O Ataque dos Mil Aviões

World War Two had many facets which claim to have been the pivotal point of the conflict. Regardless, it took the whole industry of several countries to group themselves into the Allied cause, which eventually destroyed the Nazi dream of world dominance. This is one of the key elements which was essential towards that goal. The film is called " The Thousand Plane Raid " which was directed by Boris Sagal and penned by novelist Ralph Barker. It purports to tell the story of Col. Greg Brandon (Christopher George) who proposed to group together a thousand allied B-17 Bombers to destroy a specific target producing German fighter planes. He finds that he is troubled by both the British high command as well as his own men. In addition, those closest to him realize that he is obsessed with his idea and is losing touch with everyone. A good movie, though a bit melodramatic. Nevertheless, a solid action oriented story. A fine cast which includes J.D. Cannon, Gary Marshal, Michael Evans, Gavin MacLeod and Bo Hopkins as Capt. Douglass. Recommended to War buffs. ****

Just saw this 36 year old movie on a Spanish T.V. channel.It was a midnight movie and it's dubbed in Spanish. This movie is very and I mean very cheaply made. It looks more like a made for T.V. movie. However, it was made in 1969 and most likely it was riding on the coat-tails of such films as Battle for Britan or Operation Crossbow. I like Christopher George, but the poor guy just wasn't given any decent acting roles. I feel his "meatiest" role was that of gunman Nelson McCloud in the John Wayne movie, El Dorado. Sadly, Christopher George died of a massive heart attack at 54, and is best remembered for his hit 1960s T.V. show, The Rat Patrol. As for this film, well, it's better in Spanish! Only thing, I don't speak Spanish!

A low-cost production for a typical war film of the era where triumphant and propagandistic tones seem more important than a well-executed movie. The characters are not fully developed, and while their performances are correct, they lack significant interpretive moments. It is a passable film if considered as a TV movie, but that is not the case. When compared to the series "12 O'Clock High," its level doesn't even reach that of its worst episodes, not to mention comparing it to the movie of the same title.

The worst part is that it's a work of fiction that appropriates successes from real events, which, however, haven't occurred in these terms, and that's why I refer to it as propaganda, like the very feat that gives the film its title, which is actually based on a mission carried out by the British aviation in the famous raid on Cologne in 1942.

If you want to watch real WW2 planes in real WW2 footage, this is a good movie. You won't see these beautiful planes flying again without CGI. The movie gives a pretty accurate depiction on life aboard a WW2 bomber. Movies today will have to use CGI to show these beautiful planes. Sadly, there are too few of these aircraft available today to duplicate the airplanes in this movie. Appreciate these beautiful airplanes and the bravery of the young pilots and crew that were able to keep these beautiful airplanes flying.

Pretty good movie that uses real WW2 footage and new footage.

The acting is okay with a pretty good cast.

I would say the best part of this movie is Gary Marshall as a British fighter pilot attached to an American bomber group for mysterious reasons... Christopher George is a professional scowler, and he is over the top as an hardass commander who cares so much he convinces everyone he doesn't care at all.

The low budget is almost tolerable except the over use of stock footage leads to major continuity errors, like when a b-17 crashes and they cut to a burning b-29 which looks nothing like the b-17. That was a bridge too far.

But I watched the whole movie which means it wasn't that bad... when I researched the topic turns out the British had already tried thousand bomber night missions prior to this so it wasn't a big deal and this is revisionist history. Oh well.