I’m free as a bird?
As a kid, I wanted to be a astronaut/fighter pilot that is till reality in the form of lousy eyesight grounded that dream in a hurry. Still though, I love aviation, aviation models, aviation movies and youtube videos (the camera eye view of drones dogfighting or racing are part of my current youtube jam.) I was thinking of using another movie, but I figured Top Gun was overused.
The one plane that will always grab my attention is the alleged 120 day wonder that was designed by a German Edgar Schmued, originally built for the Brits, but ended up being the main fighter of the US Army Air Force in World War 2, the P-51D Mustang. I like jets, but I’ll always be a fan of the Merlin powered pony of WW2. It is one of the planes that I would like to fly in (as a passenger because I’d probably die if I were the pilot-the Mustang or any other agile plane is not forgiving to the novice) that is on my personal bucket list.
But flight isn’t always about warplanes (really? Especially considering what is going on in the Ukraine…) or other powered flight and often involves nature.
What flying thing/person/event/of fancy/anything else captured your attention?
What movie about flight or somewhat related to flight do you enjoy?
I was just watching a documentary on Kareem Abdul Jabbar and along the way they talked about Airplane! and how it helped soften his reputation as aloof and humorless.
My wife and I will always quote it and refer to it while flying, starting with parking the car and referring to no parking in the red zone….
aces high was a good one
im scared of heights tho…………so dogfights up high will never be my thing
but hey if you need someone to lie their way past security
gifted liar me….
My dad was a Marine F4 Phantom squadron leader in Vietnam. He flew in the end of Korea too. He told me about meeting Pappy Boyington so I was very into Baa Baa Blacksheep as a kid. He went to Top Gun school but didn’t think too much of that movie. I’ve sat in the cockpit of most warplanes & helicopters of the 70s-80s but only flew on the big cargo ones. He was once asked to be in the Blue Angels but had no interest. I miss him sooooo much. He was an amazing man.
Top Gun was such BS. It’s one of those movies like The Graduate or Home Alone where you realize after a point that the supposed hero is actually the villain.
Recently I watched the Val Kilmer documentary about himself and he talks about how and why he didn’t want to be in Top Gun.
Outside of the school and Viper, the rest of the movie’s plot was just fucking stupid.
The flying scenes are still cool.
The one thing I remember about your dad was that time he told us that his brand new Toyota Supra could tell him how fast the last person drove it.
I read Pappy’s autobiography. Very interesting read.
I hope he wasn’t similar to the Great Santini.
He sounds impressive.
The Right Stuff. It was a great book and Levon Helm was in it.
An AWESOME movie!!!
And more folks need to know that Gus WAS finally vindicated–he didn’t blow the hatch💖
I don’t even like roller coasters let alone flight.
We used to fly all over the place and I’ve been on precisely one rollercoaster in my life, a kiddie one at Disneyland in Anaheim, because I hate rollercoasters so much.
I love Coney Island, even after seeing a syringe on the beach, but I hate the damn Cyclone. The one time I rode it I had trouble bending my neck for hours.
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk is still one of my favourite books. I recommend.
I loved the movie Top Gun but I was 6 or 7 when it came out and I am not ok with warmonger movies.
The V.I.P.s is one of my favorite movies:
So retro, much glamour. Unfortunately when it came out it was overshadowed by the Elizabeth Taylor extravaganza “Cleopatra” (long-delayed, so it was still in theaters by the time “The V.I.P.s” came out) but it still did well.
Another great movie is “Julie.”
Here, Doris Day is trying to get away from her mad husband, Louis Jourdan, whereas in “The V.I.P.s” Elizabeth Taylor is fleeing with Louis Jourdan from her mad husband, Richard Burton. The climax takes place on a flight from San Francisco to Sacramento and it must be seen to be believed. No spoilers.
Airplane is the ultimate classic.
How about Flights of Fantasy?
Con Air gets my vote of course.
That’s one of those movies that’s always on basic cable and so help me god I will watch it every damn time.
Avian Flu is another thing on my mind these days. But I guess those chickens don’t get to fly much.
im awake again!
red tails is a good one too
Having grown up on Westerns & War Movies, and the daughter of someone who served in the Navy (in the Mediterranean on the Forrestal during the Vietnam era), I grew up hearing stories of The Tuskegee Airmen, and knowing both how heroic they were, and how horribly they were treated before they became “heroes” and then again after the war.
Red Tails was one of the many films I meant to catch in theaters, but still haven’t caught.💖
General McGee, one of the few remaining airmen passed away just a little over a month ago;
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/one-last-tuskegee-airmen-dies-rcna12432
you should catch it!
if you are so inclined i can provide a torrent link
and just coz i cant be anywhere without leaving a music video
I used to want to be an astronaut when i was a kid. But bad eyesight (plus not wanting to join the military) kept that from being a reality. Movies like The Martian, Apollo 13, & Gravity, plus Scott Kelly’s book, made me think i am absolutely not cut out for that.
One that I remember from high school, which was pretty universally liked** was Memphis Belle.
The movie was completely inaccurate to the story of the real airplane & her crew, but to a bunch of high schoolers, that loaded cast made for a movie that was watched at multiple gatherings & sleepovers, because everyone seemed to like something about it.
**the guys liked it because it was a War Movie, and the girls did, because “ZOMG ALLLLLLL the Cute Guys in the cast!!!!”
For a minute there – I thought David Strathairn was John Stamos and was like I don’t remember Hallmark remaking this movie.