Can anyone identify this world war 1 aircraft movie??

[drtchock]

theres a world war 1 film that i just cant remember the name of and its driving me crazy, im dying to try and find it on youtube to spark some memories..

i remember seeing it a few times when i was about 10 years old, im now 26 so it will be atleast 16 years old, probably a late 80s/early 90s movie.

i remember the movie was a little bit weird, almost like a comedy.. and actually, not that good! lol..

from what i remember the film started off with what was supposed to be a german gotha bomber on a mission bombing something or other.. the bomber had a deck more like a ship and there was a captain giving orders to bomb.. when instructed a guy would pull a leaver and a bomb would drop out of a mechamism on the wing.. i recall a bomb getting stuck in the mechanism though.. cant remember much else!

there were 2 main characters, and at one point one has to free the other from a prison and plants some dynamite by the wall of his cell.. the guy in the prison gets confused about where the dynamite is planted and nearly gets killed from the explosion.

there were two (replica) Sopwith 1½ Strutter's in the film from what i recall that the two main characters flew.

and finally the only other thing I can remember from the film is there was a zeppelin coming out of its hanger.. germans were holding onto ropes bellow the zeppelin, one of the germans was infact one of the main characters in disguise.. he ends up holding onto the rope too long and the zeppelin dumps water to lose weight to get airbourne with him still underneath and he got soaked.

any ideas what this awfull film was??? lol, its driving me crazy trying to think of the title of it!

thanks.

[Gregvan]

Hi drtchock, and welcome to the Forum.

The terrible film you're describing can only be Sky Bandits, known as Gunbus in the UK. Check out this old thread:

WORST WWI Aviation Movie EVER

[Varese2002]

Thanks Greg for the link to this film. The trailer gives a good idea of it. Someone has gone full ou to make something idiotic sothat it becomes hilarious again. Stereotypes are all over the place, like stern German officers, strange aircraft, quasi-Zeppelins etc. The film industry will have had a field day with the making of this movie. Probably they did not earn much money with it.

This is the verdict of the NY Times http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/revi...53C1A960948260 (reading is free .. after registering) Not that bad.

A snippet from the NY Times Review ....

What gives the film its isolated moments of distinction are the fanciful flying machines conceived by Tony Woollard, the movie's production designer. They include what appear to be a Model-T Ford with wings, a six-engine bomber and a fearsome dirigible a half-mile long with the armament of a World War II battleship. Mr. Woollard's designs look like Jules Verne ideas as they might have been executed by Ronald Searle.

Cheers

Kees

[drtchock]

yes thats it! thanks for clearing that up! i completely forgot about the chitty-chitty bang bang esque scene at the end, its almost embarrassing to watch... just awfull!!

what baffles me is that they obviously spent alot of time working on the film and apparently it holds the record for the largest crew on any film due to making all the props/aircraft etc... and the result is this garbage?!

i suppose on the up side the DH2 looks quite convincing and so do the Strutters/Salmsons, but i cant believe theyd spend so much time and money making all this for something that was always going to be ultimately... crap! why cant someone put this much effort into making a much more authentic world war 1 film? I've not seen the Red Baron or Fly Boys, Red Baron looks 'OK', but fly boys just looks rediculous so im not going to waste my time watching it.

my favorite world war 1 air movie is probably Aces High, even though the aircraft arent as convincing as say Von Ricthofen and Brown or the Blue Max, the storyline is much more realistic and the flying sequences too... plus i think the musical score works well. I think the german aircraft in this film let it down with the Stearmans because they look just far too modern.. the Eindecker is nice though, even if it is a bit late in the war for it to be in service.

I was obsessed with Manfred Von Richthofen as a kid and remember loving Von Richthofen and Brown, I must have only been about 9 years old when I saw it though.. I just remember being amazed with the replica Fokker DVII's, Se5a's and Pfalz DIII's.. but looking back at it now I cant watch it without picking out all the faults.. why is Boelke an old guy?? he died when he was 25! Lanoe Hawker had a mustache and was flying a DH2 when he died, the germans should be flying Albatrosses not DVIIs (suppose you can let them off for this though), and from what I remember Brown is portrayed as a cockey prat.. and the end if off, the film basically says brown killed richthofen in an Se5a not a Camel and theres no inclusion of any ground fire..

You can't pick as many holes out of the Blue Max since its a fictional story, but despite the great scenes in the air I find it a bit long and boring.. and the end with the 'monoplane' ruins the whole film.. im guessing it was supposed to be a Fokker D8? but it looks 20 years ahead of its time with its stuts etc.

SO after that rant, why cant someone make a really good, FACTUAL world war one movie without blowing things out of proportion or turning it 'hollywood' with some stupid love story..

is there any in the making???