Hollywood has mostly ignored one of the most dramatic events of the modern age, the space program. It's been willing to lavish millions on sci-fi and fantasy but has been meager in detailing the real drama. Tom Wolfe's marvelous book has been captured in this film with the same blend of irony, whimsy, humor and real drama. The astronauts were accidental heroes, men who never expected to be elevated to such a public Olympus. They were never what the PR machine promoted but they got the job done and eventually earned the heroic status they were automatically granted by the propaganda machine of the time. An interesting film that genuinely manages to distill out the essence of the… Read more
This is an invaluable tome for appreciators of the Colt lineage and for appreciators of the history of the Colt enterprise. In this volume R.L. Wilson chronicles as accurately as possible the real story of how Sam Colt perservered to finally deliver a quantum leap in weapons technology after being rebuffed at first. The marvellous high quality photographs of arms are a treat in themselves and this is a book you'll find yourself pickup up over and over again to enjoy.
Although made as a tribute to the RAF and this episode in World War II history, it nonetheless followed the successful formula of Tora, Tora, Tora, by making the enemy human and reasonable. It captures the essential spirit of the contestants in this epic air battle. The fact it was done for real, before CGI effects were what they are today, is an asset. There is a reality about it, a versimillitude, that comes from actually using the real articles. It gives the film an authentic look and thus there is no temptation to monkey with history by flooding the skies with an exaggerated computer panoply of planes or having the aircraft demonstrate exciting but very unrealistic maneuvers.
