Air Combat movie tropes

[mustangdriver]

If I remember correctly, The Mig-28's which are T-38's and F-5's were actually assigned to an aggressor squadron, and that is the paint scheme they carried.

Under stressful times there are those that get through things with humor. "Hawkeye Pierce" a good example

The Memphis Belle is one of the planes to have a pic of the gal back home in the cockpit, It happened a good bit talking to the vets I have.

I think the problem is that alot of these things exist in alot of cases, but movie producers think it exists in every case

[Baldeagle]

Not aviation, but I remember reading somewhere that when they were filming "We Were Soldiers" a number of the dying men's last words were something to the effect of "Tell my wife I love her", and that the producers hesitated to include this because they were afraid that people who saw the film would think that a screenwriter put that in to add drama, when in fact it actually happened a lot.



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[gary1954]

But she always comes around and stands by her man and the military in the end.

And she's usually played by June Allyson.

now that is funny

[Elwyn]

Almost any snippet of film about Pearl Harbor that shows SBD's diving in to attack.

[Chris Brame]

Bad guy get raked in the cockpit, canopy shatters and blood pours out of his mouth and flies everywhere.

Sounds like you're referring to Flying Tigers. I imagine very bloody movie violence was a rare thing in those days due to the Hays Office production codes, but they gave those scenes a pass. The scene in Gone With the Wind where the Union renegade is shot by Scarlett in blood-spattered close-up must have been a similar exception.

Speaking of the Hays Office, I wonder how much trouble Howard Hawks had getting them to allow John Garfield to say, "D@mn 'em... d@mn 'em..." as he looks down at the wreckage of Pearl Harbor in Air Force?

[Randy Haskin]

Not aviation, but I remember reading somewhere that when they were filming "We Were Soldiers" a number of the dying men's last words were something to the effect of "Tell my wife I love her", and that the producers hesitated to include this because they were afraid that people who saw the film would think that a screenwriter put that in to add drama, when in fact it actually happened a lot.

I have a HUD tape from Desert Storm where an F-16 pilot says this over the common freq right before ejecting.

[mustangdriver]

Randy that post really made me stop and take that in. On the medical helicopters I saw a number of people pass. Not in combat mind you, but it is something I never got used to. Many last words were for wives and mothers.

[k5083]

And for kids, if you have them. Seriously, what kind of jerk's last thoughts would be of anything else?

August

[p51]

Many last words were for wives and mothers.

I was hesitant to post on that point, but I've heard a few last words as well. One was for the wife, the rest were for their mothers.

And for kids, if you have them. Seriously, what kind of jerk's last thoughts would be of anything else?

The kind of human jerks, I guess. I've never heard of someone talking about their kids in their last words. Thankfully, I didn't have a lot of experience with that from my active duty days, but I heard my fill and nobody mentioned kids. I asked a co-worker of mine who was a ER nurse for years and she said she heard lots of dying men and can't recall any last words for the kids, it was always the wives or mothers. She said women sometimes made comments about making sure the kids would be okay until someone showed up for them, though...

[The Inspector]

Almost any snippet of film about Pearl Harbor that shows SBD's diving in to attack.

Because those shots were from John Fords rushed to screen film about the attack and it was simply easier to darken the meatball & star on early SBD footage than to try and locate actual footage of Aichi VALS (remember, at that time point we were just realizing that the A6M actually did exist).
Even as a kid watching (age revelation coming......wait for it......) NAVY LOG, & The Big Picture on Black & White TV (with 5 total channels) I knew those were SBD's. Occasionally the film shows up on TCM and is sort of a hoot to watch for bloopers, realizing that Ma & Pa in the BIJOU Theater in Mule Swap Junction in 1942 wouldn't know an SBD from a Ham sandwich, but it's just full of patriotic tubs being enthusiastically thumped, followed by a 2 minute promo to buy war bonds.

[k5083]

And for kids, if you have them. Seriously, what kind of jerk's last thoughts would be of anything else?

The kind of human jerks, I guess. I've never heard of someone talking about their kids in their last words. Thankfully, I didn't have a lot of experience with that from my active duty days, but I heard my fill and nobody mentioned kids. I asked a co-worker of mine who was a ER nurse for years and she said she heard lots of dying men and can't recall any last words for the kids, it was always the wives or mothers. She said women sometimes made comments about making sure the kids would be okay until someone showed up for them, though...

Well, to be clear, I meant to sweep in parents, wives, and kids in my comment as the last things anybody but a jerk would think of. But I am surprised by your stories. For most parents I know, their kids are at the very top of their thoughts in any crisis.

August

[fritzthefox]

I hope my last words are something really funny.

[Randune]

The movie Midway
and
Cut shots of the pilots in cockpits looking from their feet up at them with the control stick as high as their throat

[jmkendall]

Dustoff, 8 years. Wives, Kids, Moms, Dads, other loved ones in no particular order. More than I want to remember. Women tend to ask for their fathers much more than men; and vice versa.

[Zachary]

Dustoff, 8 years. Wives, Kids, Moms, Dads, other loved ones in no particular order. More than I want to remember. Women tend to ask for their fathers much more than men; and vice versa.

Thank you for your service.