Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: Korean conflict-era World War II actioner, with a gruff-but-endearing commander who has to make hard decisions about who lives and dies in a Marine air combat group in the Pacific theater.
Biased, pithy comments: Although this film has been widely complimented for its quality air combat footage, I found a lot to be desired; it's grainy, confusing, and clearly constructed from hundreds of different shots from the real war. John Wayne himself is at his least irritating in this film; he's fully capable of playing men who are totally out of touch with their own feelings, it seems. No, this is a very typical gung-ho war film from the 50s---certainly finer than, say, ``The Starfighters,'' but perhaps not the finest.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Janis Carter, Jay C. Flippen
Directed by: Nicholas Ray