Flight of the Intruder.

The film's screenplay is pretty close to the book in most respects and the movie, in spite of some difficulties the director encountered with the studio, is very well made. Flight of the Intruder author Stephen Coonts said of the screenplay: 'Most books don't seem to survive, but this was an excellent transition'.

Like the more well known, yet decidedly inferior Top Gun movie, Flight of the Intruder is something of a recruitment flag-waver for the US Navy, but in spite of this, it comes across as more authentic and has much more believable combat sequences which enjoy far superior aerial camerawork as well as some absolutely stunning model-work too, and unlike in Top Gun with its F-5s as 'MiGs', the aeroplanes in Flight of the Intruder are the correct ones, including a real MiG 17.

In terms of popularity at the box office (or rather the movie's lack of it), the authenticity of Flight of the Intruder, with its unvarnished coverage of the Vietnam War focusing on pilots being killed in action, captured etc and the affect on those who continue in the face of this when a war is unpopular back at home, coupled with the fact that it was in cinemas slap bang in the middle of the 1991 Gulf War, all worked against it. So it's easy to see why Top Gun played better with the average movie-goer, but for people who want a realistic war movie, there's just no comparison between Top Gun's popcorn treatment of jet combat alongside Flight of the Intruder's gritty realism, with a better cast, better script, better acting, better direction and so on.

Unlike the more widely-seen Top Gun, Flight of the Intruder has none of the unintentionally comedic homo-erotic under/overtones of Top Gun which make that movie hard to take seriously either. As noted, the cast of Flight of the Intruder is markedly superior too (helped by the fact that they get much better dialogue), with Willem Defoe, Brad Johnson, Danny Glover, Tom Sizemore, Rosanna Arquette in the main roles, but there are a ton of cameos and bit parts from loads of other great actors too, including David Schwimmer and Fred Thompson.

The sequences with the SAM launches and murderous triple-A over North Vietnam at night in Flight of the Intruder are without doubt some of the best and most captivating scenes of any movie, managing to make you feel a genuine sense of dread every time you hear the warning alarms going off in the cockpit indicating a SAM launch. This is hardly surprising when you realise it is directed by John Milius, who amongst other things, was the screenwriter for Apocalypse Now and the first two Dirty Harry movies, as well as having directed The Wind and the Lion, Red Dawn and Conan the Barbarian.

Definitely worth a look if you've never seen it.

 

Edited May 21, 20224 yr by Chock

I also liked both 2004 and 1965 versions of The Flight of the Phoenix. Both are very entertaining.

Here's the 2004 version:

 

Flight of the Phoenix reminds me The Sands of the Kalahari which was vaguely similar. Both were good.

 

Edited May 22, 20224 yr by Fielder

China Clipper (1936) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027445/?ref_=tt_mv_close

It is really interesting to see the old navigation methods.

So, I purchased China Clipper and Flight of the Intruder, both on Amazon Prime to watch! (I had not heard of either movie, looks like good ones though).

Flight of the Phoenix.  The real one... not the remake.

The Great Waldo Pepper.

Jesse

What is up with these trailers.  The whole plot is in it, looks like it is has some "good times" scene in it

Edited May 23, 20224 yr by Skywolf

For UK viewers "American Made", tonight Film 4, 2320. Based on a true story, Tom Cruise (who has a pilots licence) plays a TWA captain, bored of airline flying, who becomes a drug courier, flying various aircraft. 

Some great flying sequences, and not a bad storyline.

Eugene

Edited May 23, 20224 yr by Overload

I'd say 'Fate is the Hunter", "High & Mighty" and Top Gun