Customer Reviews

The Arrow

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you read some of the more factual accounts available, such as comments by, or interviews with, Dr. James Floyd (former Avro engineer) or one of the books by Palmiro Campagna, you will see that the movie is not overly accurate from a historical standpoint. Taken for what it is (a work of historical fiction loosely based on the facts), however, it is a very good story. It shows just what Canadians are capable of, as well as what happens when too much political interference is tolerated. That refers to both the political jockeying within the Liberal and PC governments within Canada at the time, as well as the influence exerted by the American government. Many sources state that the U.S. government was trying to protect their own floundering industry and spy efforts from a superior alternative, all while milking Avro for all the technical information they could get. Detailed study of situations like these should be required for all students of political science.

Overall, a great story, with interesting, factual features on the disc other than just the movie itself. If you watch it, you will likely end up with a thirst for more information on the subject. Fortunately, there are many recent accounts of the facts, with more information being de-classified from the national archives as time passes.

Pitty. What an absolute waste the Avro Arrow Project was. The loss of Canada's ability to defend her own interests demonstrated in this film just makes me want to spit nails - not just on a corporate level but the level of which various governments have and will continue to dictate corporate policies in this country.

This should not have been allowed to happen. This jet fighter was 25 years ahead of it's time. And judging by the way our Canadian Government spends our tax money to update our Armed Forces, we would still be using this last Great Canadian Made Jet Fighter if the project had not been cancelled.

Congratulations to those who took the time and energy to research and to bring this travesty to film.

A must watch...

This movie was largely shot in Winnipeg; with the Canadian cast returning from the USA to make this picture at basically donated salaries. I know that when Dan Ackroyd was very active at Canada Day celebrations and was really good to the people (did not hid away). A good deal of the buildings are still around, and they allowed people to see the plywood version of the airplane they made up for the film (it looked like metal to me). Almost a documentary told with literary license. Even this summer the Military set a boat out to try to find more of the proto-type models at the bottom of ... one of the Great Lakes (don't recall which).

The total distruction of the program is tough to take or understand. Almost overnight, they film hints at political hate as a motivator, the planes were totally dismantled and distroyed; all blueprints and engineering documents "distroyed". It was not enough to order the the planes distroyed, but the were immediately torn to pieces; so it would be as if they never existed, or could be revived in the future. Ironic considering England, I believe the film said, had offered to pay for the plans as they wanted to take over the project; or add it to their own program.

Very appropriate today; as the "brain drain" to the USA continues, and as the program points out, the Canadian Engineers largely ended up going to the States to make what would become NASA their new employer.

Every Canadian should be made aware of this historic episode from the 50s.

If I could give this movie 10 stars I would, it's that good! I've watched this movie several times, and it keeps getting better with each viewing. This is without a doubt, Dan Ackroyd's best dramatic work. I won't give away the story, but this movie goes into detail, of how and why this jet fighter plane came into existence, and why the government cancelled the program, only days from it's completion. It also gives enough little "angles" that the conspiracy theorists will love to pick apart after viewing. The DVD extras was well done as well. This movie made me proud to be a Canadian!

This movie documents the complete story of the Avro Arrow, from the "impossible" requirements of the RCAF to the design, development and test-flights of an amazing jet fighter.

After several months of unproven performance and and millions of dollars over budget, it is quite understandable that the government would not hesitate to pull the plug on the complete project. But does it make sense? When you see the aircraft in the air, and you knw the end is near, does it make more sense canning the whole program or just biting the bullet, bringing it to completion and increasing the marketing strategy to attempt to offset the cost? Apparently it's just best to scrap the program, according to Diefenbaker's government.

The movie attempts to explain why the 6 completed aircraft, as well as all the blueprints, documents and videos were completely destroyed, and the explanation is quite plausible. As hard as it is to understand why suck a thing took place, we musn't forget that we're watching this movie with a year-2000+ perspective, yet the story unfolds in the late 50's and early 60's.

The Arrow is an excellent documentary well worth the purchase.

the arrow movie is an excellent movie to watch. i was lucky to meet some of the cast while doing deliveries to the site and found that dan was putting his heart & soul into making this movie. while it maybe about a canadian tragdey, it goes to show how far back a major power such as the u.s. has influence on different parts of the world. you see on the credits at the end of the movie how many people who worked on the arrow went to the states and had an impact at various places such as nasa, boeing, the concorde project just to name a few this is worth the money to watch i have both vhs and dvd and love watching from time to time.

I enjoyed the movie when it came out on tv. I was rather surprised to learn how difficult it was to find a copy of it, it is an important piece of Canadian history.

An incredibly accurate look into Canada's past for those who don't know. If you're Canadian and this movie doesn't bring a huge amount of pride, you're not paying attention. This explains the 'brain drain' that follows and shows the rise of NASA and how Canada should have been there first, if politics didn't get in the way.

We have had this movie for a few years and a friend of ours wanted one, but they are now out of circulation I guess and I was happy to find a new one online for a reasonable price!

Some cheesie acting, but the feel of the history was there. its a good place to start researching.