# Air Force movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386 "2013-02-15T14:40:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/21 "2013-02-15T21:04:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What about more that aren’t set in the Korean War? The Air Force did not actually become the “Air Force” until July of 1947 so it didn’t have that many wars to take part in. And wars tend to make the best movies (if we are to believe Hollywood SOP). ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/22 "2013-02-16T00:51:54Z")
I’m not sure I understand all your technicalities, but this is a good place to recommend _Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo_. Is that what you’re looking for? Good Van Johnson vehicle, but I haven’t a clue as to the authenticity of the aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/23 "2013-02-16T01:01:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > what I’d really like to see is some USAF-themed films that were shot in the time period in which they took place. I don’t suppose we get to count IRON MAN and IRON MAN 2, do we? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/24 "2013-02-16T02:14:58Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > [The Bridges at Toko-Ri](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridges_at_Toko-Ri). I believe they’re flying Grumman Panthers. I’ve always thought of this film as the Top Gun of its day. The scene where William Holden has to trap with a crane sitting on the deck is one of my all time favorites. I’ve had a few landings with a pucker factor, but nothing like that! That was about the Navy not Air Force. > [@teela\_brown](#): > > I’m not sure I understand all your technicalities, but this is a good place to recommend _Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo_. Is that what you’re looking for? > > Good Van Johnson vehicle, but I haven’t a clue as to the authenticity of the aircraft. Army air corps not Air Force. If you don’t follow the rules we will descend into chaos and anarchy! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/25 "2013-02-16T03:02:19Z")
The USAF features heavily in **Independence Day** , but the producers weren’t able to get cooperation from the real USAF because of all the reference to Area 51. Most of the main characters in **Stargate** and on **Stargate SG1** were either USAF or civilian contracters. They had alot of cooperation from the USAF, and didn’t loose it when they starting mentioning Area 51 in the later seasons. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/26 "2013-02-16T03:44:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What about more that aren’t set in the Korean War? Much older and no Century fighters - but the 1938 film [Test Pilot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Pilot_(film)) is worth a look, just for the authentic footage of the Y1B-17 squadron. Cast is not bad either, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy. I recorded it to DVD from TCM where it still shows up from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/27 "2013-02-16T03:53:28Z")
How about [The Starfighters,](http://youtu.be/D5cEpoHLFOk) starring future congressman B1 Bob Dornan? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/28 "2013-02-16T04:24:04Z")
I assume _Air Force One_ had some Air Force angle to it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/29 "2013-02-16T04:47:50Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Much older and no Century fighters - but the 1938 film [Test Pilot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Pilot_(film)) is worth a look, just for the authentic footage of the Y1B-17 squadron. In a similar vein: [Air Force (1943)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035616/combined) [Captains of the Clouds (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034578/combined) [Desprate Journey (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034646/combined) [Eagle Squadron (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034691/combined) [The First of the Few (aka Spitfire) (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034734/combined) [The Flemish Farm (1943)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036392/combined) [Flying Tigers (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034742/combined) [God Is My Co-Pilot (1945)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037746/combined) [A Guy Named Joe (1943)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035959/combined) [I Live in Grosvenor Square (aka A Yank in London) (1945)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037801/combined) [International Squadron (1941)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033759/combined) [Joan of Paris (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034919/combined) [The Lion Has Wings (1939)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031575/combined) [One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035153/combined) [Passage to Marseille (1944)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037166/combined) [Pilot #5 (1943)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036265/combined) [The Purple Heart (1944)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037197/combined) [They Flew Alone (aka Wings and the Woman) (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037197/combined) [They Raid by Night (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035430/combined) [The Way to the Stars (aka Johnny in the Clouds) (1945)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038238/combined) [A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034405/combined) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/30 "2013-02-16T09:11:23Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Army air corps not Air Force. If you don’t follow the rules we will descend into chaos and anarchy! Ahem! > **[United States Army Air Corps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Corps)** > > The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical rift developed between more traditional ground-based army personnel and those who felt that aircraft were being underutilized and that air operations were being stifled for political reasons unrelated to their effectiveness. The USAAC was renamed from the e... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/31 "2013-02-16T09:15:21Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I’m not sure I understand all your technicalities, but this is a good place to recommend _Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo_. Is that what you’re looking for? > > Good Van Johnson vehicle, but I haven’t a clue as to the authenticity of the aircraft. Like almost everything in that movie, they were very authentic. Real B-25s were used in addition to mock-ups. IIRC, other period aircraft were parked in the background during the outdoor training scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/32 "2013-02-16T13:43:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Ahem! > > [United States Army Air Corps - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Corps) Yes? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/33 "2013-02-16T15:29:18Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > And wars tend to make the best movies (if we are to believe Hollywood SOP). This is hard to explain… When I watch an old movie, I try to get into the _Zeitgeist_. I’m a big fan of air-themed WWII films, and have a decent collection and have seen many others. I’ve seen the Korean War-themed films mentioned here. But what I’m really looking for are films set in the Cold War era of the late-1950s through mid-1960s. I wasn’t born in the '50s, but growing up watching syndicated reruns and old movies, plus seeing regular-8 home movies my dad shot then, I have a ‘feel’ for the times. I _was_ alive before home computers and video games. I know what it’s like to be in a quiet house, and to miss a phone call because I wasn’t home. I remember the huge (by today’s standards) old cars. (My best friend growing up lived with his grandparents, and his grandfather collected Hudsons.) So when I watch old movies, I think of how less convenient many things were. I think of people having to go to a library to look things up, and having to use a land-line to talk to people. I think of people cooking most nights instead of going through a drive-through or grabbing a bucket of chicken or something. As I said, it’s hard to explain; but imagining how life was back then adds to the movie-watching experience for me. So to the topic of this thread: In the late-'50s/early-'60s the U.S. was economically and militarily powerful. But we had a powerful adversary in the Soviet Union, and there was real fear of a nuclear war. We had bombers in the air 24/7, and interceptor aircraft ready to counter an attack. Now think of those Century fighters. In the 1940s and into the '50s, the early jets had centrifugal turbojet engines. In the early-'50s the F-86 had an axial-flow J47 turbojet engine. Things were improving, but aircraft were still old-school in their designs. With the Century fighters, aircraft design was pretty exciting. The F-102 Delta Dagger and the F-106 Delta Dart (and the B-58 Hustler) had delta wings that were a departure from the conventional (to this day) airframe layout. The F-104 Starfighter was the ‘missile with a man in it’ – long and thin and fast. The Century fighters were designed as ‘interceptors’. That is, their primary mission was to intercept incoming enemy aircraft by getting there as fast as possible once the threat was detected. More modern aircraft were better at dogfighting. The Century fighters were designed more for speed, and primarily designed to attack less-maneruverable bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. They were the ‘Minute Men’. So to set the stage: Two powerful countries stand toe-to-toe, each capable of inflicting collateral damage undreamed of before. The front line – the tip of the spear – against nuclear annihilation brought by long-range enemy bombers was the U.S. Air Force; men trained, primed, and ready to throw themselves into battle. Their mounts were the fastest interceptors of the day. The pilots sit in their ready rooms, knowing that at any moment war might come… _Strategic Air Command_ in particular did a good job of capturing the spirit of the times and its urgency. _Dr. Strangelove_ and _Fail Safe_ took a darker path; the former satirically, and the latter played straight. Maybe those films were enough. Or maybe people do prefer war films – especially ‘safe’ war films set in Korea, where the outcome was already known. Maybe they prefer a lot of action instead of a lot of tension that climaxes in an action scene. It seems to me that there is a dearth of films featuring planes that served the USAF and ANG for decades. (The F-106, introduced in 1959, served in the U.S. until 1988.) Home defense seems a forgotten genre. _The Right Stuff_ took place at home (for me, literally; as I worked at EAFB) and was quite exciting. _From The Earth To The Moon_ also took place ‘at home’ and captured the times quite well. Being a ‘Navy brat’ and working on an Air Force base, i saw how people lived on bases. Those cinder block houses in _The Right Stuff_? They’re real. Sure, there are newer houses; but the old ones are still there and occupied. (Or they were when I worked there, until 1985.) I’d like to see more films that focus on life on an Air Force base in the days when we were facing off against the Soviet threat. And I’d like to see more of those planes between the early jets fighters and the ones that came after the Century series. 😉 > [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [The First of the Few (aka Spitfire) (1942)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034734/combined) Why, oh, why won’t someone release a restored edition of that? The video quality on my DVD is typical for an unrestored '30s movie, but the audio needs work. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/34 "2013-02-16T16:13:37Z")
You would probably love this TV series: > **[Home - OVGuide](https://ovguide.com/)** > > \[et\_pb\_section fb\_built=”1″ custom\_padding\_last\_edited=”on|phone” admin\_label=”Hero section” \_builder\_version=”4.16″ background\_color=”#674cad” background\_color\_gradient\_direction=”127deg”... > **[Steve Canyon On DVD](https://stevecanyondvd.blogspot.com/)** > > The Steve Canyon NBC live-action TV series from 1958/1959 is coming to DVD in 2008 in an official release from the Milton Caniff Estate. Learn more and get up to the minute news here on the official blog! There were a few full-length episodes available under “Action/Adventure” at a site called [tv4u.com](http://tv4u.com), but I can’t access it from where I am now (hopefully they’re still there). One of them had a five-second walk-on of an 18-year-old Mary Tyler Moore at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/35 "2013-02-16T16:21:00Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Yes? Probably just pointing out that the Army Air Corps didn’t exist at the time _Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo_ takes place (at least, not the raid from which the movie takes it’s name). By then they had been reorganized into the Army Air Forces. Anyhow, for purposes of discussion, I think “Air Force” should include the direct precursor organizations (Army Air Forces, Army Air Corps, etc.) We can draw the line at not including anything before the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Signal Corps though, in order to maintain some semblance of order. 😃 In which case, you have 12 O’Clock High, The Tuskegee Airmen, Red Tails, Tora Tora Tora, and Pearl Harbor. … You know what? It’s best if we pretend Pearl Harbor never happened. Ben Affleck would probably think it best. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/36 "2013-02-16T19:02:00Z")
Cool story about an F-106. [The Cornfield Bomber](http://www.f-106deltadart.com/71fis_PilotlessLanding_580787.htm) After the pilot ejected from F-106A S/N 58-0787 in a flat spin, the aircraft recovered itself and flew until it ran out of fuel and landed in a field. Damage was minimal, and the aircraft was repaired and returned to service. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386/37 "2013-02-16T19:08:42Z")
Speaking of old TV series featuring cool jets… Did you ever see the episode of _Sea Hunt_ where Mike Nelson had to rescue the pilot trapped underwater in the cockpit of this bird? > **[Convair F2Y Sea Dart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_F2Y_Sea_Dart)** > > The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was an American seaplane fighter aircraft that rode on twin hydro-skis during takeoff and landing. It flew only as a prototype, and never entered mass production. It is the only seaplane to have exceeded the speed of sound. > It was created in the 1950s, to overcome the problems with supersonic planes taking off and landing on aircraft carriers. The program was canceled after a series of unsatisfactory results and a tragic accident on 4 November 1954, in which test pilo... The show opened with actual footage of the airplane landing (or crashing, maybe) during one of its test flights. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/air-force-movies/650386.md?page=1)