At the dawn of supersonic flight in the 1950s, a group of Edwards Air Force Base experimental aircraft test pilots push themselves to the limit.At the dawn of supersonic flight in the 1950s, a group of Edwards Air Force Base experimental aircraft test pilots push themselves to the limit.At the dawn of supersonic flight in the 1950s, a group of Edwards Air Force Base experimental aircraft test pilots push themselves to the limit.
Richard H. Cutting
- Doc Bailey - Flight Surgeon
- (uncredited)
John Daheim
- Stranger in Nightclub Fight
- (uncredited)
Cathy Ferrara
- Lucy Craven
- (uncredited)
Don C. Harvey
- Jerry - Bartender
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe scene with William Holden losing control and tumbling in the X-2 is depicted with footage from test pilot Chuck Yeager's 70,000-foot free-fall in the Bell X-1A in 1953.
- GoofsThroughout the film, General Banner's combat ribbons on his uniform keep changing in number. Early in the film he has three rows of combat ribbons. Later, he has five rows, and then three rows again.
- Quotes
Brig. Gen. Bill Banner: [to Maj. Lincoln Bond] Even with torture, you're not the kind to crack.
- ConnectionsReferenced in What's My Line?: June Taylor and Her Dancers & William Holden (1956)
- SoundtracksThe U.S. Air Force
by Robert Crawford
Featured review
Somebody needs to release this movie to video or DVD!!!
As a life-long military aviation buff,this is one of my favorite movies. Other reviewers here have mentioned that it contains a few technical inaccuracies and some formulaic characters and plot devices.This is true, but it is a piece of '50s film-making and some of that is to be expected.It has also been mentioned as a great companion piece to "The Right Stuff", with which I wholly agree. In 1984, when seeing TRS for the first time, I thought "The folks who made this obviously saw "Toward the Unknown" and copied some of its style", especially in the scenes where aircraft are shown from above climbing towards the camera with the desert in the background. One reviewer refers to the "fictitious bomber" in the movie. The bomber was quite real, being the XB-51, which was tested but never adopted for service. I've always been a fan of the "X" series of rocket planes and the pilots who flew them, and the inclusion of the beautiful, dart-like Bell X-2 in this film is one of its highlights for me. About fifteen years ago I had a taped from TV copy of this movie that I got off of TBS or TNT, but it is long since bit the dust. I'd dearly love to have it on DVD.
helpful•181
- Rozz
- Jul 31, 2002
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,200,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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