Operation Red Flag - Le Jeu de la Guerre

Original title: Red Flag: The Ultimate Game

TV Movie
1981
Not Rated
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Operation Red Flag - Le Jeu de la Guerre (1981)

Two fighter pilots, Phil Clark and Jay Rivers, who flew together in Vietnam are assigned to the elite Air Force Fighter Weapons School (known as "Red Flag") at Nellis AFB, Nevada about a dec... Read allTwo fighter pilots, Phil Clark and Jay Rivers, who flew together in Vietnam are assigned to the elite Air Force Fighter Weapons School (known as "Red Flag") at Nellis AFB, Nevada about a decade after the war. Brash, self-confident Clark is an instructor, while quieter, family man... Read allTwo fighter pilots, Phil Clark and Jay Rivers, who flew together in Vietnam are assigned to the elite Air Force Fighter Weapons School (known as "Red Flag") at Nellis AFB, Nevada about a decade after the war. Brash, self-confident Clark is an instructor, while quieter, family man Rivers is the student. At first, the two men resume their friendship. But as the student ... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.4/10

127

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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User reviews5

5.4127

Featured reviews

5Col_Hessler

Devane rocks in this flick

All in all, this flick is OK. I was ten when it came on TV, and at that age, you know I loved flying. William Devane has always been a favorite of mine, and here he was terrific, intense. Barry Bostwick's weapons officer, Heinz, loved giving lip to people, and in one scene, Devane had a part on his plane break that cost 79 cents. Devane vented his feeling with the line, "You tell that bastard Heinz to watch his mouth, or his face will be worth 79 cents!" Most actors couldn't pull of that line the way he did. See this flick for him, even if you're not a fan. And the Navy doesn't have all the good films. Just so our friend from Texas knows.

5merklekranz

Beware ! ... fans of William Devane .........................

With William Devane prominently displayed as top billing on the DVD cover, one would like to have seen a lot more of him in "Red Flag". Unfortunately, even though he has a pivotal role, his screen time is not great. Speaking of not great, one would wrongly assume that this was a flying movie, while in reality it seems more like a "chick flick" masquerading as a war games film. There is way too much emotional hand holding compared to action sequences. The simulated dogfights take a back seat and the entire movie grinds to a halt every time females appear on the screen. I cannot recommend "Red Flag" as a William Devane vehicle, nor as an action film. - MERK

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Trivia
During the funeral sequence, the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron "Thunderbirds" perform the Missing Man Formation in honor of a fallen pilot. Filmed in 1981, the Thunderbirds would themselves deal with tragedy three times during an 8 month span, losing 3 members of the formation seen in the film, and 6 pilots in all. In May of 1981, Thunderbird 6, Captain Nick Hauck (flying the rear-most aircraft, closest to the viewer during the funeral sequence), was killed during an airshow at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Four months later, Thunderbird Commander/Leader, Lt Col David "DL" Smith, was killed when attempting to eject from his aircraft, shortly after takeoff from Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, following their annual airshow. Four months later, the Thunderbirds would lose Commander/Leader, Major Norm Lowry, Captain "Willie" Mays, Captain "Pete" Peterson (the pilot executing the pull up in the Missing Man sequence in the movie), and Captain Mark Melancon, when all four Diamond Formation aircraft crashed during practice at Indian Springs, Nevada, at what is now Creech Air Force Base.

Goofs
Major Rivers obviously is from a Air Base in Florida as several times he or his wife references it. But the aircraft he flies has a Nellis Tail code and markings of the 414 Aggressor Fighter Squadron, the very squadron he is up against.