The Blue Max
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.72 You Save: $8.26 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.68 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Blue Max
Movie Review: World War I Classic German Flying Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
The Blue Max is one of the best war movies produced in the 1960s. The story revolves around the German army air service during World War I and gives a fairly accurate portrayal of combat in the skies over Europe in 1918. George Peppard plays the lead role of Bruno Stachel who was a corporal in the army fighting in the trenches at the beginning of the war. Leutant(Lieutenant) Stachel is a talented and sometimes ruthless fighter who quickly becomes an ace by downing five allied aircraft. His ultimate goal, however, is to win Germany's highest decoration, the Pour le Merite, more commonly referred to as the "Blue Max". In order to do this he must achieve 20 confirmed kills in the air.
Stachel finds himself in the middle of the German aristocracy. He is the only "commoner" amongst this elite group of pilots and feels a need to prove himself to not only the men in his squadron, but to his commanding officer Captain (Hauptmann) Otto Heidemann played by Karl Michael Vogler. Stachel soons ends up in a fierce rilvary with the squadron's best flyer Willi von Klugermann played by Jeremy Kemp. The plot deepens when Stachel gets the attention of Willi's uncle General Count von Klugermann who is flawlessly portrayed by James Mason. Fans remember Mason for numerous films including Julius Ceasar, The Desert Fox, A Star Is Born and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea to name a few.
The General wants to use Stachel for propaganda purposes. The general's wife played by the beautiful Ursula Andress has other "aspirations" when it comes to the dashing young German hero. The movie has GREAT dog fighting sequences. In this day and age of computer generated graphics, The Blue Max was filmed at a time when the real planes had to do the flying and it's a delight to watch the artistry of the film's director John Guillermin.
This is definitely a guy film. I would even say this is a middle aged and older guy's film. The current generation of film goers has been raised on special effects and for them the lack of these enhancements may make this movie seem tame. For those of us who still enjoy Bridge On The River Kwai, Twelve O'Clock High or The Longest Day this film will be not only a pleasure to watch but a way of "treating" ourselves when everyone else is gone and it's just us and the television. So sit back, have your popcorn popped and the beverage of your choice handidly close by and enjoy "The Blue Max".
Movie Review: Overlooked genius.
Summary: 5 Stars
Someday, this movie will get the single spotlight it deserves. A few years ago, the movie "Twelve O'Clock High" was isolated and elevated as a study in leadership - the movie enjoyed extra life in corporate board rooms and seminars all over the world.
The Blue Max is better. For one, the "action" scenes are flat-out great. Real WWI airplanes, real flying, real dirt. (note: the planes are replicas and a few post-WWI Stampes and Tiger Moths are used as sky-filler but only poops will complain).
Yet, the treasure in the film isn't the airplanes...it's the grit and authenticity of the people portrayed. As a "guy movie," The Blue Max illustrates the problems, challenges and realities of leadership in ways that are personal, revealing. Only the muddle-headed will miss opportunities to question themselves - "If I were him, how would I have done it...?"
Every guy in a man's pond is there - the erudite, the competant, the braggart, the jerk, the evil, the good, the fodder, the winner, the loser, the guy-who-doesn't-fit-in, the guy-whos-on-top-of-his-game... and the coolest part of the movie is how the viewer can identify so quickly with this-guy or that.
As a family movie, the character-probing is rather heavy, the war-scenes are dramatic but relatively bloodless (bright red paint is laughable nowadays) scenes won't upset the squeemish. Language is mild and if memory serves, I think there's a brief moment where Ursulla Andress is partially topless. But it can't be more than a second - and I've watched the movie maybe...10 times?
That being stated, watch the film with children who enjoy thinking beyond the obvious and ask the question - "Who was the real bad-guy of the movie?" The answer will be telling...for me, I think it was...naw. You get the movie and draw your own conclusions. : )
A minor complaint - George Peppard was GOOD, but maybe a bit out of place...not his fault - more the fault of the casting agent. As he plays the part of a working-class upstart in a room of Country Clubbers, I would have liked the social distance to be more obvious - Peppard just doesn't "look" like a German Joe-Six-pack.
PS - Flyboys? Don't even go there. Blue Max vs. Flyboys is like comparing a butcher-cut Filet to a Salisbury Steak. The Blue Max is a far, far, far better movie.
Movie Review: unsung masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
It was once said that a movie critic can't act, direct or make a movie. In fact, they can't do much of anything other than critcize the work of someone else. That will explain my view of their bashing of 'The Blue Max'. 'TBM' is a superb World War One film about flying aces filled with superbly filmed airial dogfights. I've always felt that the making of this movie was a bold step for the times, defying convention. To me, that's just one reason it stands out so. It juggles a variety of hats to tell its multi-faceted story doing it all quite well. First & foremost as stated, the arial doghfights scenes are the most extraordinary ever filmed. You can almost feel the wind at your face, and the exhilaration of flying these simple machines made of lightweight wood, and canvas, as they soar above the clouds. The price of admission was worth it for just those scenes alone. James Mason's General controls all the puppet strings of politics and propoganda, that guide the message of the war machine to the fatherland. George Peppard is excellent as the upstart from the trenches who doesn't fit in with the bluebloods, unwilling to adhere to their hypocrisy of codes and honor. His sole, singleminded, obsessive purpose is to win the aviators highest honor, the medal known as The Blue Max, no matter the cost. Ursula Andress 'Sizzles' across the screen even more hot (if that's possible) than when she came out of the ocean wearing her bikini, in 'Dr. No'. Even though the best scenes are in the air, the interplay amongst all the characters supplies a solid base for the film. Peppard is certainly no hero and does a heck of a job playing a man with no soul or conscience. Andress is a coniving vixen who loves playing with her men. She's hellbent on satisfying her selfish desires, un-restrained by her husband (Mason), who's content letting her have her fun. So long as it doesn't interfere with his propoganda machine. Alls well and good, until she meets a man whose contempt is greater than hers. If your a fan of this genre, do yourself a favor, don't listen to the critics and grab this one quick! Amazon makes the price an offer you can't refuse.Movie Review: Worth the time. Peppard was fine by me.
Summary: 5 Stars
A really good war movie, perhaps in part because it was so relatively unexplored in film. It is the story of a German working class soldier ("common as dirt", as characterized by his General, played by James Mason) named Bruno Stachell (who is well-portrayed with icy self- assurance by George Peppard) man. Stachell leaves the trenches in World War One and becomes an ace in the German flying corps which is populated by officers and gentlemen. His obsession is a medal - hence the film's title - awarded to aces, and his colleagues, commanders and the British Air Force won't keep him from it.Predictably, he rebels even as he never fits in with his comrades. It is illustrated well by his response to his first kill (which sadly goes unconfirmed even after he went scouring the countryside for the plane he shot down). He "responds" by getting his first confirmed kill by shooting down the next enemy plane over his own airfield. While his betters who populate the squadron never cease to remind him of his place, he continues up the ranks to best them all while ridiculing their so-called code of honor. "Chivalry?" he sneers. "To kill a man and then make a ritual out of saluting him is hypocrisy."
It has great flying battle scenes. Also, a wonderful supporting cast including the aforementioned Manson, his slutty aristocratic wife (the magnificent Ursula Andress) and a stick-up-the-butt colleague/rival fellow officer (Jeremy Kemp). Karl Vogler plays von Heiderman, the Commanding Officer who refuses to let go of his notions of warfare with honor, in the face of the barbaric commencement of the 20th century.
I disagree with the reviewer who says Peppard was out of his depth in this role. He plays the part of the anti-hero very well. I was even more impressed after reading that he did his own flying in this film.
It is very long, but worth the time.
Movie Review: "The only medal worth having, because it is respected"
Summary: 5 Stars
The opening words of Bruno Stachel(George Peppard in his best role) to Willie(Jeremy Kemp) as they discuss a picture of "The Red Baron" that Stachel idolizes when he first arrives at his squadron, Stachel is ambitious to achieve "The Blue Max" medal at all costs including his relationships. He sours on the others almost immediately but successfully attains his goal and is at the same time used by the Aristocracy as a publicity figure to gain the support of common folk tired of war and needing a hero from their own ranks. It covers the period from 1916 to 1918 and Stachel is in a race to get his twenty kills before the war ends. Ironically, Stachel's idolization of the Red Baron is changed due to his encounter in the air where he is shot down and injured trying to save the Baron and says to Willie Von Kluggerman "that's the fool that almost got me killed" and it turns out to be his former hero. He rejects the offer of the Baron to join his "Flying Circus" and instead sharpens his skills with "Willie" in games of "chicken' in the air that eventually leads to "Willie's" death. This Major film is worthy of praise. The music by Jerry Goldsmith is probably the best ever made for a war film. The screenplay was based on the famous novel under the same name by Jack Hunter and is different from the book in many ways. The script changes the character to be more of a thorn in the side of his own fellow flyers and accents more of the poor versus rich problems than fighting. The Hunter book has Stachel as a survivor of the war but the film needed a dramatic ending and it is one of the most memorable in Hollywood history, and you will never view a "rubber stamp" in the same way ever again. The DVD is sharp, polished but only carries a few trailers.