Your favorite aviation movie or T.V. series?

Hey, gang. Check this site out. There are actually a few that I didn't know! :)

http://www.coastcomp.com/av/fltline2/avmovie.htm

My favorite TV shows were Whirleybirds, Sky King, and (just because it was so cheesy!) Tales of the Gold Monkey.
Movies: Twelve O'clock High, The Blue Max, 633 Squadron, Battle of Britain,and Flight of the Intruder. Flight of the Phoenix , Strageic Air Command, and Spirit of St. Louis are all favorites of mine. - Ed

QUOTE: Originally posted by Pixilater Yes, Merlin V1650, there IS a good AVG movie : God is My Co-Pilot

Thanks, Pixilater

I've heard of the movie but never seen it. I guess I'm going to have to try to find it.
Come to think of it I believe I read the book when I was a kid.

My favourite movie is Reach For The Sky. It's the story of Sir Douglas Barder, who as a young man lost both his legs when his aircraft crashed during an aerobatics display. After a long recovery, and the addition of his "tin legs" he learnt to walk again and he returned to the RAF at the onset of WWll. He was told he would never fly again-he refused to accept this and proved his doubters wrong.
He went on to command squadrons of hurricanes and spitfires during the battle of Britain and even when captured by German forces, refused to give in or back down, having his replacement legs dropped to him by an RAF bomber whilst he was in captivity!
A great film about a great man. It always inspires me when I watch it.
Later,

Darren.

My twopenneth worth,
A Gathering of Eagles, Rock Hudson playing with B-52's
Angels One Five, Jack Hawkins playing with Hurricane's
The Dambusters, nuff said,
S.A.C., Jimmy Stewart toying with B-36's
633 Squadron, aah Mossies
The Bridges at Toko-Ri, aah Panthers
The ~~~~~~s, Bob Mitchum splashing Casey Jones' Thunderstreak ! in his Sabre
Jet Pilot, John Wayne in the X-1
Toward the Unknown, William Holden and all those X-planes etc.
Oh well, can't think of any more at the moment,
Pete

Most of the movies listed here I realy enjoy. As for some of the best war movies, Das Boot has to be one of my al time favorites. No, it's not aircraft, but it's just a great movie. Independence Day also had some great flight sequences, even if it all was CG. Also, Final Countdown was brilliant.

As for TV show, Black Sheep was pretty good, as was Blue Thunder and Airwolf.

demono69

Unless I missed it, no one mentioned...

Thunderbirds


How can you forget a classic like that?!?!?

Eric

Yes, Fighter Squadron was great. But how about those black P51s pretending to be German ? Complete with a Swastika on the gunsight !

DUH !

Thanks for jogging my memory guys ! How could I have forgotten "Spirit if St. Louis" and "The Right Stuff" ??

I also have to admit that I liked "FIghter Squadron" - only because of the real honest-to-God P-47's !

Jim

Anyone remember "The Blue Max" starring George Peppard?

Wings and all of the Wings offshoots were good. I like Midway, but I have to turn off my mind to watch it. Too many times they used footage of different planes than the ones they were talking about flying. Airplane, 1941, keep threatening to watch Tora, Tora, Tora but I haven't yet. The planes in Indiana Jones movies, the flying wing scene was the best. Mostly I watch documentaries though.

Jerry

Hi all,

I feel like I'm in an alternatve universe after reading some of these posts. I thought Midway was okay, but the flying and battle scenes were aweful. There's a freaking F9F Panther crash featured as a plot point! I think I recall seeing carriers with angled flight decks too. The depiction of the events leading up to and during the battle were sometimes hard to follow, and I knew what I was looking for. Overall, I'd call Midway a somewhat entertaining, but inaccurate and flawed mess.

Tora Tora Tora, on the other hand, is a wonderful movie. I like how it portrays both the American and Japanese points of view (there were two directors -- one from each country). I think the flying scenes are fantastic. They are much better than anything computer generated could be. I know the Japanese planes are converted American trainers, but I still think they look great. The attack on the Harbor is gut wrenching. I realize that there is probably some spin on each side's part of the story, but even taking that into account, Tora Tora Tora provides a good, comprehensive view of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Regards,

-Drew

I just remembered some that haven't been mentioned yet.
633 Squadron ( the one with Mosquitos, not sure of the #)
A Guy Named Joe
Bombadier
Yes, Merlin V1650, there IS a good AVG movie : God is My Co-Pilot

Here's my list.The movies are;
Top Gun
Twelve o'Clock High
Strategic Air Command
Spirit of St Louis
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Memphis Belle- the original documentary
The Right Stuff
T.V. series ;
Black Sheep Squadron
Tales of the Gold Monkey
fuzzy

Dark Blue World is an outstanding film. I would definately recommend it.

Interesting question.
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Dawn Patrol
Dambusters
Reach For The Sky
Apointment in London
and best of all The High and The Mighty (not avbl on video)
TV War in the Air series.
Dai

I really enjoyed the "Wings" series on the Discovery Channel, and the later variants -
"Wings of the Luftwaffe", "Wings of the Red Star", "Wings over the Gulf", etc.

But when I need to escape reality, I must agree with Upnorth - "Blue Thunder" - the movie and the TV series. A truly sinister-looking machine.

My fav. series is "Combat" and it is a pretty good show for it to be in black and white most of the time...even though there are some that are in color,and the "Band of Brothers"

And for movies i would say would be "Pearl Harbor" and "A bridge too far"

Empire of the Sun for a movie. There are some great scenes in that film. The one scene that gives me goose bumps everytime I see it is the P51 flying down the street and the kid standing on the roof can look at the pilot face to face as he goes by. Man I love that scene.

TV series.....it was pure fantasy and I loved the characters in that series almost as much as I loved the plane....Tales of the Gold Monkey.

Mike

My favorite aviation movie is the Spirit of St. Louis, starring Jimmy Stewart as Lindberg. I'm suprised that no one has mentioned it yet!

God Bless!

Kevin

How could I forget: THE RIGHT STUFF

"They all want to see Buck Rodgers and that's what we're going to give'm!"

I understand why some may not have the taste for TOP GUN like myself- yeh it can be pretty cheesy but that's also what makes it ejoyable at times- great quotes in that film and a great (cocky) attitude that the pilots had! It was also the first "modern" air combat film,.

I think TOP GUN does have a lot of historical significance to it. I'm paraphrasing someone else's idea but here it goes... "The Movie TOP GUN single-handedly broke the Vietnam (War) Military mentality/perception America had of the Armed forces. This was the right movie at the right time (The Reagon Era) which made us believe that we were winners again".

Thus I would argue, that America at the time needed a hero- and that was the F-14! The image the movie portrayed helped put behind our shame of the Vietnam Conflict and gave us headstrong, and perhaps careless, vision of the present day Cold War and America's role in the world.

Take that for what you will, but I thought it interesting and thought provoking. wheather the above argument is good or bad/ right or wrong is yet to be determined by history.

There I go geting all philisophical again!

Flight of the Intruder.. Loved that.. Memphis Belle.. Hot Shots, flying high..

Never did like Top gun for some reason..

cmtaylor, thanks for the reminder! What a great movie that was! I have it, somewhere on Video, but you are right, it's not yet available on DVD...

A bit off the subject, but I also loved the Captain Scarlet puppet show. Those Angel Interceptors were out of this world...!

Battle of Britain, Tora, Tora, Tora, Midway are movies I could watch over and over again.

I liked "Top Gun" because of the F-14, even though Tom Cruise sucks...

I've yet to see "Dark Blue World" but its been recomended to me by several folks who know I'm a wingnut, so eventually I'll take a look at it.

I liked the Topgun film for the flying scenes alone, the acting was an atrocity and the plot line too thin.

For helicopters, I liked both the "Blue Thunder" film and series that followed it, generally I found the flight scenes in it to be more believable and with better continuity than in Airwolf (plus the Blue Thunder chopper just looked a heck of a lot meaner.)

I also liked "The Right Stuff" enough to watch it a few times over.

Movie would have to be "Dark Blue World". Its about CZhek pilots (spellIng?) who escape from their country and join the RAF to fight the Germans at the battle of britain. Best fight scenes and it has an intriguing plot.
TV show would have to be "BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON"

I liked "Tora Tora Tora" much more than "Pearl Harbor", none of them being very accurate. Few months ago I watched "Battle of Britain" - Merlin engined 109's are so bizzare . I remember watching "Airwolf", when I was a kid. Back then I was impressed by jet powered helicopter

Favorite Hollwierd movies:
12 O'CLOCK HIGH ( all-time favorite )
Battle of Britain
Bridges at Toko-Ri
Wing and a Prayer
The Dam Busters
Test Pilot
Dive Bomber
Always
Great Waldo Pepper
Air Force
Tora Tora Tora
The Hunters
The War Lover
Dawn Patrol
Reach for the Sky

Documetaries:
Thunderbolt (friend flew with the 57th FG)
Memphis Belle
Zemke's Way
Thunderbolts - The Conquest of the Reich

TV shows:
Sky King
Whirlybirds
(showing my age with these two !)
Piece of Cake (TV miniseries - I enjoyed the book more)

Jim

I love some of the classics like Tora, Tora, Tora, & Midway but Top Gun would have to top my list- it's what got me (seriously) into modeling! I'm reliving my childhood right now by building Hasegawa's 1/48th kit.

I'm also fond of the modern Pearl Harbor (AFLACK!), the battle scense are spectacular.

As far as TV series goes- The A-TEAM! And I pity the fool who disagrees! :)

I like Tora Tara Tora the best then next to that Top Gun.