World War I

The Blue Max

The Blue Max is highly unusual among Hollywood films, not just for being a large-scale drama set during the generally overlooked World War I, but in concentrating on air combat as seen entirely from the German point of view. The story focuses on a lower-class officer, Bruno Stachel (George Peppard), and his obsessive quest to win a Blue Max, a medal awarded for shooting down 20 enemy aircraft. Around this are subplots concerning a propaganda campaign by James Mason's pragmatic general, rivalry with a fellow officer (Jeremy Kemp), and a love affair with a decadent countess (Ursula Andress).

As directed by John Guillermin (who later made The Battle of Britain in 1969), the film's main assets are epic production values, great flying scenes, and stunning dogfights. The weak point is the sometimes ponderous character drama, not helped by Peppard, who is too lightweight an actor to convince as the driven antihero. Clearly influenced by Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1958), The Blue Max is a cold, cynical drama offering a visually breathtaking portrait of a stultified society tearing itself apart during the final months of the Great War. --Gary S. Dalkin

The "Blue Max", a coveted medal for achievement in flying, is ruthlessly sought by Peppard, a poor-boy german soldier who climbs out of the trenches and into the aristorcratic air force. He is met with prejudice by the other contestants, wealthy snobs who

Paths of Glory

Stanley Kubrick had already made his talent known with the outstanding racetrack heist thriller The Killing, but it was the 1957 antiwar masterpiece Paths of Glory that catapulted Kubrick to international acclaim. Based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb, the film was initiated by Kirk Douglas, who chose the young Kubrick to direct what would become one of the most powerful films about the wasteful insanity of warfare. In one of his finest roles, Douglas plays Colonel Dax, commander of a battle-worn regiment of the French army along the western front during World War I. Held in their trenches under the threat of German artillery, the regiment is ordered on a suicidal mission to capture an enemy stronghold. When the mission inevitably fails, French generals order the selection of three soldiers to be tried and executed on the charge of cowardice. Dax is appointed as defense attorney for the chosen scapegoats, and what follows is a travesty of justice that has remained relevant and powerful for decades. In the wake of some of the most authentic and devastating battle sequences ever filmed, Kubrick brilliantly explores the political machinations and selfish personal ambitions that result in battlefield slaughter and senseless executions. The film is unflinching in its condemnation of war and the self-indulgence of military leaders who orchestrate the deaths of thousands from the comfort of their luxurious headquarters. For many years, Paths of Glory was banned in France as a slanderous attack on French honor, but it's clear that Kubrick's intense drama is aimed at all nations and all men. Though it touches on themes of courage and loyalty in the context of warfare, the film is specifically about the historical realities of World War I, but its impact and artistic achievement remain timeless and universal. --Jeff Shannon

Safe in their picturesque chateau behind the front lines, the French general staff passes down a direct order to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas): take the Ant Hill at any cost. A blatant suicide mission, the attack is doomed to failure. Covering up their fatal blunder, the generals order the arrest of three innocent soldiers, charging them with cowardice and mutiny. Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, rises to the men's defense but soon realizes that, unless he can prove that the generals were to blame,nothing less than a miracle will save his clients from the firing squad. A compelling masterpiece from world-class director/writer Stanley Kubrick and screenwriters Calder Willingham and JimThompson, Paths of Glory is a blistering indictment of military politics and "an unforgettable movie experience" (Newsweek).

Flyboys (Widescreen Edition)

World War I aviation action gets an impressive digital upgrade in Flyboys, a welcome addition to the "dogfight" sub-genre that includes such previous war-in-the-air films like Hell's Angels, Wings, and The Blue Max. While those earlier films had the advantage of real and genuinely dangerous flight scenes (resulting, in some cases, in fatal accidents during production), Flyboys takes full (and safe) advantage of the digital revolution, with intensely photo-realistic recreations of WWI aircraft, authentic period structures, and CGI environments requiring a total of 850 digital effects shots, resulting in an abundance of amazing images, many of them virtually indistinguishable from reality. Unfortunately, the film's technical achievement is more impressive than its screenplay, which conventionally and predictably tells the fact-based story, set in France in 1916, of the daring young pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, a pioneering French air-combat unit that welcomed American enlistees prior to the United States' entry into the war.

There's a familiar cliché to match every thrilling scene of aerial combat, but director Tony Bill manages to keep it all interesting, from the romance between a young American maverick (James Franco) and a pretty French girl (newcomer Jennifer Decker) to the exciting action in the air, which includes a stock variety of heroes (many of them composites of real-life WWI pilots) and an intimidating villain known only as "The Black Falcon," whose Fokker Dr-1 triplane (one of many in the film) recalls the exploits of German "ace of aces" Manfred von Richtofen, the dreaded "Red Baron" of legend. With impeccable production values that will impress even the most nit-picking aviation buffs, Flyboys (like Superman Returns and Apocalypto, also released in 2006) was also one of the first feature films to be shot with Panavision's state-of-the-art Genesis digital cameras, resulting in beautiful images that meet or exceed the visual nuance of film. Flyboys also benefits from painstaking attention to physical detail, making it easier to forgive its shortcomings as a generic and formulaic slice of romanticized history. So while some viewers may have wished for a more realistic and grown-up depiction of the Lafayette Escadrille, it's safe to say that Flyboys will be thrilling its target audience for many years to come. --Jeff Shannon

Extras from Flyboys

Director Tony Bill on Filming Dogfight Sequences

...On throwing away the script for pilot training

...On the real-life stunt pilot who stars in the film

Beyond Flyboys

More "War in the Sky" Films

SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille: American Volunteer Airmen in World War 1

More "Military and War" Films

Stills from Flyboys

Inspired by true events, tells the story of the Lafayette Escadrille, a group of American men who volunteered to fight for the French before the U.S. entered World War I and became the country's first fighter pilots.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 18-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD

Joyeux Noel (Widescreen)

Joyeux Noel captures a rare moment of grace from one of the worst wars in the history of mankind, World War I. On Christmas Eve, 1914, as German, French, and Scottish regiments face each other from their respective trenches, a musical call-and-response turns into an impromptu cease-fire, trading chocolates and champagne, playing soccer, and comparing pictures of their wives. But when Christmas ends, the war returns...Joyeux Noel has been justly accused of sentimentality, but if any subject warrants such an earnest and hopeful treatment, it's the horrors of trench warfare. The largely unknown cast--the more familiar faces include Diane Kruger (Troy), Daniel Bruhl (Good Bye Lenin!), Benno Furmann (The Princess and the Warrior), and Gary Lewis (Billy Elliot)--deliver low-key but effective performances as the movie dwells on the everyday elements of life in the face of war. Based on a true incident (though considerably fictionalized). --Bret Fetzer

Stills from Joyeux Noel (click for larger image)

Academy Award® Golden Globe® and BAFTA nominee for Best Foreign Film JOYEUX NOEL (Merry Christmas) tells the true-life story of the spontaneous Christmas Eve truce declared by Scottish French and German troops in the trenches of World War I. Enemies leave their weapons behind for one night as they band together in brotherhood and forget about the brutalities of war. Diane Kr ger (Troy) Daniel Br hl (Good Bye Lenin!) and Benno F rmann (The Princess and the Warrior) head a first-rate international cast in a truly powerful must-see film.SPECIAL FEATURES:Interview with Writer/Director Christian CarionCommentary with Writer/Director Christian CarionSystem Requirements:Run Time: 116 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/MILITARY & WAR UPC: 043396150997 Manufacturer No: 15099

Von Richthofen & Brown

The incredibly prolific exploitation film producer and director, Roger Corman, tries his hand at a war film with Von Richthofen and Brown, about WWI air battles between German icon Baron Manfred Von Richtofen (John Phillip Law), and his alleged captor, Canadian Lt. Roy Brown (Don Stroud). With a slowly unfolding plot that may be tedious to anyone but war buffs trolling for historical accuracy, the film is mostly about its flight sequences, as it should be. Von Richthofen and Brown shows The Red Baron's rise to glory and his noble downfall, while building sympathy for the opposing forces who plan revenge on his unbeatable German team. Interpretive scenes during which he snidely paints his squadron's planes, including his own conspicuous red, and later depicting his controversial death, during which he is shot mid-air but somehow lands his plane, are the most arresting to those not aircraft-obsessed. Tension built between Von Richthofen and Brown is half-baked, making further argument for the film's battle-scene priority. War aficionados will appreciate this film, while Corman fans will yearn for more sex, gore, melodrama, and classic Corman action. --Trinie Dalton

A Little Princess

After the critical success of 1993's The Secret Garden, Warner Bros. returned to the novels of Frances Hodgson Burnett to create this 1995 adaptation of A Little Princess, which instantly ranked with The Secret Garden as one of the finest children's films of the 1990s. Neither film was a huge box-office success, but their quality speaks for itself, and A Little Princess has all the ingredients of a timeless classic. A marvel of production design, the film features lavish sets built almost entirely on a studio backlot in Burbank, California. The story opens in New York just before the outbreak of World War I, when young Sara (Liesel Matthews) is enrolled in private boarding school while her father goes off to war. Under the domineering scrutiny of the school's wicked headmistress, Miss Minchen (Eleanor Bron), Sara quickly becomes popular with her schoolmates, but fate intervenes and she soon faces a stern reversal of fortune, resorting to wild flights of fancy to cope with an unexpectedly harsh reality. Rather than label her fanciful tales as escapist fantasy, A Little Princess actively encourages a child's power of imagination--a power that can be used to learn, grow, and adapt to a world that is often cruel and difficult. It's also one of the most visually beautiful films of the '90s and creates a fully detailed world within the boarding school--a place where imagination is vital to survival. A first-class production in every respect, this is one family film that should (if it's not too stuffy to say it) be considered required viewing for parents and kids alike. --Jeff Shannon

The beloved story from the author of the Secret Garden becomes 1995's best reviewed film. A young girl must rely on her wits and imagination when she is separated from her soldier father and sent to a strict boarding school. Year: 1995 Director: Alfonso Cuaron Starring: Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Liesel Matthews

DVD Features:
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer

What Price Glory?

James Cagney and Dan Dailey are soldiers during World War I, fighting for the same lovely French woman. Phoebe and Henry Ephron wrote the script.

Grand Illusion - Criterion Collection

It's long been one of the revered classics of international cinema, but there is no fine layer of dust over La Grande Illusion. Jean Renoir's film is just as vibrant, exciting, and wise as it has ever been. The story is set during World War I, mostly in a couple of German POW camps, where two very different French prisoners plot to escape: the working-class officer Maréchal (Jean Gabin, the French Spencer Tracy) and the upper-class de Boieldieu (Pierre Fresnay). The suspenseful backbone of the story is formed by these escape attempts, but Renoir is primarily concerned with the way people treat each other, and especially with how class and nationality inform human relations. Most compelling of all the film's characters is the aristocratic German officer von Rauffenstein, unforgettably incarnated by stiff-backed Erich von Stroheim; although he runs a prison camp, von Rauffenstein cannot help but strike up a friendship with de Boieldieu, a kindred spirit from the doomed nobility. There is nothing dewy or naive about Renoir's vision (and two years after the release of this antiwar film, Europe was plunged into another world war), yet Grand Illusion is one of those movies that makes you feel good about such long-outmoded ideas as sacrifice and brotherhood. After it won a prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1937, the Nazis declared the film "Cinematographic Enemy Number One." There can be no higher praise. --Robert Horton

One of the very first prison escape movies, Grand Illusion is hailed as one of the greatest films ever made. Jean Renoir's antiwar masterpiece stars Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay, as French soldiers held in a World War I German prison camp, and Erich von Stroheim as the unforgettable Captain von Rauffenstein. Following a smash theatrical re-release, Criterion is proud to present Grand Illusion in a new special edition, with a beautifully restored digital transfer.

Flyboys (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Inspired by the true story of the legendary Lafayette Escadrille this action-packed epic tells the tale of America's first fighter pilots. These courageous young men distinguish themselves in a manner that none before them had dared becoming true heroes who experience triumph tragedy love and loss amid the chaos of World War I. Hang on for the ride of your life! System Requirements:Running Time: 140 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG - 13 UPC: 027616065346 Manufacturer No: M106534

World War I aviation action gets an impressive digital upgrade in Flyboys, a welcome addition to the "dogfight" sub-genre that includes such previous war-in-the-air films like Hell's Angels, Wings, and The Blue Max. While those earlier films had the advantage of real and genuinely dangerous flight scenes (resulting, in some cases, in fatal accidents during production), Flyboys takes full (and safe) advantage of the digital revolution, with intensely photo-realistic recreations of WWI aircraft, authentic period structures, and CGI environments requiring a total of 850 digital effects shots, resulting in an abundance of amazing images, many of them virtually indistinguishable from reality. Unfortunately, the film's technical achievement is more impressive than its screenplay, which conventionally and predictably tells the fact-based story, set in France in 1916, of the daring young pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, a pioneering French air-combat unit that welcomed American enlistees prior to the United States' entry into the war.

There's a familiar cliché to match every thrilling scene of aerial combat, but director Tony Bill manages to keep it all interesting, from the romance between a young American maverick (James Franco) and a pretty French girl (newcomer Jennifer Decker) to the exciting action in the air, which includes a stock variety of heroes (many of them composites of real-life WWI pilots) and an intimidating villain known only as "The Black Falcon," whose Fokker Dr-1 triplane (one of many in the film) recalls the exploits of German "ace of aces" Manfred von Richtofen, the dreaded "Red Baron" of legend. With impeccable production values that will impress even the most nit-picking aviation buffs, Flyboys (like Superman Returns and Apocalypto, also released in 2006) was also one of the first feature films to be shot with Panavision's state-of-the-art Genesis digital cameras, resulting in beautiful images that meet or exceed the visual nuance of film. Flyboys also benefits from painstaking attention to physical detail, making it easier to forgive its shortcomings as a generic and formulaic slice of romanticized history. So while some viewers may have wished for a more realistic and grown-up depiction of the Lafayette Escadrille, it's safe to say that Flyboys will be thrilling its target audience for many years to come. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVDs
If you're an aviation buff, the two-disc collectors edition of Flyboys is a must-have DVD. Disc 1 includes a full-length audio commentary by Tony Bill (whose directorial career began with the 1980 sleeper hit My Bodyguard) and producer Dean Devlin (Independence Day), who spend most of the film singing the praises of all things digital, from the use of Panavision's all-digital Genesis cameras to the film's impressive tally of 850 digital effects shots. They also discuss many of the technical challenges of making such an ambitious (and independently financed) film on a relatively modest budget of $65 million, and reveal many of the secrets behind some of the film's most impressive special effects. Disc 2 is where things get really interesting, beginning with the featurette "The Real Heroes of the Lafayette Escadrille," a profile of the pioneering French aerial combat unit depicted in Flyboys, with details about Henry Bullard, the first African American fighter pilot in history (the inspiration for "Eugene Skinner," the Flyboys character played by Abdul Salis) and the factual pilots who were made into composite characters for the film. "Diary of a Miniature Stunt Pilot" is a humorous, home-movie tour of Flyboys special-effects techniques; "Whiskey & Soda" is a profile of the lions who became the beloved mascots of the Lafayette Escadrille; and "Taking Flight" details the combinations of digital airplanes, models, and CGI environments that were used in the making of aerial battle sequences. "The Real Planes of Flyboys" is a treat for aviation buffs, since it shows many of the full-scale and 7/8th-scale vintage airplanes (some of them one-of-a-kind) that were either used in the film or completely digitized to safeguard their priceless historical value. The deleted scenes are above average (i.e. they're not just throwaways, but good scenes that were reluctantly cut for time), and another brief featurette shows cast members James Franco and David Ellison (respectively) enjoying promotional flights with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Disc 2 also includes a Flyboys Squadron DVD-ROM game for those equipped with compatible computers. --Jeff Shannon

Extras from Flyboys

Director Tony Bill on Filming Dogfight Sequences

...On throwing away the script for pilot training

...On the real-life stunt pilot who stars in the film

Beyond Flyboys

More "War in the Sky" Films

SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille: American Volunteer Airmen in World War 1

More "Military and War" Films

Stills from Flyboys

Flyboys (Full Screen Edition)

FLYBOYS is a good old-fashioned historical drama concerning the Lafayette Escadrille a French regiment of American volunteer airmen serving the allied cause in WWI before the U.S. became officially involved. James Franco plays Blaine a Texas rancher; he bunks with Eugene (Abdul Salis) an African American boxer whose been living in Paris as an ex-patriate to get away from American racism. Other fighters include a pampered New York scion (Tyler Labine) and a lanky lazy Kansan (David Ellison). They all train under the patient hand of the French commander succinctly embodied by the wondrous Jean Reno (THE PROFESSIONAL). Martin Henderson (TORQUE) is good and brusque as a jaded flier with a bunch of kills under his belt and an obsession with an ace German fighter; he wont let the new kids drink in the officer s club until they ve shot down their first planes. It all unfolds in a no-nonsense linear narrative that reminds one of early films like THE DAWN PATROL (1930) and WINGS (1927); and there s a comfortingly familiar orchestral score that's heavy with the cloud-invoking wooden flute. But the CGI-enhanced aerial dogfight scenes are the crux of the biscuit here and history fans should be frothing at the mouth with all the zeppelins dogfights and enemy chivalry. There s plenty of well-researched period detail and even some ooh-la la romance in the form of a good girl gone semi-bad from a nearby brothel (the very charming Jennifer Decker).System Requirements:Running Time: 139 Minutes Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE UPC: 027616062246 Manufacturer No: M106224

World War I aviation action gets an impressive digital upgrade in Flyboys, a welcome addition to the "dogfight" sub-genre that includes such previous war-in-the-air films like Hell's Angels, Wings, and The Blue Max. While those earlier films had the advantage of real and genuinely dangerous flight scenes (resulting, in some cases, in fatal accidents during production), Flyboys takes full (and safe) advantage of the digital revolution, with intensely photo-realistic recreations of WWI aircraft, authentic period structures, and CGI environments requiring a total of 850 digital effects shots, resulting in an abundance of amazing images, many of them virtually indistinguishable from reality. Unfortunately, the film's technical achievement is more impressive than its screenplay, which conventionally and predictably tells the fact-based story, set in France in 1916, of the daring young pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, a pioneering French air-combat unit that welcomed American enlistees prior to the United States' entry into the war.

There's a familiar cliché to match every thrilling scene of aerial combat, but director Tony Bill manages to keep it all interesting, from the romance between a young American maverick (James Franco) and a pretty French girl (newcomer Jennifer Decker) to the exciting action in the air, which includes a stock variety of heroes (many of them composites of real-life WWI pilots) and an intimidating villain known only as "The Black Falcon," whose Fokker Dr-1 triplane (one of many in the film) recalls the exploits of German "ace of aces" Manfred von Richtofen, the dreaded "Red Baron" of legend. With impeccable production values that will impress even the most nit-picking aviation buffs, Flyboys (like Superman Returns and Apocalypto, also released in 2006) was also one of the first feature films to be shot with Panavision's state-of-the-art Genesis digital cameras, resulting in beautiful images that meet or exceed the visual nuance of film. Flyboys also benefits from painstaking attention to physical detail, making it easier to forgive its shortcomings as a generic and formulaic slice of romanticized history. So while some viewers may have wished for a more realistic and grown-up depiction of the Lafayette Escadrille, it's safe to say that Flyboys will be thrilling its target audience for many years to come. --Jeff Shannon

Extras from Flyboys

Director Tony Bill on Filming Dogfight Sequences

...On throwing away the script for pilot training

...On the real-life stunt pilot who stars in the film

Beyond Flyboys

More "War in the Sky" Films

SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille: American Volunteer Airmen in World War 1

More "Military and War" Films

Stills from Flyboys