Biggles (1988)

Wonderful character development!

Admirable film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

BIGGLES could have been a great, authentic adaptation of the famous 'boy's own' adventure stories by Captain W. E. Johns, but some genius scriptwriter had the idea of updating the storyline to then modern day to draw in the American audience. Thus we get a slapdash sci-fi outing involving an annoying Yank who repeatedly time travels to WW1, where he gets involved with the antics of the eponymous hero.In essence, this is a film of two halves. The period-era stuff is fairly decent, featuring a workable performance from Neil Dickson as the hero. There are the requisite aerial dogfights and gun battles, all of it following a simplistic action-template formula, but it works well enough. The old ruined gasworks setting of Kubrik's FULL METAL JACKET is brought into play again and provides a fitting backdrop for the action.A shame, then, that the modern-day stuff is so off-putting, and no surprise that it has dated more than the WW1 story. Alex Hyde-White's American accent is way over the top, and the lame humour adds absolutely nothing to the story. The only good part is the presence of Peter Cushing in a large-ish supporting role; this was to be his final screen performance, and it's an acceptable denouement for the star, his character filled with the quiet dignity we've come to associate with the actor.

James Bigglesworth aka Biggles was the hero of a series of 98(!) adventure books written by Captain WE Johns. They followed his adventures as a pilot, starting with the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, and continuing with post-war adventures as a commercial pilot. There was a TV series in the 60s, but the character was never strongly represented on screen until this movie.Let me say at the start that Biggles himself, his much-loved supporting cast (Algy, Bertie and Ginger), the World War I setting and the flying are all perfectly satisfactorily delivered to the screen. Had that been all there was to it, I would have had no hesitation in reporting that this movie was a success.But then we hit the three major negatives. One is the half-*ssed time travel plot. Completely unnecessary and, frankly, not very good. Two, Alec Hyde-White as present-day protagonist Jim Ferguson has more body hair than charisma. And, three, the synthesiser soundtrack music is probably the worst film music ever. No, make that "definitely", not "probably" - synths just do not go with WWI dogfights.I also observe the roaring fire in Peter Cushing's secret headquarters within Tower Bridge, and I wonder where the smoke went since, to the best of my knowledge, there are no chimneys in Tower Bridge.

Cards on the table time - I have not read the 'Biggles' books by Captain W.E. Johns. I remember seeing them on sale in the children's book department of W.H. Smiths back in the 1970's, but never plucked up the courage to actually buy one. I was more into the 'Nick Carter - Killmaster' novels. I assumed the 'Biggles' books to be jingoistic relics from the days when England was alleged to have ruled the waves ( and skies ), the sort of stories Grandad read as a boy. But that was then. Around the end of the decade, a feature film was mooted, starring John Cleese in the title role. Though it would have been interesting seeing the star of one flying circus in yet another, it never happened. Dudley Moore's name next came up in connection with the project. Fine if they wanted to send up the character, but not for an allegedly straight adaptation. Appearing on Granada's 'Clapperboard' to talk about the Robert Powell version of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' ( which he had adapted ), writer Michael Robson stated that he was currently working on a screenplay for 'Biggles'. As he said it, he looked faintly embarrassed.The problem in bringing 'Biggles' to the Silver Screen was that the character ( indeed the genre ) had been sent up rotten over the years by, amongst other things, 'Monty Python', 'Ripping Yarns', and Russ Abbot. Just put a comedian in a World War One flying suit ( with goggles ) give him a handlebar moustache, make him talk thus: "Wizard Prang! What larks! Shot down two Fokkers over the Channel. One did a belly flop over the teddy bear!" and the audience would be certain to die laughing.In 1986, a 'Biggles' movie finally appeared. The writers decided to bring in a sci-fi element in an effort to grab some of the 'Back To The Future' audience. It starts in the then-present day with Jim Ferguson, an ad man based in New York, who is being stalked by a mysterious Englishman, Colonel Raymond, played by the great Peter Cushing ( in what turned out to be his last role ).Ferguson keeps jumping back in time for no apparent reason, to 1917, where he meets flying ace James Bigglesworth, or 'Biggles' for short. Biggles has discovered that the Germans have invented a new sonic device capable of mass destruction.So back and forth goes poor old Jim. One minute he's in N.Y. extolling the virtues of T.V. dinners, the next up to his neck in blood and mud in W.W.1 France, working alongside Biggles, who apparently is his 'time twin'. In one amusing scene, Jim dresses as a W.W.1 soldier and waits in his hotel room to be blasted back to Biggles' side, but it never happens. A cleaner finds him the next morning and laughs at him.Neil Dickson is not on screen enough of the time to warrant his top billing, which is a pity as he's terrific in the role of 'Biggles'. Most of the film is devoted to Alex Hyde-White ( son of Wilfrid ) as 'Jim'. He's okay, but I wish that the focus of the story was more on the title character. The action scenes, while not as good as those of say 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark', are nevertheless exciting. One particularly good moment has a helicopter containing Biggles and Jim winding up in 1917, where it comes in handy against the Germans. There's also a very emotional scene in 1986 where elderly Colonel Raymond is reunited with Biggles, the latter not having aged a day since they last met. Overall this is an enjoyable romp, but it is a shame that its makers did not have the confidence to make this a real 'Biggles' movie, instead of trying to shoehorn him into a daft sci-fi story. Ironically, the 1917 scenes have dated far less badly than the 1980's stuff. The rock soundtrack was another mistake.The director was John Hough, whose other credits include 'The Legend Of Hell House' and the Hammer movie 'Twins Of Evil', as well as episodes of 'The Avengers' television series. 'Biggles' was dumped on by critics and ignored by the public when it came out, but now seems quite charming. Interestingly, around the time of its release, I spotted a young boy coming out of a library with a heavy looking book - an omnibus edition of 'Biggles'. If the film, for all its faults, inspired someone to seek out and read the original stories then it could not have been a waste of time after all. I may give them a go myself one day.

**Spoiler warning** This movie is the very embodyment of what would happen when an eighties guy is transported back to WW1, commenting on things like nuclear weapons and punk hairdos to the bewilderment of the upper class gentlemens of the war. (I would have like to have seen all of the characters journey to the future, but that would be too much to ask^^).The best part of the movie, undoubtedly, is when Jim is transported into a nunnery wearing nothing but a towel and the nuns mistake him for Jesus -_- I would have to love to have known what was going through the boys' minds when they found him.A lot of people complain about the storyline but I think it's good and relevant. The only thing that irks me is that you never found out who went back and told the Germans to build the sound weapon and so altered time. That would have been a good thing - perhaps even if it was Stalhein himself when he was old.So, all in all, if you want a good time and a not-too-complicated storyline to have on in the background...get this.~~Lostoyannaya