It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

"Hell's Angels" is a movie about WW I aviators. From what I understand, it was originally meant to be a silent film, but, after the introduction of sound, many scenes were re-shot.What makes this movie stand out is that the dogfight scenes are authentic. Apparently, many of the pilots who flew the planes were themselves war veterans, giving authenticity to those parts of the film.It clearly influenced a number of later movies, such as "The Dawn Patrol" (featuring Errol Flynn and David Niven) and "Twelve O'Clock High" (starring Gregory Peck). Even 1986's "Top Gun" used many of the same techniques for its flight scenes.As for the story itself, I found it to be rather ho-hum. The plot drags at times and the acting was often wooden. One should remember, though, that sound in movies was still a new feature and studios were learning how to incorporate it into the films that they were making.Despite those shortcomings, "Hell's Angels" is still worth watching as it pioneered a number of special effects techniques.

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....

I got interested in seeing this when I watched The Aviator, which is about Howard Huges who directed Hell's Angles. This is an excellent war flick, very technologically advanced for its time, cost a fortune to make (4 million, which nowadays wouldn't even cover a star's paycheck).One of the ways you can tell it is a classic is that others have borrowed from the plot. Some of the things you think are dumb are not ** Possible Spoiler** the Zepplins bombing England show crew members jumping out to lighten the aircraft. Some of the crews did jump, but only to avoid being burned alive.The Germans speak German. The movie was going to be a silent film, then talkies came out, so it was all changed. The dog fights were done with real fighters, very dangerous and accordingly, very realistic. Oh, and we can't forget the sex appeal - Jean Harlow, all of 18, may not have been the best actress of the time, but she certainly shows why she got the part.I would have given it 8 stars, but it is a very old movie, one step forward from a silent movie, but unless you can enjoy the historical aspect of the film and take that into context, you should avoid the movie. It could also use a bit of editing. It's a tad long, some of the scenes could be tightened up, but that is the voice of a more modern viewer.

Brothers Roy and Monte Rutledge ditch their native Oxford for England's Royal Flying Corps at the onset of the First World War. One of the brothers (James Hall) is madly in love with a beguiling and attractive girl named Helen, played by Jean Harlow. Meanwhile, after the news that war has been declared on Germany, their German friend Karl (John Darrow) is ordered back to his country to enlist in the war and fight Britain; a sentence he resents on account that he considers the English his friends. Karl ultimately ends up on a Zeppelin (a German airship) with orders to bomb an area in London.As the story progresses Roy and Monte volunteer for a risky mission: to bomb a German munitions facility using a German plane. Before they commence to their duty however, Roy and Monte decide to enjoy what could possibly be their last night together and Roy goes off and looks for Helen, only to find her in the arms of another man. (Sometime in mid-1934, The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) drafted a document that set the standards on what was acceptable to be shown on motion picture screens. A lewd scene in the movie involving Helen and a drunken man is a fine example of pre-code behavior)."Hell's Angels" was really a movie ahead of its time. Howard Hughes, the director, wasn't afraid to do anything if he knew it would be beneficial to the picture, and cost certainly wasn't an issue because the results were sensational. The aerial sequences alone were convincing for its time, and even today, because it was achieved through the means of practical effects and obviously required an aviator's skill. The color sections of the film (the destruction of the Zeppelin in particular), were also well done, creating the right atmosphere for a highly elevated airship in danger of being compromised. And the sacrificing of the German airman falling down a darkened pit without even so much as a whimper was both frightening and unnerving; this scene is a sparkling example of how images can triumph over words. But what I found most wonderful of all in this film was an eight minute, two-strip Technicolor scene featuring Jean Harlow, the only color footage that exists of the actress.