GManfred Can't understand how I missed this picture for so long, but I finally caught up to it after all these years. I thought it was great, one of the best war pictures ever, on a par with "A Walk In The Sun". As everyone has attested, it charts the progress of a B-17 across the Pacific after taking off from San Francisco on Dec. 6, 1941. They were headed for Hickam Field in Honolulu - we know what happens next.The sleepless crew refuels and moves on to Wake Island and eventually to the Philippines, where it engages in some the best aerial fighting footage in movies, patched up and held together by gum and rubber bands. On the way, we get to know the crew members and their backgrounds. The crew are mostly neophyte actors (this is 1943) John Garfield, Arthur Kennedy, Gig Young and James Brown, but the cast and the story are pulled together by old veteran Harry Carey as the Crew Chief.There are lots of cliché scenes and some of the material has been recycled in other war pictures, but "Air Force" did it first and did it under the skilled direction of Howard Hawks. There is a lot to like in 'Air Force" and I can't think of a single criticism - well done all around and I loved it.

AaronCapenBanner Howard Hawks directed this patriotic WWII drama about a B-17 bomber(nicknamed the MaryAnn, but known as a flying fortress) crew arriving from San Francisco into Honolulu who fly straight into WWII on December 7, 1941. The crew(played by actors Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, John Garfield, Harry Carey, George Tobias, among others) are shocked by the attack, but gather themselves together as they are sent to Manila to defend the Philippines, then become increasingly nomadic, going wherever they are needed, as their plane becomes increasingly battered, and crew start dying... Exciting and well-made film must have been a real morale booster in 1943, and remains a stirring film today.

tieman64 "Air Force" is a 1943 propaganda film notable for being directed by Howard Hawks. It revolves around the crew members of a B-17 Flying Fortress, Hawks watching as the group fly training missions, are stationed at Pearl Habour during the infamous Japanese raid, and are pushed to the limit as they fly a seemingly incessant string of bombing runs in and around the Philippines. The film features dialogue by the great William Faulkner. Hawks loved to mingle with novelists, and was even close to Hemingway. They collaborated on "To Have or Have Not", one of Hawks' more underrated pictures."Air Force's" final act is a shameless bit of war-baiting, containing scenes (more graphic than usual if you're familiar with early, WW2 era, American propaganda films) in which Japanese fighter pilots shoot defenceless American parachutists, American pilots revenge-kill Japanese men and audiences are invited to revel in the slaughter of Japanese sailors. As Hawks is such a skilled director, the film's blood-lust, xenophobia and violence are more fine tune and amplified than is typical of 1940s propaganda films. The film ends (prophetically) with an allusion to the atomic bombing of Japan (which would take place 2 years later) and a patriotic speech by President Roosevelt. As expected, the film's Japanese are portrayed as being totally vicious and stupid maniacs, whilst US forces are innocent victims. In reality, the US strung Japan along as much as Japan did the US. "Let me baby Japan along for another three months," Roosevelt once joked with Churchill, as he fished for a pretext to enter the war proper. While the US and China were "allies" during WW2 – and hence Roosevelt's funding of China, placing embargoes on Japan and baiting a murderous Imperial Japan into expanding into Southern Asia - the US and China would be at war less than 15 years later during the Korean conflict."Air Force", along with such aviation films as "633 Squadron" and "The Dam Busters", would prove a huge influence on George Lucas' "Star Wars: A New Hope", which shot-for-shot borrows whole sequences from these films, particularly the latter two.Hawks is known for his rapid-fire aesthetic, and "Air Force" is no different. "Air Force" moves like a bullet train, the action ceaseless, tight and engrossing. There are also shades of Hawks' "Scarface" and "The Big Sleep" here, with shadowy cinematography, hard boiled banter, attractive machismo, tightly inter-related characters, tight editing and dark bomber cockpits which at times resemble noir sound-stages. As with most of Hawks' pictures, a tough, stoic, competitive and authoritarian vibe is prevalent. His is a "male" cinema — male values, male heroes, male activities, and male resolutions – which believes in and glorifies such traditionally masculine pursuits as world war, trailblazing, killing Native Americans, cattle driving, gun fighting, air-plane piloting, hunting and auto racing. Like Hemingway, your typical Hawks picture also has a certain cadence or tempo, very clipped, minimalist and blunt, traits which help them hold up centuries later. When discussing film-makers of his era, Hawks is often overlooked, but he could be just as, and even more, stylish than Ford and Hitchcock.7.9/10 – Like Hawks' "Sergeant York", great technique is marred by war baiting and simplistic propaganda. The film was praised and sponsored by the United States War Office. Worth one viewing.

vincem41 To those people who are so caught up in political correctness that they can not for the life of them watch a period film without smugly pointing out all of "incorrect" and "offensive" parts, thus enhancing their own "moral superiority" and "self-esteem" – I say please stop watching movies made before your twenty-first birthday. That way you will not be offended and will not have to deal with reality. Look kiddies – it was 1943, the Japanese had just attacked Pearl Harbor, they had perpetrated the Bataan Death March and the Rape of Nanking. They were on nobody's short list of nice guys. The were in fact "F***ing Japs", "Slopeheads" and a whole lot of other non-printable epithets, By the way, at the same time the Germans were "Krauts", "Squareheads" and "F***ing Nazis" – Italians were universally referred to a "Wops", "Dagos" & "Greaseballs"- by the way all of my uncles who fought in the ETO were Italian-American - and they used the "nicknames" for Italians. They were the enemy. Get over it!!! Speaking from experience, when someone is actively engaged in trying to kill you, and you him, you could care less about political correctness or the ENEMY'S feelings. They are the enemy – thus for me, they will ALWAYS be "Gooks" and "Gomers" and if that hurts their feelings – oh well!! By the way, despite the best efforts of the government and the political correctness mafia – today's combat troops refer to the bad guys as "Rag Heads" and "Muji's". Again, deal with it.Also – 1943 – we barely had enough planes to fight the war, (thanks to the pre-war peace lobby) let alone make movies with them. The fact that the P-39 was somewhat less than a stellar performer just might be the reason that it was available to make this movie, among other "inconsistencies. The fictional battles and actions were a result of the fact that when this film was made there were very few Air Force victories to brag about in the Pacific – yes it was "propaganda" – so what? Finally, many of you use the word "propaganda" like it's a bad thing. Perhaps you feel that we shouldn't be all "Rah, Rah" for our side?? Whose side should we be "Rah, Rah" for? Or do you think in a war you should remain "neutral", not caring which side wins, just so long as "your" nominal side retains the moral high ground. Well hell, Belgium had the moral high ground in two world wars – ask them how they enjoyed it.