Warbird Information Exchange

My favorites:

Memphis Belle- The original black and white version.
633 Squadron
Empire of the Sun
Strategic Air Command- Love seeing all the old footage of B-47s, etc.
Battle of Britain

And if we're counting war movies that aren't specifically about warbirds:

Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
Patton
Schindler's List

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Matt

You can tell that Kalamazoo Kis is a KID. JETS ARE FOR KIDS! See the B-47s, what B-47s guy didn't you see all those beautiful B-36s with PROPS?

I forgot another big favorite of mine...the movie "SAHARA".

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Ok,

12 O'Clock High
Catch 22
Battle of Brittain
The Thin Red Line
Saving Pvt. Ryan
BattleGround
Patton
The Dam Busters
Empire of the Sun
Command Decision
The Best Years of Our Lives
Air Force

And so on and so on.....

I don't think so. "Tora" was a 1968 20th Century Fox pic, and IIRC "Midway" was from Universal, around 1975..and I don't think any of the same people were involved. "Midway" basically stole footage from pretty much every other WWII aviation movie ever made..including "Tora." I always thought the (few) original scenes had a cheap "made for TV movie" look. And watching Charlton Heston's whiney, brooding son pining for his Japanese/American girlfriend is simply intolerable.


The original William Wyler documentary was in color..are you sure you're not thinking of "12 O'clock High?"


That's another I could add to my list, along with "30 Seconds Over Tokyo." While not strictly a war movie, "Empire of the Sun" is also one of my favorites. A couple of my "guilty pleasures" have always been "Kelly's Heroes" and "Von Ryan's Express."

SN

Eagle Squadron because I just love those fancy Me's that can make a flat 90' turn

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Lot of good films mentioned here, along with some not-so-good films, but what the heck, we enjoyed them anyway. Gotta love those German Mustangs in "Fighter Squadron."

Back in '77, there was a made-for-TV movie called, Young Joe, The Forgotten Kennedy. I only saw it twice, but if I remember correctly, it was pretty good. Peter Strauss played Joe Junior, and there were a couple of memorable scenes in which Frank Tallman taught Strauss/Joe Jr. how to fly a Stearman.

Best of all, there were a few scenes that featured - at that time - rare current footage of a B-24 in flight. The film also gave some long overdue recognition to the Navy Liberator pilots. Their job was thankless, unglamorous, and absolutely vital to winning the war.

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The main winding was of the normal lotus-o deltoid type placed in panendermic semi-bolloid slots of the stator. Every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremmy pipe to the differential girdle spring on the up-end of the grammeters. Moreover, whenever fluorescent square motion is required, it may also be employed in conjunction with the drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal depleneration.

I remember watching that on t.v. when it came out. It was awesome because it had Dave Tallichet's B-24, "Delectable Doris" in it. At the time, I thought that the CAF had the only flying B-24. It was quite the shock to me then! Too bad that movie has never come out on VHS or DVD. VCR's were still in their infancy then, so it's probably unlikely anybody recorded it. It will probably be lost forever, as television/movie studios don't often release made-for-t.v. movies, unless they are extremely popular. This one wasn't. I would kill to see that B-24 footage once more!

You guys have mentioned a number of really great ones (plus a few stinkers, sorry). Add to the list:

"The Enemy Below"
"Murphy's War"
"They Were Expendable"
"The Man Who Never Was"
"Stalag 17"
"Bridge on the River Kwai"

The comments above on "Pearl Harbor" give me an idea for a new thread -- Awful war movies with great flying scenes!

Favorite: Band of Brothers (SCREAMING EAGLES!!)

Honorable mentions:
Tora Tora Tora
Midway
Battle of Britain
Patton
Letters from Iwo Jima
Run Silent Run Deep
From Here to Eternity (gotta love anything with Sinatra)
To Hell and Back (wow censored lol)
Fighter Squadron

**prewar*** Here Comes the Navy (Filmed on the U.S.S. ARIZONA)

My least favorite:
The Battle of the Bulge........I have it but it hurts just to look at the cover


*edit* forgot: A Guy Named Joe, who could forget Spencer Tracy bombing that Nazi Aircraft Carrier.....maybe the filmmaker thought the Germans would actually complete an aircraft carrier.

Haha yes, I guess I am a Kid. I'm sure there aren't too many college students who post here.

The B-36 footage in that movie is awesome as well. I just wish there could have been B-58s in the movie (now that's a REAL jet, not like the toy B-47). I guess I'll stop polluting the forum with my jet talk now

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Matt

The Great Escape
The Battle of Britain
Mister Roberts

Battleground

Destination Tokyo

They Were Expendable

12 Graves to Cairo

Sink the Bismark

Guadalcanal Diary

The Greaty Escape

PT 109

Thats just for non aviation based films.

.Hang Tough

and for you PBY buffs 'Hgih Barbary' starring Van Johnson

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Reach for the Sky
Flying Leathernecks (John Wayne...a pilot!!!)
One minute to Zero

But best film of all (albeit several decades from WW2): ZULU! Thank goodness those guys couldn't fly!!