Aces High (1977)

Why so much hype?

the audience applauded

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I find myself in agreement with one of the people who reviewed this in these pages; I, too, have an aversion to Malcolm McDowell but am forced to concede that he was excellent as the self-aware, self-hating role model, what today we would describe as a poster boy for recruitment drives. Christopher Plummer was also excellent although the part was so well written he could have phoned it in. It's difficult to understand why they did not just film Journey's End as it stood, i.e. a story of infantry rather than airborne personnel but having opted for the change - and bizarrely changing the character's names, Stanhope, Raleigh, etc, despite hiring R.C. Sheriff to work on the screenplay and acknowledging the source material in the credits - they make a decent enough fist of it.

Aces High is not quite as impressive or as action packed as The Blue Max, but it is still very much worth watching if you want a good film about WWI fighter pilots or a grim and realistic portrayal of war. Malcolm McDowell is very good as always and still looking young here as the Major in charge of a squadron of ever diminishing pilots who keep getting replaced by younger and less experienced pilots. Christopher Plummer is also as good as always as a kindly uncle type figure to the other pilots. Peter Firth plays a young man who idolizes Malcolm McDowell's character and did everything he could to be assigned to his squadron (his sister is also McDowell's girlfriend which causes some awkward feelings between them). McDowell is hard at times on Firth's character but there is a mutual bond and growing respect and warmth throughout. Simon Ward plays an important role in showing a pilot who has had his nerve completely shot and cannot face going into the cockpit again. His scenes show very much the stress that hazardous missions and the constant threat of death or injury must have had on even the bravest of pilots at times (McDowell's character is shown as able in the air and takes down German fighters throughout the film but even he needs alcohol to calm his nerves before his flights).This British film spends much more time on the ground than The Blue Max did and only has about half the flying scenes at most. Still there are some stirring moments, although you may wish some mission or dogfight scenes went on a little longer. The action only takes place over seven days but it feels like a longer period of time and by the seventh day it feels like Peter Firth's character has been among the squadron a good time. The very last scene (apparently sometimes cut on TV) with Malcolm McDowell greeting some new recruits is very moving and you wonder how much longer his character can go on with the stress of countless deaths and danger (nevertheless he does a much better job of Simon Ward at facing his fears but everyone has their limits). There are some nice scenes throughout, like when McDowell brings a German pilot he brought down in combat over to the mess hall to show him a good time before the military take him away or the scene where Firth hangs out with the ground crew rather than the officers. The film is very English in the music, dialog and upper class antics of the pilots, but it also shows the grim realities of war very well and I am sure you will not begrudge these brave men the jolliness they keep up as long as they can. Overall, I preferred The Blue Max as a film but Aces High is also very good and is recommended for fans of Malcolm McDowell, British war movies or WWI flying scenes.

I caught this film on a Sunday afternoon when nothing else was on.I'm interested in the history of the period, but I can't say that I am a total plane nut or could tell you that the wrong flap or control stick was used on a certain plane etc.I thought the piece had real emotion running through it - this is far from a propaganda piece, a glory-romp detailing the beginnings of the RAF. I found it a very convincing and personal take on the futility of air war during WW1.The film is quite depressing, but then the war itself was no walk in the park, was it? We get to see first hand how the constant pressure affected these young men, we see how many of them were killed, how many could barely fly the planes. I thought that the flight scenes, and the scenery/sets generally, added to the overall ambiance and feel of the film. The 'barrack' or 'mess' they live in is just a shack with a piano in, and the only solace they have is getting drunk every night and singing songs. I genuinely felt their terror, and for me it pervades the entire film. It shows how various men cope with this massive pressure - some better than others - and it highlights a time very different from ours, a time when most of these young airmen had no idea what was in store for them. I believe that WW1 changed the world in many ways - artistically, musically, politically - and more. This is a little vignette into a lost world. It shows (but doesn't rub in or over-egg) the class system at the time - as others have mentioned, the RAF was really the preserve of the upper classes at that time, and this is a beautiful counterpart to the working class ground crew. This isn't an obvious film, I don't think, it doesn't spell things out for you, you are just awashed with small and loving details, character traits, believable props/scenery etc. It just feels right, and is quite moving.For those who bemoan the fact that it's not like Journey's End - although it's a 'revised' version of the play, it is going to be totally different - I don't understand how you can compare the claustrophobia of the trenches with the much more 'open' warfare and living conditions of the RAF. Rather than let myself get hung up about this, I treated Aces High as its own piece. I've seen Journey's End at the theatre, and enjoyed it, but to compare the two and berate Aces High for not being an exact port or copy of the origin I feel is missing the point.I was really surprised and happy at this little gem I found on a Sunday afternoon. I think it helps to have some knowledge of the period to really appreciate the film, but I'd recommend this film to anyone.

First of all I feel I`ve got to point out the two flaws of ACES HIGH 1 ) The film starts with the commonly held erroneous view that young men of whatever nation joined the army because they`d been brainwashed by glorious tales of derring do and had no idea of the horror awaiting them in the trenches . Not so in Britain at least since The Times newspaper published the names of every British serviceman killed at this time . One edition in July 1916 published over 20,000 names of the men killed during the Somme offensive , so to insinuate that the boys at the school had somehow only had Gresham`s account of the war to fall back on is somewhat naive . This might have happened in 1915 but not so when this film was set towards the end of 1916 2 ) ACES HIGH is based on the play JOURNEYS END except it revolves around a plane squadron which means when the chaps are at the airfield everything feels a bit too stagey while when they`re up in the air there`s a distinct lack of drama since the cast are indistinguishble with their goggle clad faces and their lack of dialogue Having pointed out the flaws I can`t not mention the main strength and that`s the cast . Malcolm McDowell an actor I can`t usually stand at the best of times gives a superb performance as the bitter , cynical alcholic John Gresham . It`d be very easy for McDowell to give a very over the top performance ( Some might say that`s all he ever does ) but he`s both very convincing and disciplined here . Christopher Plummer is completely convincing as a paternal English officer ( Plummer was always good at this kind of role ) and Peter Firth - Despite being hampered with a character unsubtley written - is also good Considering the limited budget the technical aspects are impressive enough with the sometimes slightly obvious backscreen projection hardly bringing the film down . It`s an anti-war film so its heart is in the right place but like many an anti-war film it`s somewhat heavy handed ( As I imagine the source play was ) and the ariel scenes with their lack of dialogue means a somewhat over dramatic film in places and an undramatic film in other places Six out of ten