La caduta delle aquile

This seemed a very strange choice to broadcast on Remembrance Sunday . If you're foreign let me explain Remembrance Sunday is a day in the British calender where people lay wreaths at their local war memorial and hold a two minute silence in honour of the British war dead who died in the First World War and in conflicts since then . It's an official national event and a very solemn one . Somewhat strange that the BBC broadcast a war film featuring Germans as lead characters !However THE BLUE MAX does contain some bloody sequences of First World War carnage so I guess it was an obvious candidate for broadcast

I first saw this on television in the early 1970s and was impressed with it then . I'm still impressed with it now though with reservations . As several people have pointed out the story drags when the story switches to the adultrous affair between Bruno Stachel and his Baroness lover . It should also be pointed out that George Peppard and Ursula Andress are rather unconvincing in these scenes and seem to be playing characters in a romantic drama set in the 1960s than in the early part of the century . I hated these scenes when I first saw the film and I hate them thirty years later . I also can't help thinking this sub plot makes the movie slightly over long . Was it included to make the movie more marketable to a female audience ? If a movie features thousands of men sticking bayonets into each other no woman will be going to the cinema to watch the movie full stop

That's my only real criticism though there are one or two other flaws regarding historical facts and planes used , but lets look at the positive points . This the best film I've seen featuring First World War dogfights , when you see a movie like ACES HIGH etc it's painfully obvious that actors are sitting in front of some back projection but with the exception of one rather poor scene you can believe the cast are indeed flying their own planes , the arial battles are superb as are the battles on the ground

The cast play up to their characters in thinking they are 20th century knights fighting in an honourable and elitist way and though they're the other side it's impossible to hate them in anyway , and it's interesting to see James Mason playing a morally upstanding army officer in a role almost identical to the one he played in CROSS OF IRON . I guess it doesn't matter whose side your on because politics will win out in the end

I would rate this a 10, but didn't like the soundtrack enough.

Since the release of "Flyboys" it seems amazing that a movie made forty years ago has a more polished, advanced, and contemporary look than one made today. This will amaze people who compare films of the twentieth century one hundred years from now."The Blue Max" has better cinematography, special effects, acting, storyline, etc. In the end its a disappointing fact that today's films have taken giant steps backwards compared to those of the '60s.

The flying sequences and scenes of aerial combat in "The Blue Max" have never been surpassed or equaled. Even in "Flyboys" with millions of dollars of CGI effects no movie has ever captured the feel of flying and aerial fighting like this one. The planes all look authentic, too.

The big scope of World War One does not swallow up the intense personal stories here either. This is one of the only films that explores the psyche of successful fighting men. The arrogance they need to maintain their bravery and aggression can also be their downfall. Here we also can see the politics behind the combat, both on a personal and national level. This is a very thrilling history lesson.

The actors are so good, and the characters so complex I forgot they were supposed to be my (supposed) enemy. Peppard does a good job of acting, playing a guy who is meant to be both likable, admirable, irritating and repulsive at the same time. The only problem is he looks too American for the role. Imagine if Brando had done it, but he had a hard time choosing really good parts. My favorite is James Mason, who played German generals better than they could play themselves off-screen. If you like flying, history, or personal drama you can't miss this one.

What a refreshing movie to watch.

I saw this movie with my father in 1966. He always loved the bi-planes of World War I and they thrill me to this day.

The title, though central to the theme of the movie is really a misnomer to the enjoyment of this film. You actually get to see r-e-a-l aircraft in combat without the cartoon effects of CGI.

This is movie making in the school of the other Cinamascope greats: Somewhat weak on plot, but so absolutely cool in visual execution, that you overlook the script's lack of depth.

I'm not saying that this movie doesn't have a plot. It's a solid story with somewhat shallow character development. But in the end, the characters were secondary to a story of bravery, early air war history and tactics and the wearing away of chivalry in an era of a nation fighting for survival in the end of hours.

Acting was good, direction was fine and choreography using actual aircraft was among the last of it's kind.

I give this an 8 out of 10 for displaying concrete reality in an era of cartoon gimmicks.

Bruno Stachel is a lower ranked pilot in Germany's World War 1 air force, he dreams of winning The Blue Max, a prestigious medal given to pilots after 20 confirmed kills. As he rises thru the ranks, and his determination grows, he fails to earn respect from is comrades and more importantly, his superiors.

The Blue Max is a rare old thing, a flying ace picture that not only is in colour, it's also rather good. Perhaps a touch too long {as Stachel's romantic character arc gets over fleshed}, but a ripper of a movie harking back to genre greats back in the 30s and 40s. The vintage planes recreated are majestic, and joyously the aerial sequences in the picture do them much credit, stunts and dogfights flow with almost operatic ease. The story is a good one, based on the best selling novel from Jack Hunter, it's tale of a man who's determination is admirable but ultimately it's his undoing, will winning The Blue Max really make him feel he belongs with the aristocratic crowd?, are the sacrifices he makes worth it?. The ending here is excellent, its point is made, and closes the film with a sort of uneasy incredulity, it takes a good few minutes for the final sequence to really hit home, but when it does you know you have just been sold a highly inventive story.

Technically the film scores high, the direction from John Guillermin is safe, tho if at times guilty of filler scenes, the score from Jerry Goldsmith is perfectly blood pumping, whilst Douglas Slocombe's cinematography pleases the eye. The acting is fine, George Peppard puts guts and honesty into the role of Stachel, Ursula Andress smolders and oozes sexuality as the cheating Countess Klugerman {one bedroom scene had this viewer particularly hot under the collar}, whilst James Mason {sadly underused} owns the film as chief string puller General Klugerman.

Open a bottle of wine on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy, 7.5/10.

I'm a fan of World War One-movies and I've got several of them in my private DVD collection. "The Blue Max" isn't in it yet, but if I ever find it on a DVD, I won't hesitate for one moment to buy it. I want to have it, not only because it deals with WWI in general and because it is a good movie, but also because it gives an idea of how the war in the air was fought and how these pilots acted and saw themselves...

This movie tells the story of Bruno Stachel, an ordinary infantry soldier who has been turned into a fighter pilot. His colleagues aren't happy with him, not only because he isn't an aristocrat like they are, but also because he's extremely ambitious. He will do anything to win him his country's most honored medal, the Blue Max. But to win it, he'll have to shoot down 20 enemy aircrafts, which will all have to be confirmed by his comrades, without getting killed himself. And while being hated by his fellow pilots, he's seen as the people's hero and perfect propaganda material by the general and as the ideal lust object by the general's wife...

"The Blue Max" shows very well how the pilots during WWI were almost always noblemen (I guess the most famous one of them all was Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, better known as the Red Barron), who considered the concept of an honorable death at the hands of a "worthy" opponent still as one of the most important things during their fights. Even at the end of the war in 1918, while on the ground troops had been anonymously slaughtered by the thousands with machine guns and gas, they still considered chivalry as one of the highest goods.

Next to the historically correct situation of the story, I also admire the rest of the movie. I know, if you aren't interested in WWI, than this might not be the most spectacular movie you've ever seen, but even than the movie has plenty of good and interesting things to offer. The story on itself is nice, the acting is very good and the airplanes are magnificent to watch, on the ground as well as in the air. This is one of those movies that has stood the hands of time, but that is known by only a small audience, which is really a shame. Personally I'm a big fan of this movie and that's why I reward it with an 8/10. My advice: don't call "Top Gun" the ultimate fighter pilot movie before you've seen this one.