Hell's Angels [DVD]

WHOA -AWESOME DVD - This may be "old" but incredible WWI action flick. Germans jumping from zeppelin to their deaths to save the ship, vast battle scenes of rich detail will have your head shaking why -- WHy didn't I see this before? Why isn't it more famous -- actually, I got this because it is the "movie" being filmed" in the Howard Hughes "Aviator" movie so it is pretty famous but still -- absolutely unbelievable aerial battles done real time with actual planes, MANY scenes of stupefying grandeur and terror --- and aerial battles that blow away Flyboys and even The Blue Max, both of which I am a fan. First 15 minutes are much calmer -but set up the stories well. This one is a true jewel.

My interest in this film was totally spawned by the Hughes' bio film "The Aviator." My only other knowledge of a Hughes film is "The Outlaw" which has its points, but for the most part, a B+ grade western (if that.) "The Aviator" had stressed the flying sequences and the way that Hughes had formed his own air force to produce many of the flight sequences. My own surprises were largely related to the characters, the wording of the script (this was, after all, started as a silent film, finished as a talkie), and the overall message of the film. In a more typical film - with a general scenario of 'college buddies go to war' - all the main characters would live to the end, with some sort of heroic death involved that somehow saved the other two; something like "Pearl Harbor" for example. "Hell's Angels" doesn't follow the typical scenario. And at the end, even though the relative gentility of the military of the Brits and the Germans, war was seen as a bloody business, exercises in futility even when the men who sacrificed their lives to short term gains ultimately are shwon to have gained nothing in the larger picture. The use of the two brothers as near opposites in personality and behavior seems too obvious now, but there is nothing obvious about the ending!

The DVD itself arrived undamaged. The playback quality was fantastic. The movie itself is a little long but has some, IMO, amazing special effects, considering the time it was made. It's worth it just for that.

Hell's Angels was a Howard Hughes spectacular. In its day it was quite something, released as it was at the earliest days of talkies this is one movie you can actually date as it was being produced. There are scenes which were clearly filmed at the end of the silent era, then more in higher quality black and white as the excellent print quality of this movie progresses. Suddenly one notices that some scenes are now brownish instead of simply shades of gray - the advent of the first commercial colour print era. Towards the end of the movie colours become stronger and more vibrant. The digitized version I recieved had been taken from either an impeccable original or a superbly restored print. The storyline is typical of the period - watched with that in mind, with that period of acting level anticipated the viewer will not be disappointed. For the technical specialists I'm told there may be some issues with period accuracy, particularly with the aeroplanes, but that didn't impact my enjoyment as wasn't aware until it was pointed out. The flight sequences are spectucular for the age, it's obvious this film was a pioneer of aerial movie photography, and as an almost first blush try without todays superb modern special effects one really has to give credit to the pilots who risked their all in those flimsy machines to preserve the heroics of a byegone era and allow us to watch a reasonable facsimile of it almost a century after the event. Bearing in mind the era, the print, sound, lighting, sets, acting and effects as presented on the timely delivered disc are all of outstanding quality. Your only potential of disappointment comes if you have a need to compare it to productions that are decades younger.

This Is the best World War One Air plane movie I have seen better than The Blue Max better than Fly Boys. Why because The yellow coward Monte was actually the smartest that He realized that emperors, kings, presidents, governors and all one person rulers start wars and People are so blind that They fight the wars they started and the Germans were so brainwashed that that They did Not even give It a second thought what They were willing to die for which Is total corruption. Did You know Benjamin Franklin was against America having a president or any type of one person ruler? At the end Roy the brother of Monte had to do something because Roy knew Monte would tell the Germans what They wanted to know. Von Righthofen also know as The Red Beron was flying a biplane Instead of a triplane. Though parts of the move was In color If the whole movie was color It would have been better. The camera work In the dog fights was as good as any modern day movie.

I've heard about this movie for years, but had never seen it. Could never find it on cable or streaming so broke down and bought it. It is an old style movie (early talky), and as such the acting is over the top and the plot is sub-par. But the air battles were what I was interested in, and those scenes have never been done better. There are two, a night battle between planes and a Zeppelin and a huge daytime one between fleets of planes. The first is done with models, and is very good. The second was done with real airplanes and the flying is suppurb. You get a good feel for what the WWI air war must have been like. This is the best WWI flying you'll find in a movie, at least until (and if) Peter Jackson makes the WWI air war movie he been planning for years now.

Purtroppo di questa pellicola ho rintracciato in rete solamente la versione in lingua inglese con sottotitoli sempre in inglese ma vale assolutamente la pena di acquistarlo per le stupefacenti sequenze che vedono protagonisti velivoli d'epoca. La lunga sequenza dell'attacco allo Zeppelin è veramente mozzafiato e ha contributo a fare di questo film e del suo regista, l'aviatore miliardario Howard Hughes, una vera leggenda.

Forget the seamless, electronically enhanced movies of today and immerse yourself in the tone of the day. Action, naughtyness, morality rolled into a captivating storyline. The colour insertion is somewhat jarring, but does not detract from the overall movie. Well worth viewing if only for the aerial combat realism as performed by the canvas and wire aeroplanes. The backstory of the film's production is a movie in itself.

Ok

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....

Item as described. Arrived safely. Thanks.