Rating: 
Summary: Great for aircraft, awful movie-
Review: This is a two edge sword, if you are buying it for the aircraft you won't be disappointed.
Lots of T-33s, F-86s and a wonderful sequence of intercepting a B-36 in an F-94 (something that would have required cooperation of the B-36 in real life)
If you love camp, you will also not be disappointed, but as a movie, it is pretty awful, but if you close your eyes until you hear engine noise, it is'nt too bad
Rating:
Summary: The Duke in a fluke!
Review: This is at times both a wonderful film, and then equally as bad as it is good. John Wayne plays his part to perfection, but this is still a fluke for the Duke (albeit an entertaining one).First off, the direction is wonderful, as is the footage of old jets, the color, the cinematography, stunt piloting by none other than Chuck Yeager, and of course, John Wayne in his prime. But there are also glaring errors and bizzare oversights that, if the film were one of the jets it depicts, would be given a direct hit with anti-aircraft fire. It all starts when a Russian MIG jets in over an American airbase, and is forced down. The pilot turns out to be a woman (GASP!), defecting to the US. The Duke has to debrief her, so to speak. As she takes off her flight suit jets whoosh by to let us know that the Duke and all of the other airmen on the base are...well... for lack of a better term, ready for take-off. The Pentagon thinks she's a spy, sent to swipe secret info. John Wayne is assigned to escort the pilot around the base and try to get the truth out of her. The lady Commie is given free run of the airbase, to go where she wants and see what she wants. She even is allowed to pilot American fighters! This is where the laughabillity comes in. Have you any idea just how much an enemy pilot can tell about a nation's strengths and weaknesses in air defense just by getting a quick LOOK at one of their jet aircraft! And here this suspected spy gets to sashay her way into FLYING one! SEVERAL times! Talk about a lapse in security! Even in Hollywood, it would lead to a firing squad for the brass that okayed it. I might have been able to buy into it (or at least overlook it), if Janet Leigh could have managed a Russian accent. In fact NONE of the Russians in the movie sound Russian. Not even Hollywood-Russian. The one general who tries comes off sounding like he speaks Italian! It's no small wonder the film was put in a vault for seven years before being released. I suspect that a Russian-sounding voiceover for Leigh was planned, but became a forgotten detail over the years. Still, the Duke looks great. The film could have been far worse (nowheres NEAR as bad as "The Conquerer", with the Duke as Ghengis Khan), and it is worth a looksee for the ariel photography and the old jets if nothing else. A word to the wise, however. This is not a serious film at all. It seems to be rather tongue-in-cheek, and that may be the best way to take it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Camp Masterpiece
Review: This movie refuses to make any sense, but it is a ton of fun to watch. It should be part of any Cold War movie fan's collection (double feature suggestions: The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Dr. Strangelove). Hilariously sincere claptrap with wonderful production values.
The DVD itself surprised me: the quality of the one I got was excellent - great color, clear sound, nice widescreen version.
| 
