The first 2/3 of this film was very good. There were a lot of exceptional airplane flying sequences in the film--with lots of nice Technicolor and realism. I liked this, especially since there aren't that many films about the Korean War. The rest of this 2/3 was made up of a romance that was very soap opera-like. It wasn't bad, but also wasn't particularly necessary. I'd give this part of the film a 7 or even 8.
The final 1/3 of the film is just stupid--which is amazing, as the film had been very realistic and believable up until then. However, in a dopey sequence, one fighter pilot is shot down behind enemy lines and his commander deliberately crashes his F-86 fighter in order to try to rescue this downed pilot (it's just them versus the combined North Korean and Chinese armies)!! This is insane to say the least and making such a belly landing was NOT easy like it looked in the film. Then, when a 3rd American fighter plane was shot down in this same sequence when it was making very low strafing runs (just to help save one pilot--and not a very good one at that!), I groaned with annoyance. Then, these 3 pilots trek across North Korea just as easy as can be!! Duh, this section of the film was just terrible and should earn a 2--at best.
Overall, I'd give the film a 6. It could have been so much better and I was saddened that Robert Mitchum agreed to be in such a film!
By the way, since I am a huge plane buff, here are some final technical comments. In one scene, an F-86 fighter plane is landing. Instead of showing an F-86 blowing up on landing, the plane instantly becomes an F-100--an entirely different plane. This is very sloppy and very noticeable. Did the film makers think the audience was THAT stupid?! However, the film makers using F-84s instead of Russian Mig-15 fighters is more forgivable--it isn't like Hollywood had modern Russian fighter planes sitting around waiting to be used in films!
The final 1/3 of the film is just stupid--which is amazing, as the film had been very realistic and believable up until then. However, in a dopey sequence, one fighter pilot is shot down behind enemy lines and his commander deliberately crashes his F-86 fighter in order to try to rescue this downed pilot (it's just them versus the combined North Korean and Chinese armies)!! This is insane to say the least and making such a belly landing was NOT easy like it looked in the film. Then, when a 3rd American fighter plane was shot down in this same sequence when it was making very low strafing runs (just to help save one pilot--and not a very good one at that!), I groaned with annoyance. Then, these 3 pilots trek across North Korea just as easy as can be!! Duh, this section of the film was just terrible and should earn a 2--at best.
Overall, I'd give the film a 6. It could have been so much better and I was saddened that Robert Mitchum agreed to be in such a film!
By the way, since I am a huge plane buff, here are some final technical comments. In one scene, an F-86 fighter plane is landing. Instead of showing an F-86 blowing up on landing, the plane instantly becomes an F-100--an entirely different plane. This is very sloppy and very noticeable. Did the film makers think the audience was THAT stupid?! However, the film makers using F-84s instead of Russian Mig-15 fighters is more forgivable--it isn't like Hollywood had modern Russian fighter planes sitting around waiting to be used in films!