Le tigre du ciel

Written from the English point of view, this film seems to have it's tongue in it's cheek at times, but it's not at all funny. There are several flashes of humor in the early scenes, at the expense of the British upper class, but those quickly give way to the special horrors of the first war fought in the air.

Patriotic young pilots straight out of college lost their lives in literally a few days time, due to their inexperience and the stress of this new kind of battle. Malcolm McDowell has the unwelcome task of leading the 76th Squadron and also visiting colleges to drum up recruits, all the while knowing he's inviting them to an almost certain death. He keeps these new recruits at arms length to soften the blow to his mental health when they invariably get shot down. When he shows up at his own alma mater, an idealistic young man, played by Peter Firth, signs up for McDowell's squadron. On his arrival at the airfield, Firth sees the evidence of the turnover in pilots but fails to see the connection to his own longevity; a family photo and personal effects are whisked out of the room he's been assigned, right in front of his eyes. He is introduced to Simon Ward, a stony-faced pilot who by the end of the movie is finally driven insane by the awful, daily anticipation of his own death in battle.

The young pilots experience the respect that their station in the Air Corps elicits from the locals and from women, but at the same time they see how they are more likely to be killed than the average filthy foot soldier. Firth is taken with a local cabaret girl, who invites him to her room one night. The next night, when he expects her to be glad to see him, she ignores him and pays attention to an older, richer officer. The very next day the pilots are given the task of destroying German spotter balloons, which always have heavy gun and air protection, and the older pilots know this is almost a death warrant. Six planes go out, with McDowell and Firth in two of them, but you'll have to watch the film to find out how many come back.

A very good, but depressing, film, McDowell is subdued in his performance and seems to come out of his cocoon only at the end. This is necessary, I think, for his character to survive in the surroundings of constant tragedy. Firth is naive in the extreme, and this probably a correct portrayal of a green recruit in WWI, where there was no frame of reference for how dangerous those early airplanes were. The film shows us just how little the commanders valued the lives of their men by sending them out unprepared and inexperienced, and that they know after one group of fliers is decimated, there is always a fresh batch of innocent boys to take their place. I recommend the film highly, since it has a firm anti-war message.

Ive seen this film about four times. A great film that didn't flinch from showing a class-ridden and brutal look at the reality of World War 1. Malcolm MacDowell was excellent as the Squadron Leader and Christopher Plummer was superb as the 'kindly uncle' figure who gave allowances and understanding to young pilots who were faced with the prospect of death every day on active duty.

World War One films are very hard to make , simply because the Director has to capture and expose the horror of a modern war in a period where the participants are caught in a mood of adventure and duty.Aces High demonstrates this fact entirely.

The film is based on the book Journeys End , and damn I missed it when it was on at the theatre , but hey. Anyway this film version is turned into the Play with Planes.

Anyway a great Film and brilliantly acted. I highly recommend this film to any war film buff , like myself.

This is an excellent film about WWI Royal Flying Corps and their fights against the Germans over the trenches.

Fantastic cast - McDowell, Trevor Howard, Peter Firth, Simon Ward and Christopher Plummer - they are all some of the best in the business at portraying English upper classes. Especially the mean McDowell (with his ironic speech at Eton 'we are caning them' when they're not really) and the callow Peter Firth, all Boys Own enthusiasm.

Shows the pious nature of the English elite, with John Gielgud as the headmaster spouting out empty platitudes about decency and 'playing the game' while, meanwhile, McDowell is playing dirty tricks on German pilots (the scene where he gets his opponent to land in the field and then destroys him as he walks towards his plane to offer help).

Fantastic aerial shots.

I have seen this film when I was young, and was very impressed. Probably it turns on my interest in aerial warfare in World War I. Despite technically awful from the airplanes types view, the film shows exactly, with no glamour, how was the life of fighter pilots in WWI.

Life expectancy for a new pilot was just two weeks. There was no real training for the pilots, and few of the old pilots care about teaching anything to the new ones. If you look at the dangerous machines they should fly, antiaircraft fire and the enemy machines, it's a miracle that someone has survived to told us the history.

I remember seeing this movie with my grandfather when it came out. My Grandfather was an observer in the RFC during WWI and so had real life views on what the movie was portraying.

I found the movie fascinating and well made, albeit rather sad, but my opinion paled against that of my grandfather. He never spoke too much about that time, but he did comment on how well the movie was made and how it fairly accurately summed up the feelings of the day, the high mortality, the bravery and the terrible mental burden it put on the combatants.

He was shot down 90 years ago over St Julien in France but survived to have a full and fruitful life. Yes i know some purists are mentioning the inaccuracy of some of the planes but to him it did not matter as the story of young human life was more relevant. I would advise anyone to see this movie to remind themselves of the great risks and sacrifices these young men took, he was 22 when he was shot down but many were much younger.

a great reminder of the risks taken by many young men who should have been enjoying life at that time. We should never forget them nor allow the lessons learned to fade away