Le crépuscule des aigles

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.

REVIEW OF REGION 1 20TH CENTURY FOX DVD

Unmistakably one of the most entertaining war films to come out of the 1960s, "The Blue Max" is the kind of film that could only have been made in Hollywood. Featuring some of the best aerial combat scenes ever shot and a great ensemble cast, it's enjoyable pulp fantasy for any war film fan.

The film opens with a brilliant, intense action sequence: Bruno Stachel (George Peppard, "Tobruk") dives into a mud-filled crater on the Western Front. He's visibly exhausted; his heavy breathing and unshaven face reveal how horrible front line conditions are. From above comes the sound of a dogfight – Peppard's bright blue eyes blare from a mud-covered face as he stares in awe at the action in the skies above him, the mood fully established with Jerry Goldsmith's evocative score. Flash forward two years: Stachel has transferred to the Luftwaffe and is a green, inexperienced pilot. A peasant, Stachel has little in common with his high-class comrades, members of the elite Officer Corps. He's ruthless and ambitious, and sets his sight on winning a Blue Max – the medal awarded to a pilot with 20 kills to his credit. With this award, Bruno will have won the respect of his comrades. Squadron commander Heidemann (Karl Michael Vogler, "Patton") has one, and hotshot Willi von Klugermann (Jeremy Kemp, "Operation Crossbow") is awarded one early in the film. Stachel vigorously has to catch up to their status, and Willi takes a liking to him, helping him try to fit in.

As Germany is losing the war, Willi's uncle, General von Klugermann (James Mason, "Cross of Iron") enters the stage: he sees potential in Stachel for more than just flying prowess. This is a time when the common people of Germany need a hero. Stachel is a poor farm boy, someone they can all relate to. Von Klugermann sets out to make Stachel a national icon; when he received a minor wound, he's escorted to a cushy Berlin hotel and the press takes pictures of a nurse tending to his wound, plastering pictures all over the national newspapers. Countess Kaeti von Klugermann (the beautiful Ursula Andress) sets her sights on Stachel, and soon a steamy affair has begun, right under the nose of the General. As Stachel's selfish ambitions become more apparent and blatant, Willi's friendly competitiveness fades and their adversity becomes an all-out battle. All of this builds to an unavoidable, somewhat depressing ending.

This is a character-driven drama firstly, and the action is simply a supplement to the story of the characters. Unfortunately, Peppard is a wooden lead. He speaks in unaccented English and never seems to be thoroughly involved in his part; it's as though he's sleepwalking through almost every scene. The rest of the cast deserves more credit. Co-star Jeremy Kemp is much more believable. He's sly, cynical and delivers fantastic deadpan humor. James Mason is brilliant as usual as General von Klugermann, a career German officer whose chief concern is for the German people and his nation's prestige. I have never seen Mason deliver a bad performance, and here he is simply fantastic. He's often cool and restrained, but lets anger and rage come out full-force at key moments. As his unfaithful wife, Ursula Andress is her typical self; beautiful and often barely concealed. A standout is Karl Michael Vogler as Heidemann. A veteran flyer devoted to his duty, Heidemann is a career soldier. He's been fighting since the beginning of the war, and although weary and tired, keeps doing his job. His chief goals are keeping as many planes flying as possible, despite Allied air attacks and supply shortages. He demands that Stachel's ambitions take second fiddle to strategic operations; when he disobeys orders, Heidemann threatens to have him court-martialed. Vogler's performance is excellent, and he walks away with each of his scenes.

Director John Guillermin and Director-of-Photography Douglas Slocombe weave some excellent flying sequences into the film's story. These action scenes are not independent conflicts between German and English fighters – conflicts between characters are developed on the ground and either expanded or settled in the air. The skies have never been bluer, and the vintage aircraft look fantastic as they dive, swoop and strafe enemy columns. The stunt work and special effects are genuine, even some brilliantly-staged crash sequences. Even the work of Guy Hamilton and crew in 1969's "Battle of Britain" pales in comparison to this. The scenes of trench warfare and bombing runs are massive and spectacular. The mud-splattered soldiers, vast fields dotted with rotting corpses and bomb craters, and some hand-to-hand combat has never looked more authentic. Every cent invested in the film was put to good use. Scenes in Berlin – particularly that in the hospital and food riots shot through a moving car window – are historically accurate.

Guillermin isn't afraid to experiment with the camera during the discussion scenes. Note how he often places two actors in one room on opposite ends of the frame, simply to capture the scope of the interiors. Marvelous pans show off huge numbers of extras and planes taking off and landing. There's also a long crane shot showing a huge, lavish dining hall at the Von Klugermann's mansion which captures the essence of nobility and aristocracy in one shot.

"The Blue Max" is a brilliantly shot, engaging and wildly entertaining World War I epic which should satisfy any fan of aircraft and war films. This is a must-see DVD, which preserves the CinemaScope ratio (a necessary asset, as pan-and-scan versions detract from the epic look of the picture) and also features a great restored surround-sound track and stunning digital image quality. It's the only acceptable way to see this film in the modern world.

At the beginning of The Young Lions Marlon Brando tells Barbara Rush how difficult it is to rise in class in Europe as opposed to America. It's one of the reasons he's thinking that Adolph Hitler and the Nazis will be a good thing for Germany.

George Peppard plays a more ruthless version of the Brando character in the previous generation in The Blue Max. He's a survivor of the trenches who gets an opportunity to learn to fly and transfer in the Air Corps. What comes with it is a commission and while Peppard is now an officer he's no gentleman.

There's a whole different ethic operating in the Air Corps. The pilots see themselves as an updated version of the Teutonic Knights of old. A view by the way shared by both sides. The fliers on both sides see themselves as old fashioned chivalrous sorts who glory in single combat. They are also upper middle class and aristocratic types and Peppard doesn't quite fit in.

You can put him in a biplane and give him rank, but his outlook doesn't change. What Peppard does see is that if he makes 20 confirmed kills he gets awarded the Blue Max decoration and his future and respectability is secure.

James Mason who commands the Flying Corps takes an interest in Peppard's rise. His political instinct tells him revolution is in the body politic. Make heroes out of someone like Peppard who would be part of the proletarian masses will help give those masses a vested interest in the Wilhelmine regime and would forestall revolution. Of course wife Ursula Andress has some different ideas about Peppard.

I like The Blue Max because it is a film about more than aviation. It is about what was happening in Germany during those last days of World War I when Germany was desperately trying to break the stalemate on the western front and pull out a victory before American troops were in sufficient numbers. They almost pulled it out in fact. It's about attitudes, old, new and changing. All three of the leads suit their roles perfectly.

As a veteran of World War I if he didn't gain the respectability out of the war he craved, Peppard would have been ripe for the Nazi propaganda that filled Germany and was finally heeded during the Depression. The Nazis filled their ranks with Peppards up and down Germany.

Which is why The Blue Max should be seen and learned from because it is not just about World War I aviators as good as the aerial footage is here.

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 still don't know what to think of this film. As an air war movie it is a must see. Various plane replicas were made for this film, and the aerial sequences are some of the best i've ever seen. There is quite a lot of flying, especially in the first half of the movie. Also the scenes of trench warfare are huge in scale and very convincing. As a character drama Blue Max is a far more complex issue. It turns the typical scenario of "a lone hero against the cruel world" boldly upside down. Here Peppard's character is a bit of a bastard, he is only hungry for status and never even begins to understand the people around him or their values. A nice parody of a modern alpha male. As a contrast the other pilots and officers around him are quite likeable. I actually found myself rooting for the squadron leader and hoping that the hero gets killed in the end instead of him! So, the war scenes are excellent and the human interest stuff is morally complex and interesting. However, i wasn't completely satisfied with the film. I can't help thinking that maybe i would have enjoyed it more had the hero been a bit more likeable. As the characters start spending more time behind the lines than in the air, the film starts to drag. The love scenes with Ursula Andress, as much i tried to like them, are frankly boring. Also, from an adventure of such scale, you'd expect some sort of a climax in the end, instead we see just about half an hour of political scheming in Berlin.

Overall, Blue Max has moments of greatness and moments of boredom. A must see for war film fans, in any case.