L'homme qui aimait la guerre

Although this is one of my McQueen favorites, the movie itself is flawed.

The film does not stand on its own merit. Rather it assumes the viewer has read the original novel, by John Hersey, upon which it was based. Since many of the important aspects of the book are assumed, the film contains gaps and jerks in its sequencing and total focus.

However, if you like period pieces, the uniforms and flight gear are terrific. And except for one really bad special effects sequence (anyone who saw this movie knows I'm talking about the burning parachute which looks like what it is- a burning handkerchief) the aerial sequences, both war footage and interior close up action shots, are detailed and believable.

McQueen clearly captures the character of Buzz Rickson ( Buzz Marrow in the book), an A#1, narcissistic SOB. A great line is: "I risk the crew's life every time I take them off the ground, don't I...sir?" The pause between "don't I" and "sir" tells the whole story. This guy deftly walks the line between being totally professional and totally insubordinate.

All in all, a great flick.

Steve McQueen plays a really screwed up bomber pilot, Buzz. Unlike most of these guys, Buzz LIKES that there's a war and finds the whole thing exciting and even fun! This doesn't bother his men during much of the film...he's very, very good at what he does and seems to lead a charmed existence. However, as the film progresses, it becomes obvious to several of the men that he really is a sociopath....a loner who likes to destroy things and has contempt for women. Nothing seems to get to him at all...until his last mission.

In contrast, there's his co-pilot, Bo (Robert Wagner). As the film progresses, the two have a falling out and in many ways, they are different. However, he's no angel either when it comes to women. Handsome and likable, like Buzz, he's a bit of a user. But he does not love war and can't wait to go home.

This film did a great job of fooling the viewer. According to IMDb, there were only three B-17s used in the film...and they made it seem like a lot more. Additionally, MOST of the aerial sequences are pretty good and the stock footage they used was better than normal in most cases (though the stuff later in the film wasn't nearly as good). There were only two serious problems I noticed (and I am a stickler for these details) were scenes where a plane exploded, as they were obviously just cheap models and could have been done better. There also was a BRIEF clip of a supposedly German fighter plane attacking at 94 minutes into the film...and it's actually an American P-38.

In many ways, the film is an interesting portrait of the folks who flew the missions. I am pretty sure a reasonable number must have been like Bo and Buzz...and such attitudes must have proved helpful in war...and certainly NOT during peace time! Not a great film like "12 O'Clock High" (probably the best film about WWII bombers) but very good nevertheless.

I haven't read the John Hersey novel others praise. (I've always liked Hersey's reporting and writing - just missed this one). So I can judge only the movie.

Steve McQueen gives a truly wonderful performance as the sort of guy you want to punch - arrogant, self-absorbed, cruel, conceited. (Of course in life, we read the same of him!). Robert Wagner also gives a wonderful performance - how not to appear a loser when the cruel arrogant one always wins. Shirley Anne Field is absolutely lovely in a very upper class/dreamgirl sort of way.

The movie is quite romantic - you really believe in Wagner-Field as a couple. There is warmth and lust and trust and realism between the two. The movie gives the flavor of love in wartime almost as well as Yanks.

I quite liked the movie- but it seems too short - let us have more of these characters' interactions. They ARE interesting characters at an interesting and dangerous time. I suppose if they'd have taken more from Hersey's novel, it would have felt a more substantial meal.

I was a Steve McQueen fan long before he was a major megastar. A couple of years after this movie was made, I met a really nice, shy girl who was also a big fan of his. Scarlette even had an autographed photo! One night we saw The War Lover together at a drive-in. We were both such fans that we actually WATCHED most of the movie!!!

This is a great morality play. Yes, there are some major faults in the screen play, a few really corny plot lines and it bends the original John Hersey book's literary track a bit, but it still has a tightly woven script, with a steady pace and a clear moral message. No matter how good you are at your job, your moral compass is the only thing that will ultimately guide your life. Buzz lost or never had a moral compass. Consequently he was headed nowhere but just didn't know it. His life ended abruptly, and in a way that denounced his raw talent as a pilot, because a bankrupt soul cannot endure.

In the great Oscar winning best picture Patton, Karl Malden as Omar Bradley explains the difference between himself and George C. Scott. Malden is a professional soldier trained to do a job, whereas Scott just lives for the action because he loves it. That's what Steve McQueen is as a hotshot bomber pilot who has a crew of Karl Maldens who just want to do a job and get home alive.

Oddly enough a year after The War Lover came out Steve McQueen would play another hotshot pilot in The Great Escape. A pilot who's been grounded and temporarily enjoying enemy hospitality. I wonder how the two McQueens from The War Lover and The Great Escape might have viewed each other.

McQueen's co-pilot Robert Wagner dislikes McQueen's living on the edge style though he knows this guy has the skill to back up his brag and has done so. But things could be going further south in their relationship as McQueen makes a play for proper British woman Shirley Anne Field whom Wagner likes as well.

It's an interesting role that McQueen has and he pulls it off. He's not a nice person, but you can't help rooting for him. Especially in that last close run thing he attempts at the close of the film.

The War Lover is a good war picture and will satisfy the fans of Steve McQueen who are still legion in this world.