Customer Reviews

The Blue Max

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seeing George Peppard flying WW1 fighters instead of running the A-Team was quite a hoot. But seriosly, this movie showed well the life of a pilot (and former ground soldier) in the last year of the war coping with proving himself to the other squadron pilots of 'higher birth', to the point of obsession. To him, the 'Blue Max' was more than a medal: It was a badge in order for him to show himself to be the equal of the aristrocratic classes. Very enjoyable.

There are two movies every fan of aviation should have, both now on DVD: Battle of Britain (MGM) and The Blue Max (Fox). Battle chronices Brit fighters working against relentless Luftwaffe attacks on southern England and London in WWII. Max displays classic tri- and bi-planes at work over the trench warfare stalemate of WWI. Both movies gives us stunning air sequences of period aircraft that don't exist anymore flying at length in sequendes that give a genuine feel for how it must have been to sit in those cockpits with everything at stake. Both movies score heavily on the aviation scale. For this alone, they should be in your collection. They are unmatched in aviation filmography outside of documentary stuff. Forget the fact that both movies come to a near stop when they're not in the air. It doesn't matter. The bonus in both films is the music. British classical composer William Walton gave us the suite that makes up the otherwise silent air "ballet" that is the climax of Battle, and a 1966 Jerry Goldmith provides a wonderful score for Max. If you like airplanes in any way, these two movies belong in your collection.

I never thought that I could enjoy a movie about uncomplicated, even primitive fighter craft, but this movie was the shizz-nit. Great aerial combat sequences, tremendous acting and a great plot compel this movie into my top ten. Don't waste you time watching movies like "Top Gun" !! "Blue Max" is the real deal!

If you're a fighter pilot or a "want to be" and if you like realism, nostalgia, war movies, and fighter pilot movies; you should love this movie.

The flying scenes are good, more realistic then many of the special effects they use nowadays. They mostly used real planes.

I would hardly call it a miscast; George Peppard played a very convincing fighter pilot. The characters are realistic. They all have flaws and a good and dark side like all real people. The people that say George Peppard was a miscast, must be judging him on his latter works, witch have gotten more hokie like most of Hollywood.

Today's movies don't seem as good. Today's movies tend to have unrealistic characters, overpaid actors ect... the later part often makes them skimp on the script, additional actors ect... It seem much of Hollywood has gone to their heads lately and the movies have suffered for it.

Some of the old movies seem better then the newer ones. The Blue Max is a true classic. I don't normally care for the drama part; but each time I see The Blue Max, I see more depth in the characters.

There should be more movies made about the first world war, one of mankind's greatest struggles, and greatest mistakes. This movie deals with a German air squadron in the final days of the war, as Germany begins to sucumb to Allied superiority in numbers due to the American intervention.

George Peppard plays the lead, Bruno Stacher, as a lower-class German officer and talented air combat flyer trying to overcome the limitations of birth imposed by this class-ridden society. He is obsessed with winning "The Blue Max" -- Germany's medal awarded for shooting down 20 enemy planes. This would enable the protagonist to overcome his lower-class origins. Unfortunately, Stachel is morally flawed in a number of ways which eventually bring about his demise.

As the Amazon review of the movie indicates, Peppard appears to lack the stature to successfully pull off playing this rather complicated role. Jeremy Kemp, as Stacher (Peppard's) upper-class friend, along with James Mason as the pragmatic German general, overshadow Peppard. Ursula Andress plays the jaded, amoral German countess to perfection.

The above criticism notwithstanding, this is a fine entertaining movie. The action scenes are very authentic and are a pleasure to watch. This was a big budget movie and it shows. The movie, although on the long side, generally moves along at a brisk pace and retains the viewer's interest. All in all, this is an interesting look at the German officer corps in the latter stage of World War 1. Caste-ridden, fighting for a lost cause, but not without chivalry and honor.

The color is vivid. The sharpness is splendid. The audio is sharper than ever. Each time a better format of this film has been available, I have acquired it, from VHS to Laser Disc, and now DVD. It has gotten better each time. The story of the great flying aces who fought in WWI, told from the German perspective is still a great war-time classic, filled with action, romance and drama, in stunning DVD quality. This Wide-Screen edition possesses trailers in Portuguese and Spanish as extras and a list of other war-related film trailers, but sadly, no extra scenes or outtakes from this lesser-known 1966 classic. My only objection is that the picture is slightly darker(in comparison to my Fox Laser Disc) than I recall, but is quickly remedied with a minor adjustment to my television. This aerial spectacular is more than worth the ... price tag if you enjoy films of this type.

I saw a review copy of this DVD recently and thought I would share my thoughts on the movie.
George Peppard stars as a World War I flying ace in this uneven 1966 action movie with a difference. Rather than portraying an Army Air Corp or RAF pilot Peppard instead takes on the role of Bruno Stachel, a German fighter pilot who is on a quest to receive his country's most prized military aviation medal - the Blue Max of the title.
Unfortunately for the movie, it seems unsure whether to be an action movie or a drama, so whereas there are some very exciting, exhilarating action sequences peppered (no pun intended) throughout the picture, the movie does slow to an agonizing crawl during its more melodramatic moments. Another problem the picture has is its star. Simply put Peppard lacks the charisma of the other actors headlining the other DVDs of the newest wave of "Fox War Classics". He is no Cagney, Mitchum or even Kenneth More and this is most strikingly borne out by his supporting cast of James Mason and Ursula Andress.
The picture quality on this disc is merely serviceable at best; despite a nicely in depth transfer there is some dirt and scratches evident. Still, it is given to us in anamorphic widescreen instead of cropped full frame so that is a plus.
The audio on this disc is of much better story with a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track that really delivers the goods. This is fortunate because the movie does feature a nice soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith.
As with the other entries in the Fox War Classics series this movie features the trailers of the other pictures as a special feature.
Overall, an average movie, an average picture and a nice audio track. Still clocking in at two and a half hours and carrying a low price tag this is not hard to recommend taking a look.

Simply put, the movie changed my life.

My dad brought the VHS home one day when I was in middle school and the movie, along with the outstanding combat scenes, sparked an inferno which still rages today. This inferno is my interest in WW1 aviation. Thousands of dollars in books and 8 years later I am sitting in a dormroom getting prepared to write my senior thesis on WW1 aviation. I also hope to go on and get my PhD focusing on this area.

No other movie has had that effect on me. If you are a history buff like me then minor things like DH moths in German schemes, every enemy fighter being an SE5, and how the Fokker DVII was out before the Spring offensive (which in the movie took place on a sunny day when there was thick fog in reality) when the Fokker DVII came out later...might be a little irratating. However, the movie is outstanding. The other reviewers are right when they say it is a little long and drags on in the middle, but an outstanding film anyway. I just wish they would digitally redo the unbelievable soundtrack for the movie and put it out on CD, instead of just transfering the old recordings onto the CD.

Anyway, an outstanding movie to watch on a rainy Saturday!