The Great Waldo Pepper

This is a well shot film (the light in the Prarie scenes are beautiful) about why people love flying and how it gets into their bones to the point where they will take great risks with their lives as well as other people's!

Redford looks heroic and every bit the Ladies Man especially in uniform.

The aerial sequences are terrific with some really risky stunts and shots. Made in 1975, there are no CGI effects - everything is real and raw.

I felt the film to be a little slow at times but it's a film for grown ups so we can take that speed, can't we?

Scott A. Frisina's review on the main page is as good a synopsis as anyone can give - that's how it is - read it then see this excellent film.

First I must say that this beautiful movie handles the wide screen format extremely well, to watch it on TV comes near to an act of profanation. The lines, the colors , the surfaces, the sun that always seems to be low above the horizon ... The Great Waldo Pepper really is a work of cinematic art.

Secondly I would really like to know how the idea for this script developed. It looks like the aviation business is a metaphor for the movie industry. I would not be surprised had director and co-scriptwriter George Roy Hill put many personal feelings and experiences into it. Aviation stands for freedom. But even in the title scene the constant fear of being forcefully grounded becomes evident – the main character, aviator Waldo Pepper, talks an overawed boy into getting a canister of gas for him with the promise of a free tour above the landing strip. Cute, at first sight, but also curiously grim. It immediately started me wondering how the boy could manage to carry the full canister over the required long distance.

The wish to be free and be able to fly off sets ever more demanding conditions. People get bored with acrobatics, they want to see blood. The artists comply, because they are ambitious but also because they know that it is the only way that allows them to continue. Time moves on and it becomes evident that commercial air service will put an end to the adventurous phase of aviation. Hollywood seems to be the only way out. Acrobats are needed as stunt-men there. The grindhouse routine of the dream factory is not to their liking, but what else can they do? On a set Waldo Pepper meets a famous German flyer he idolizes. Much to his surprise this Erich von Stroheim character is deeply in debt. „In the air, I see heroism, chivalry and a spirit of comraderie", rasps the German, „but on the ground ..." He just limply shrugs. The final quixotic showdown between Pepper and the German is a natural and very good ending of this surprisingly „deep" and rather pessimistic movie that offers far more than nostalgia.

It's 1926. WWI pilot Waldo Pepper (Robert Redford) is barnstorming and telling tales of his war exploits in a legendary fight against German ace Kessler. He gets into a rivalry with Axel Olsson (Bo Svenson) who travels with his girlfriend Mary Beth (Susan Sarandon). Waldo has been telling tall tales. In fact, he was a great instructor who was held out of the majority of the war. The two rivals become partners in Doc Dillhoefer (Philip Bruns)'s flying circus. He reconnects with sometimes girlfriend Maude (Margot Kidder). Maude's brother Ezra (Ed Herrmann) is building a monoplane to attempt the impossible outside loop. After many tragedies, he is reduced to being a Hollywood stuntman under an assumed name in a movie about the legendary dogfight.

The flying sequences are amazing with real planes. There are some dangerous stunts with limited camera tricks. The dogfight is thrilling. The tone turns quite sad in the middle. Quite frankly, I expected a heroic tale but it turns into a bummer with one particular incident. While that incident is powerful, it damaged the mood of the movie in a profound way. It actually may not be necessary since there are two tragedies in a row. The second one is the only absolutely necessary one. The first one should be reversed to uplift the story and the second one can be used to create the turn into the third act. Sarandon had more to give in this movie. The mood is bittersweet and the movie is pretty good overall.

. In the 1970's, I was competing in Freestyle Snow Skiing, and the sport was very new, it went through trying times, people were injured permanently and the sport had to regulate itself and stop the barnstorming aspect of itself. I remember being able to do stunts one year, that were illegal the next year. We, the competitors, felt that the sport was being regulated to death.

. But the sport survived, and still thrives, people are doing wilder stunts now than back then, so I guess all came out well in the end. I remember going to a Halloween party in a nice sports car, way back then, dressed as the great Waldo pepper, in a flight uniform with scarf, and knowing that my time, at that age, was very similar to his. I related to the movie at that time in other words. . Paul Bannon

This movie is made by some of the same players that made Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Writer, Director and Actor). Unfortunately, it doesn't have nearly the acclaim. Perhaps because the ultimate tone of the movie is darker, the movie still captures that fun that permeates Butch Cassidy.

In terms of the aerial stunts and flying sequences, not only does the hold up to the modern movies like 'Flyboys', it is in fact, much better. Visually just as complete, you also know these are the real deal.

The script is brilliant. At the end of this film, one is forced to wonder why this level of movie so rarely is ever seen today.

You can read the other reviews for plot points, and details. Suffice to say that if you are a fan of movies with planes, actions, love, tragedy cool war history lover, or Hollywood of the early thirties, you'll eat this movie up.

Now lets get a DVD of this that is worthy!