Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Good concept, poorly executed.

best movie i've ever seen.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Exciting WW2 actioner about flight commander John Wayne and his crew having to deal with hot shot pilot John Carroll's recklessness. I was loving the first thirty minutes and then Carroll shows up. Right away I got that old familiar feeling of dread. You see, I've seen more than my fair share of older films and one of the most clichéd plot lines was a cocky, flirty guy who swoops in and steals the girl of the nice, upstanding guy. This was the plot of quite a few Jimmy Cagney pictures. In this case, it was looking like Carroll would steal Anna Lee away from John Wayne which is a movie-killing idea if there ever was one. I don't watch John Wayne movies to see him play runner-up to mustachioed cheeseballs. The movie tries to go there but still have it all end well and all it does is leave a bad taste in your mouth. It's a shame really as the movie would have been much better without Carroll's clichéd character. It's still a good movie, thanks to Duke's performance and the exceptional aerial action scenes.

I am serious. Words cannot describe just how bad this movie is. You have to see it to believe it! But I don't suggest renting or buying this at all. I am NOT a John Wayne fan. He always gets on my nerves- But- I just so happened to catch this while watching television with my Grandfather some years ago. I will never forget how miserable I was and how much I wanted RUN out of the room. No joking. I almost had an anxiety attack! I just wanted to run away and you know its bad if I was willing to give up quality time with my Grandad. That's something I never give up on. But..well.. Terrible acting all around. The plane scenes are some of the most boring scenes in cinematic history. You sit there thinking: "When will this end?! How long have they been up in the frigging air?!" John Wayne was a terrible actor but this was the worst film he ever attempted. I just know it will either put you to sleep or it will make you want to shoot your own television. Please believe me. And in case you're wondering- No- my grandfather didn't like the film either. 1 star....if it deserves THAT!

I'm trying to identify the type of cargo/airliner plane that was used in the movie. Woody and Alabama were flying it when their characters were introduced and when Wayne and Woody ran the nitro bomb run, it was used again. It looked like a DC-3 with a "box tail" elevator. Anybody know what type of plane this is? it's worrying me to death! I'm familiar with Some of the Douglas transport aircraft of that period and the Curtiss C-46. This plane looks like a pre WWII model, but closer to the 1936-38 era. I've tried looking through the internet at the sites for Douglas, Lockheed, Beech, Boeing and other aircraft companies, but no luck in locating this plane. I really have to know what type of plane it is.

I am a real sucker for some of the old Republic films--particularly the wartime films. Yes, I know they are NOT artistic masterpieces and the movies of course take advantage of many cinema clichés BUT they also deliver wonderful, if somewhat low-brow, entertainment.Despite John Wayne being billed as the lead, he is in fact somewhat of a background figure during much of the movie. Instead, the main focus seems to be on the incredibly glib and cocky John Carrol. He's a jerk and he's terribly selfish but boy can he fly. And, Wayne, being an old pal of Carrol's knows that down deep Carrol will prove himself in the end.Along the way, we are treated to a liberal dose of the nobility of our Chinese comrades in arms as well as the inherent decency of our volunteer pilots. While all basically true, it has all the expected touches of a WWII American propaganda film. For me, that's not really a bad thing, as this film and others like it succeed in being great entertainment. In fact, because of this, I have seen this film several times. It's not exactly deep or sophisticated, but sometimes we NEED a film we can just enjoy and not think too deeply about.