Águias da Armada

I am into WW2 aircraft carriers and the Pacific War and I find this film to be a good one for its time. The editing is great and there is only a couple of war film segments that appear twice. Unlike Midway, they don't use modern carrier shots and even through it is not completely tied to a battle or campaign, every thing gets explained(In Midway, they didn't show the fact that the USS Yorktown CV5 sinks, or at least is supposed to sink). Over all, I'll give this film 3 1/2 stars out of five.

The army and the air force had their go at this plot, so I suppose it was bound to be the navy's turn. Richard Carlson in the man expected to take over the squadron of fliers when their boss gets incapacitated, but instead of the mild-mannered "Joe", they get the hard as nails "Collier" (Sterling Hayden). He immediately sets the cat amongst the pigeons by grounding one of their popular but reckless number and by proceeding to rule the team with a rod of iron. Naturally, this earns him the enmity of his command but with their carrier about to head into danger against the heavily armed Japanese Imperial Fleet, we all know that discipline is going to be key (and that there is precisely no jeopardy at all with the rest of the plot!). Carlsen tries a little here, but Hayden is about as wooden as the deck of the USS Princeton upon which much of this was filmed. In the end, it's really all about some impressive aerial photography of training sessions and dogfights that is fairly clearly sourced from archive. It's feel-good wartime fayre but its mediocrity isn't much to write home about.

This is a rather run-of-the-mill War movie on board an American flat top in the Pacific against the Japs. Definitely not in the class of "A wing and a prayer" or "Tora, Tora, Tora" and, without much background footage, even not up to the mediocre Midway. Education under fire with an as always impressing Sterling Hayden, not much else. Definitely a B-Movie under war movies issued during this area. Consumer commodity stuff not, if you want action, look at the above mentioned movies, if you want it along with history, choose Victory at Sea. Five out of Ten at best for the dogfight at the very end. Actually difficult to crunch out ten lines for this, isn't it.

Stepping-Up from its Poverty Row Stature, Monogram (soon to be Allie Artists) Turns its Production into a Cinecolor (soon made obsolete by Eastman Color) Battle-Royal.

Actually the Lowly Anemia of Cinecolor makes the 16MM Real Navy Footage Blend Better and the Result is a Treat for Fans of Actual WWII War Film.

The Confrontations with Japan Zeros and the US Navy Pilots is Dynamic and Exciting.

Surprisingly the Low-Budget-Movie Editing (John Austin) was Nominated for an Academy Award.

Sterling Hayden and Richard Carlson are Perfectly Cast as Type.

Perhaps if Complaints are Forthcoming, the Mixing of Aircraft Type and other Technical Stuff will Annoy Nerds and for General Non-Wonky Movie Watchers...

There are way too many Unconvincing and Static Shots of Pilots Sitting in Studio Cockpits and Gawking.

Their Non-Battle Below-Deck Dramatics are Labored and Boring Cliches along with the Grounded Script that does Nothing to Elevate the Characters or Their Missions.

Overall, the Battles are Worth the Price of Admission and the Movie is Worth a Watch for War Movie, Aviation, and Military Fans.

Ok, this is a pretty good time waster, especially for those who crave for routine war films showing the American army, Navy or Air Force. Beginning a story taking place during the Korean war and resuming back to WW2 against Japan is rather strange but after all, why not? For the rest, the director Lesley Selander was a specialist of westerns, a chain western provider, one of the most prolific, besides Ray Nazarro, and here, in a war film, he proves that he could do something else than showing cow-boys, sheriffs, Indians or military fort intrigues. Good point for him, but this war film is anyway forgettable, compared to a William Wellman or Andrew Marton's feature.