John Guillermin collects all of the conventions of the early 1930s flying adventures and adds an unmistakable mid-1960s spin to create an enjoyable but understandably uneven entertainment
Many parts of the film work beautifully In fact, the flying scenes are among the best ever put on screen But whenever sex-starlet Ursula Andress shows up, the illusion of 1918 reality evaporates Her appearance is completely at odds with everything else around her She's decorous and undeniably sexy
Flash forward two years The foot soldier has managed to transfer out of the Army and into the Air Corps, where he's a green, inexperienced pilot
Ruthlessly ambitious, Bruno dreams of getting 20 kills For those, he'll be rewarded with a medal, the 'Blue Max,' and that will make him the equal of anyone
Heidemann (Karl Michael Vogler), Bruno's new squadron leader, already has a 'Blue Max,' and the veteran flier Willi von Klugermann (Jeremy Kemp) is closing in on his More importantly, Willi and Heidemann are members of the aristocratic "officer corps." Bruno, son of a hotel keeper, really doesn't fit in
At least, he doesn't fit in until Count von Klugermann (James Mason), Willi's uncle and a high-ranking officer, realizes Bruno's potential value. "If this young man lives long enough," the Count reasons, "he could be useful to our propaganda department. The common people of our country are war-weary, restive. They need to be provided with a hero of their own. Von Richthofen and Willi are of our class. Now, this fellow Stachel is common as dirt. He's one of them!"
The film's central conflict signifies basically to a competition between Heidemann's old school, chivalrous knight of the air approach and Bruno's pragmatic goal to get the coveted Blue Max! The more interesting relationship, though, is between Bruno and Willi It always is in this sort of movie While Peppard has enough screen presence as a movie star to carry the lead, he's not a good enough actor to make Bruno's obsessive ambition seem fully real Jeremy Kemps slyly comic cynicism is a welcome balance, and he walks away with all of his scenes, both on the ground and in the air
"The Blue Max" is more enjoyable as simple escapism than as a serious war film, but those magnificent aerial sequences are enough to recommend it to fans... Jack Hunter's novel is a much more carefully observed portrait of those times Guillermin deserves credit for historical accuracy in the hospital scenes, and civilian life in 1918 Germany, complete with horses and road apples in the City streets
Many parts of the film work beautifully In fact, the flying scenes are among the best ever put on screen But whenever sex-starlet Ursula Andress shows up, the illusion of 1918 reality evaporates Her appearance is completely at odds with everything else around her She's decorous and undeniably sexy
Flash forward two years The foot soldier has managed to transfer out of the Army and into the Air Corps, where he's a green, inexperienced pilot
Ruthlessly ambitious, Bruno dreams of getting 20 kills For those, he'll be rewarded with a medal, the 'Blue Max,' and that will make him the equal of anyone
Heidemann (Karl Michael Vogler), Bruno's new squadron leader, already has a 'Blue Max,' and the veteran flier Willi von Klugermann (Jeremy Kemp) is closing in on his More importantly, Willi and Heidemann are members of the aristocratic "officer corps." Bruno, son of a hotel keeper, really doesn't fit in
At least, he doesn't fit in until Count von Klugermann (James Mason), Willi's uncle and a high-ranking officer, realizes Bruno's potential value. "If this young man lives long enough," the Count reasons, "he could be useful to our propaganda department. The common people of our country are war-weary, restive. They need to be provided with a hero of their own. Von Richthofen and Willi are of our class. Now, this fellow Stachel is common as dirt. He's one of them!"
The film's central conflict signifies basically to a competition between Heidemann's old school, chivalrous knight of the air approach and Bruno's pragmatic goal to get the coveted Blue Max! The more interesting relationship, though, is between Bruno and Willi It always is in this sort of movie While Peppard has enough screen presence as a movie star to carry the lead, he's not a good enough actor to make Bruno's obsessive ambition seem fully real Jeremy Kemps slyly comic cynicism is a welcome balance, and he walks away with all of his scenes, both on the ground and in the air
"The Blue Max" is more enjoyable as simple escapism than as a serious war film, but those magnificent aerial sequences are enough to recommend it to fans... Jack Hunter's novel is a much more carefully observed portrait of those times Guillermin deserves credit for historical accuracy in the hospital scenes, and civilian life in 1918 Germany, complete with horses and road apples in the City streets