Kampfstaffel Feuerdrachen

I don't know if you have noticed, but director Lesley Selander was a western specialist - several hundreds in his career - but gave us some war films, four or five, most of them, except FIGHTER ATTACK, speaking of the war in Korea. You had FLAT TOP, DRAGONFLY SQUADRON, BATTLE ZONE. None of those films are exceptional, they are all forgettable, just acceptable time wasters. This one makes no exception, and John Hodiak as bland as usual. Never expect John Hodiak to play in an unforgettable film. Just a time waster, providing good action scenes, yes, I admit. But Lesley Selander directed this film to make a change from his usual chaim made westerns.

A good cast carrying an awful lot of emotional baggage finally stop talking and settle their differences in the face of a ferocious onslaught of stock footage of enemy tanks. Cynical reporter Jess Barker continues needling downed Major John Hodiak by posing the above question just before the film library finally comes through with footage of planes to see off the tank footage.

I don't remember seeing anything directed by Lesley Selander that wasn't a B western, a genre at which he excelled; his stint at LASSIE ended before I think I was aware of such things. This movie is a typical Allied Artist programmer, set during the opening of the Korean War, as Major John Hodiak struggles to train Koreans as fighter pilots in just weeks. He's also fighting against his image as a coward who abandoned his co-pilot and his forbidden love for Barbara Britton, who is now married to Doctor Bruce Bennett. A very young Chuck Conners shows up as an infantry captain.

It's decent fare with good actors, but Mr. Selander doesn't seem to be able to raise much of a performance in this unpracticed genre. While the visual elements are fine for the situation, it doesn't seem that the 3-D technology adds much to the proceedings. I suspect it is my old-fashioned aesthetics at work, but I believe it would have impressed me about the same in a flat presentation.

Although it is always good news the edition of classic 3D movies this one happens to be so bore that not even the 3D raises it up. All roles are quite flat and unidimensional. The love story is uninteresting and unnecessary. The film plot should be about new pilots' training and frankly this is hardly seen, although may have been the main focus of interest. Fess Parker and Chuck Connors (among the best of the film) do appear in small roles. So in the end the best thing about this movie is 3D: although there are not special effects -not even great aircraft fights- the restoration makes it bright and gives us an ultimate approximation to those years' stereoscopic experience.