The Gypsy Moths

Rating:
Summary: One of Frankenheimer's best!
Review: "The Gypsy Moths" (1969) is fabulous! I recommend it highly if you like a movie that's both exciting and "deep." The movie shows the tension created when three skydivers mix with the locals of a small Kansas town. The skydiving stunts are quite impressive --- and real. The subtle building of tension is masterful. Yes, Lancaster, Kerr, and Hackman are very good, but so are Scott Wilson, William Windom, Bonnie Bedelia, and Sherry North. The character development and the themes of mature adult relationships, the choices we make in our lives, and a behind the scenes look at the lives of ''performers'' make the movie more than an action picture. In the DVD extras, Frankenheimer calls "The Gypsy Moths" one of his personal favorites, and says out of the 194 movies and live television shows he has done, "The Gypsy Moths" ranks in the top 2 or 3. That's high praise given Frankenheimer's resume (which includes The Manchurian Candidate, The Train, Birdman of Alcatraz, Seven Days in May, and Seconds). Frankenheimer gives a full-length feature interview on the making of the "The Gypsy Moths," including comments on his frustration when the movie was strangely dropped by MGM in its theatrical realease in a management change (because the movie "didn't fit with the kind of new 'exploitation' pictures the new management wanted to make"). Also in the DVD extras, is a thrilling promotional movie trailer, and a behind the scenes making of the movie called "The Skydivers," featuring the work by the stunt skydiving team that made over 1300 jumps to catch the aerial sequences, and interviews with Frankenheimer, Lancaster, and Kerr. All in all, "The Gypsy Moths" is a major film, and a brave one for Frankenheimer, who allows the time for the characters to develop and build the subtle tension, and then explodes it with the skydiving performance and it's aftermath. "The Gypsy Moths" has a kind of cult following, which should only grow now that the movie has been reissued on DVD and VHS, and the movie will surely become a classic.

Rating:
Summary: One of Frankenheimer's best!
Review: "The Gypsy Moths" (1969) is fabulous! I recommend it highly if you like a movie that's both exciting and "deep." The movie shows the tension created when three skydivers mix with the locals of a small Kansas town. The skydiving stunts are quite impressive --- and real. The subtle building of tension is masterful. Yes, Lancaster, Kerr, and Hackman are very good, but so are Scott Wilson, William Windom, Bonnie Bedelia, and Sherry North. The character development and the themes of mature adult relationships, the choices we make in our lives, and a behind the scenes look at the lives of ''performers'' make the movie more than an action picture. In the DVD extras, Frankenheimer calls "The Gypsy Moths" one of his personal favorites, and says out of the 194 movies and live television shows he has done, "The Gypsy Moths" ranks in the top 2 or 3. That's high praise given Frankenheimer's resume (which includes The Manchurian Candidate, The Train, Birdman of Alcatraz, Seven Days in May, and Seconds). Frankenheimer gives a full-length feature interview on the making of the "The Gypsy Moths," including comments on his frustration when the movie was strangely dropped by MGM in its theatrical realease in a management change (because the movie "didn't fit with the kind of new 'exploitation' pictures the new management wanted to make"). Also in the DVD extras, is a thrilling promotional movie trailer, and a behind the scenes making of the movie called "The Skydivers," featuring the work by the stunt skydiving team that made over 1300 jumps to catch the aerial sequences, and interviews with Frankenheimer, Lancaster, and Kerr. All in all, "The Gypsy Moths" is a major film, and a brave one for Frankenheimer, who allows the time for the characters to develop and build the subtle tension, and then explodes it with the skydiving performance and it's aftermath. "The Gypsy Moths" has a kind of cult following, which should only grow now that the movie has been reissued on DVD and VHS, and the movie will surely become a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Gypsy Moths is a movie every aviation enthusiast should own!
Review: Gypsy Moths is one of those movies that stands at the top of the pile of classic aviation flicks. From beginning to end it is packed with some of the best stunt flying and old skydiving scenes you will ever see that were done for real, instead of in a wind-tunnel in front of a blue screen, or on the computer. Another great movie you should check out if you like this one is Fandango, starring Kevin Costner, which also has some amazing flying stunts in it.

Rating:
Summary: One of Frankenheimer's best!
Review: One of Frankenheimer's most satisfying films. I really like the spare dialogue. The acting is first-rate, and the filming has a free-wheeling feel lacking in Frankenheimer's later efforts. Bonnie Bedelia, Sheree North and Debra Kerr bracket the female spectrum in one of the few Frankenheimer films to depict women as interesting as the men.
Gene Hackman's performance is memorable. Simply terrific.

Rating:
Summary: Edgy free-fall
Review: One of Frankenheimer's most satisfying films. I really like the spare dialogue. The acting is first-rate, and the filming has a free-wheeling feel lacking in Frankenheimer's later efforts. Bonnie Bedelia, Sheree North and Debra Kerr bracket the female spectrum in one of the few Frankenheimer films to depict women as interesting as the men.
Gene Hackman's performance is memorable. Simply terrific.

Rating:
Summary: The Gypsy Moths
Review: Three barnstorming skydivers come to a small midwestern town to put on a show. "The Gypsy Moths" has great skydiving stunts that were actually performed by a real skydiving stunt team; and the movie is so much more than just an action film. The characters are very interesting and complex, and the backstage look at the lives of "performers" makes this movie a classic! Lancaster is powerful; Kerr, Sheree North and Bonnie Bedelia provide interest and sexual tension; Hackman should have gotten an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; and director John Frankenheimer has done a superb job of weaving the action and interpersonal drama tightly. "When the ground comes up at you like a sledgehammer, and the sweat freezes on your brow; when jumping isn't only a way to live, but a way to die, too... you're a Gypsy Moth." The ending makes this movie an existential masterpiece!

Rating:
Summary: The Gypsy Moths
Review: Three barnstorming skydivers come to a small midwestern town to put on a show. "The Gypsy Moths" has great skydiving stunts that were actually performed by a real skydiving stunt team; and the movie is so much more than just an action film. The characters are very interesting and complex, and the backstage look at the lives of "performers" makes this movie a classic! Lancaster is powerful; Kerr, Sheree North and Bonnie Bedelia provide interest and sexual tension; Hackman should have gotten an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor; and director John Frankenheimer has done a superb job of weaving the action and interpersonal drama tightly. "When the ground comes up at you like a sledgehammer, and the sweat freezes on your brow; when jumping isn't only a way to live, but a way to die, too... you're a Gypsy Moth." The ending makes this movie an existential masterpiece!