Les 3 soldats de l'aventure

In Flight from Ashiya, Richard Widmark, Yul Brynner, and George Chakiris are search and rescue pilots. It's a tough business, one that requires compassion, courage, and logic. Sometimes, not everyone in need gets rescued because there's limited room in the planes. Dick is supposed to be the hardened villain, and we're supposed to be on George's side. But anyone who knows anything about their profession will take Dick's side! They're a search and rescue crew; not guardian angels. By definition, they have to search and rescue those they can. They can't save everyone, and some people will be left behind to die. Yet George gets tears in his eyes and calls Dick and unfeeling monster. It's pretty unfair.

And, as we learn through flashbacks, Dick has had his fair share of heartache in his past to help harden his heart. He fell in love with beautiful, sweet Shirley Knight; but since he's got "pain" written all over his forehead, we can guess it didn't last. Details will be revealed in their own time, and Dick gets a nice big weeping scene out of it. How often does he get to do that?

No matter your type, ladies, you'll get to have some eye candy during this movie. Three tough guys with soft spots in their hearts are pretty irresistible to a female audience. While they each have their distinct roles (Dick is the uncompassionate veteran, George is new and too soft), Yul is the only one with an active love interest with Suzy Parker. We can all hope that he makes it safely back from his missions and into Suzy's loving arms. She didn't make many movies, so it's always a treat to see her.

This is, despite a fairly epic attempt at storytelling and a heavyweight cast, a snoozefest. The pacing is very dry and ultimately predictable and the storyline is trite, contrived and pat. Widmark, Chakiris and Brynner are on a rescue mission and as their plane approaches it's destination, each of them has a flashback to another dramatic time for them. Chakiris' is the most believable as he recalls a tragic rescue attempt of some villagers caught in an icy mountain range. Widmark recalls meeting a photojournalist (Knight) and falling in love against a war-torn backdrop. Brynner remembers meeting a foreign girl (Gaubert) who he can only communicate with visually since they don't speak each others' language. Parker gets the film's most pointless & thankless role as a woman who pines for Brynner back at the base. The film ranges from stodgy to overwrought with many unintentionally amusing moments and some really ripe dialogue. Made at a time when studios were still getting used to a little more freedom with immorality, it wants desperately to be cutting edge and racy, yet is hopelessly old-fashioned and silly. There is NO attempt at period flavor. Knight's story is set in 1941, yet her hair and clothing are early sixties (she even wears a skirt almost identical to Parker's, whose story takes place in 1964!) Her awesome mane of hair could easily have been styled into a neato '40's 'do, but alas, no one did. Widmark and Knight's story tries to cram a two-hour-movie's worth of clichés and dramatics into about 20 minutes. They literally fall hopelessly in love after one plane ride! The same can be said of Brynner's affair. He gives his seat to a girl on a bus and then can't live without her. This whole section of the film is ludicrous, but Gaubert is quite lovely. The ending of this sequence is surreal and jaw-dropping! It must be seen to be believed and is almost worth sitting through the film for. There are worse ways to spend two hours, but this is hardly rewarding entertainment. There is also a hilarious before and after narration by a man who sounds like he did voice-over for army recruitment shorts.

I concur with the most of the previous comments. The film is silly, the acting is wooden, the story is contrived and mawkish, and the 1941 and 1942 flash back scenes give no real sense of the periods depicted.

Most of the scenes filmed using models are ludicrous, especially the water landings and the take off after the rescue, but there are some good shots of real aircraft (Sikorsky UH-19 helicopter, Douglas DC-3, and Grumman HU-16 Albatross amphibian) and a few flying scenes that will appeal to aviation buffs.

One previous comment is in error: the air rescue aircraft is a Grumman HU-16 Albatross, not a Martin PBM.

I was surprised to find so few and low rated reviews on this deeply compassionate film about World War II veterans who chose to continue risking their lives by saving lives of others. George Chakiris, Richard Widmark and Yul Brynner have each one their own story to tell of profound human interest, Chakiris battling with a constantly bad conscience for having failed in one rescue emergency operation during the war, Widmark constantly battling with his hatred of the Japanese because of what they did during the war with his love Shirley Knight as a casualty, and Yul Brynner, part Japanese, part Polish, recalling his crushing love affair in Tunisia with a moslem girl he wanted to marry. It's a great film for its very realistic pathos offering an alternative solution to the most common war trauma: not to be able to stop fighting, and usually resorting to drinking or drugs for a bad recompense; but these men channelled their persisting war energy into an Air Rescue Service, battling their guilt complexes and insufficiency traumas by saving and rescuing lives in desperate need. Most of the film is flashbacks from the war, but the situation is of timeless and universal interest.

The screenplay tells the story of three men ,two of whom fought during WW2.Now they all work for Air Rescue Service with a commendable motto.The problem is that the film is far from being commendable.

During a mission,Widmark's dark memories come back to haunt him and ,in the middle of a sea rescue,we're offered a full flashback :he once loved a woman (Shirley Knight),and that is supposed to make us comprehend why he hates Japanese.But if it is bad ,a second flashback (dealing with Yul Brynner's past) is still worse.In a chocolate box North Africa ,he falls in love with an Arab girl -who barely looks Arab anyway.As George Chakiris did not fight during WW2(see above),the director spares us a third flashback,phew! This is a flick where even technical competence is at question and that is very ill-conceived.