Kirpianuscus result of ambition of Howard Hughes , it is more a cinematographic delight than a film in the precise definition. because it remains source of memories more than example of acting. the fall of zeppelin is one of its memorable moments. the chemistry between Ben Lyon and James Hall - the other.short, a film about war, so intense, so out of ordinaries rules, using heroism and the duty in a poetic manner who becomes touching against each comparison. sure, in strange manner, it is the film of Jean Harlow. not for her performance but for the biographic details. but, in same measure, it is one of films who remains amazing scene by scene because the evolution of technology has not chance to translate, in same subtle manner, the beauty of an air fight as a form of magic with roots in the memories about fairy tales.

DeborahPainter855 I'm glad that my fondness for Jean Harlow led me to see this amazing film. So many scenes haunt me from this film, especially the pilots, the night before a crucial bombing run, talking about the futility of worrying about whether or not they were going to die... they probably were... and the man who was accused of being "yellow" because he dared question why they were Over There to begin with .... the Germans taking orders from their commanding officer in the zeppelin (I won't tell you what they are so as not to place spoilers in my review). The plane crashes in the hillsides were real planes and they were really crashing. The score was great as well. One of the great war epics.

Desertman84 Hell's Angels is an war film starring Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon, and James Hall. The screenplay centers on the combat pilots of World War I. Originally shot as a silent film,it was retooled over a lengthy gestation period and it is now hailed as one of the first sound blockbuster action films.It was written by Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook; and it was produced and directed by Howard Hughes. Monte and Roy Rutledge are a couple of British brothers who drop out of Oxford to join the British Royal Flying Corps. Both have a romantic rivalry over the affections of the two-timing socialite Helen. While flying a dangerous bombing mission over Germany, the brothers are shot down. The commandant savors his opportunity for revenge. He offers the boys their freedom if they'll reveal the time of the next British attack.If they don't cooperate, they face unspeakable consequences. Roy, driven mad by his combat experiences, is about to tell all when he is shot and killed by Monte. The latter is himself condemned to a firing squad by the disgruntled commandant, who will soon meet his own doom at the hands of the British bombers.Two bright facets light up this 1930's aviation melodrama. One is the extraordinary footage re-creating World War I air battles and the other is Jean Harlow. Both are enough to offset the cornball story and stilted dialogue. The movie was almost three years in the making and with a budget of nearly $4 million,which was astronomical at that time,was the obsession of eccentric millionaire producer/director Howard Hughes. Apparently, the authenticity of the dogfight scenes was so important to Hughes that he piloted a plane himself, and ended up breaking a few bones in the process. More shocking, it's said that three pilots lost their lives making the movie. The sequence depicting an epic encounter between the British Royal Flying Corps and a German zeppelin is especially stunning, thanks to the eye-popping use of hand tinting. A bombing raid on a German munitions depot is also remarkably convincing. Overall,the movie maybe dated after more than 80 years but it remains enjoyable and entertaining due to the authenticity and the spectacular flying sequences in it.

Tim Kidner Certainly one of the most expensive - and only three years after the inception of 'Talkies', this audacious epic still features some of the most dramatic aerial dog-fight footage ever made, the like of which will never be made ever again.I came to be interested in it as it takes a whole chunk of Marty Scorsese's modern study on Howard Hughes, in his film 'The Aviator'. Leonardo DeCaprio portrays the ambitious Hughes there, the Howard Hughes who only went on to direct Hells Angels after sacking three others, just because they couldn't translate his ideas onto celluloid.As expenses spiralled higher than the actual WWI biplanes, Hughes had amassed the largest private fighter plane force in the World, larger than most countries had. Seventy pilots were employed - and three died during the shoot, with Hughes piloting himself on a stunt that everybody else had refused to perform - he crashed, breaking many bones. A ratio of almost 250 to one feet of film shot, to that used and in The Aviator, we learnt that the whole production was grounded for weeks, costing a fortune, as the Californian skies remained too blue - and cloudless. Hughes claimed that without a background to offset the planes, they looked unreal, as if against a modern CGI green background, but without anything added. This also made them look as if they were static, shot from the side on.In actuality, most of the dialogue and story had been shot as a Silent in 1928, but as it all took so long, Sound came in and so was then out- of-date. Only someone so brilliantly reckless would re-shoot the it, though those looking close report some scenes can be seen to have been dubbed over.So, how does it rate as a film? Yes, it's dated, obviously, with many of the male leads looking rather absurd but the sex-siren of the day, Jean Harlow is superbly spirited and sultry - I was surprised how steamy some scenes in late-night French cafes got - this was before the days of heavy censorship, so real, heavy kissing is very evident. There's a comical - and very un-PC (these days) mockery of the Germans; the Zeppelin (all in a lovely tinted dark blue) wafts over London - their target, Trafalgar Square. After many calculations, their ordnance lands in (presumably) the Thames. "Mission accomplished, target destroyed" they report back...etc etc. Do NOT buy this film for any historical fact, but relish in the sheer (if slightly odd) entertainment values...That that Zeppelin is flown into on purpose by a gallant British pilot in an effort to bring it down is shown in all its glory - one of the dazzling highlights - the whole Zeppelin structure hypnotically scrunching up into a ball of bright orange, with that lovely blue tint - almost alone worth buying the film for.Yes, it takes an hour and a half to get to the finale dog-fights and these are both exciting but also graphic; no angle or violence spared, again quite shocking for such an old movie. These scenes are truly awe inspiring and even classic WWII movies such as The Battle Of Britain had only a few planes, not dozens and all the shots here are from other planes flying alongside - no back projection here!Yes, it is a Museum piece now but a truly magnificent one and one that should be seen to respect the vision and technical accomplishment, which in its day, I would dare to say was the 'Titanic' of the time. Try it....