918. After two years in the trenches, Lieutenant Bruno Stachel becomes a fighter pilot. He joins the fighter squadron of Captain Heidemann. It is soon clear that Stachel's morals and methods are at odds with the chivalrous, honour-led customs of his comrades. Moreover, Stachel is driven by one thing - get 20 kills and thus win Germany's highest military honour, the Blue Max. An entertaining take on the air war in WW1. Told from the German perspective, the movie covers some interesting themes: honour, winning at all costs vs gentlemanly conduct, class divides, personal ambition vs teamwork. However, some of these themes aren't fully developed and just serve to pad the movie, making it much longer than it needed to be. It's not just the underdeveloped themes that take up time, but many of the sub-plots in general. The Stachel-Countess relationship added nothing to the movie yet took up a lot of the time. Similarly, the monoplane sub-plot: this shouldn't have been in the movie at all - it just seemed historically inaccurate - yet it blew up from a single-scene device to something that had a profound impact on the storyline. Moreover, shoehorning the unnecessary/underdeveloped themes and sub-plots into the movie gives the movie a clumsy and contrived feeling. This said, it's not bad. The aerial combat is great, and shot very well. Being made in 1966, the movie predates CGI, so everything you see was real. I was constantly amazed at how the producers managed to find so many surviving WW1 planes. In addition, the military aspects are handled very well. Overall - entertaining. However, with a tighter script - no romantic angle, less sub-plots and less half-baked themes - and more concentration on the aerial warfare aspect and this could have been a masterpiece. See more

Hagrid P Sep 9, 2018 One of the best war movies ever. Fantastic scenes, good special effects and very good argument. Highly recommend. One of the best classics of the 60's. See more

Theodore W Apr 23, 2017 For any lover of war movies or the early days of aviation or sexy, wanton ingenues, this movie is worth catching. Peppard has moments where he can be believable, and the supporting cast of Mason, Kemp and Vogler hold a patchy script together with good performances. Also, Ursula Andress smolders as the countess, temptress. If you remember her from James Bond & Dr. No you will not be disappointed here where she looks her sexy best in a bath towel instead of a bathing suit. Action scenes are typical of the era war movies with some nice aerial and ground combat sequences. Peppard is the headliner, but James Mason, the much better actor, steals his limited number of scenes. Jeremy Kemp as Peppard's co-equal in the sky is well cast, and puts in a very good performance. Karl Michael Vogler's character is the squadron leader who helps the plot move forward with some good acting, as well. Throw in a few interesting sub-plots, decent cinematography, and John Guillermin(The Towering Inferno, King Kong '76, The Bridge at Remagen) directing you get an enjoyable movie. 3.5/5 or 7.5/10. See more

Hermione W Apr 1, 2017 Great sweeping portrayal of the air war during World War with plenty of outstanding aerial combat sequences. Bruno Stachel seems to be fighting his own squadron mates and chain of command as he's fighting the British. See more

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The Blue Max

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