ActionDramaWar

Aces High

The first World War is in its third year and aerial combat above the Western Front is consuming the nation's favored children at an appalling rate. By early 1917, the average life-span of a British pilot is less than a fortnight. Such losses place a fearsome strain on Gresham, commanding officer of the squadron. Aces High recreates the early days of the Royal Flying Corps with some magnificently staged aerial battles, and sensitive direction presents a moving portrayal of the futilities of war.

Release Date : 1976-05-19

Language :EnglishFrenchGerman

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Les Productions Jacques RoitfeldS. Benjamin Fisz Productions

Production Country : FranceUnited Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Maj. John Gresham

Original Name : Malcolm McDowell

Gender : Male

Character Name : Capt. 'Uncle' Sinclair

Original Name : Christopher Plummer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lt. Crawford

Original Name : Simon Ward

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lt. Stephen Croft

Original Name : Peter Firth

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lt. 'Tommy' Thompson

Original Name : David Wood

Gender : Male

Character Name : Headmaster

Original Name : John Gielgud

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lieutenant Colonel Silkin

Original Name : Trevor Howard

Gender : Male

Character Name : Major Lyle

Original Name : Richard Johnson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Brigadier General Whale

Original Name : Ray Milland

Gender : Male

Character Name : Captain Beckenauer

Original Name : Gilles Béhat

Gender : Male

Character Name : Major Stoppard

Original Name : Tim Pigott-Smith

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bennett

Original Name : David Daker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lieutenant Roberts

Original Name : Christopher Blake

Gender : Male

Character Name : Joyce

Original Name : Barry Jackson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Eliot

Original Name : Ron Pember

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ponnelle

Original Name : Jacques Maury

Gender : Male

Character Name : Croft's French Girlfriend

Original Name : Pascale Christophe

Gender : Female

Character Name : French Girl

Original Name : Judy Buxton

Gender : Female

Character Name : French Girl

Original Name : Penny Irving

Gender : Female

Character Name : French Girl

Original Name : Tricia Newby

Gender : Female

Character Name : French Girl

Original Name : Evelyn Cordeau

Gender : Female

Character Name : French Singer

Original Name : Jeanne Patou

Gender : Male

Character Name : French Colonel

Original Name : John Serret

Gender : Male

Character Name : French Officer

Original Name : Gerard Paquis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Corporal - Dressing Station

Original Name : Jean Driant

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wade

Original Name : Elliott Cooper

Gender : Male

Character Name : Officer

Original Name : Roland Viner

Gender : Male

Character Name : Officer

Original Name : Steven Pacey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Officer

Original Name : Kim Lotis

Gender : Male

Character Name : Sergeant

Original Name : Colin Rix

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gresham's Batman

Original Name : James Walsh

Gender : Male

Character Name : Katherine

Original Name : Jane Anthony

Gender : Female

Character Name : Replacement

Original Name : Paul Rosebury

Gender : Male

Character Name : Replacement

Original Name : Paul Henley

Gender : Male

Character Name : Replacement

Original Name : David Arnold

Gender : Male

Character Name : School Captain

Original Name : James Cormack

Gender : Male

Reviews

Wuchak

@Wuchak

2021-06-23

***What was it like to be a fighter pilot in WW1?*** An inexperienced young Brit straight from the academy (Peter Firth) arrives on the Western front in northern France to assist in the air war against the Germans during WW1. One week in the lives of the pilots of a Royal Flying Corps squadron is chronicled as they struggle with the stresses & risks intrinsic to their profession. Malcolm McDowell plays the Major, Christopher Plummer the Captain and Simon Ward an anxiety-stricken colleague. "Aces High" (1976) came out a decade after the exceptional “The Blue Max” (1966) with the former addressing British pilots and the latter Germans. While “Blue Max” is all-around superior and more epic, “Aces High” ain’t no slouch. It successfully brings you back in time to see what it was like for men in the brand new profession of fighter piloting. This is a “man’s movie” in the manner of, say, “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), but a few females show up in the last act. The film runs 1 hour, 54 minutes, and was shot in England (Buckinghamshire, Essex & Eton College with studio work done in Hertfordshire). GRADE: B/B-

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2022-10-26

Perhaps because many of the cast here all look so very young, this film has an extra potency as a depiction of some of the inexperienced fliers who fought in the Great War. It all centres around the young "Crawford" (Simon Ward) who joins a squadron commanded by "Gresham" (Malcolm McDowell) and his adjutant "Sinclair" (Christopher Plummer). Green in the extreme, he finds himself fighting for his life every time he is airborne, and he must also balance the increasingly delicate needs of his commander who must deal, on a daily basis, with the mounting death toll amongst his Royal Flying Corps airmen. Jack Gold manages to capture well the sense of foreboding and the nerve-end existence of these youngsters as well as offering us some spectacular aerial photography and combat scenes that give us an authentic looking experience of just how perilous their lives were and just how flimsy their aircraft were, too. McDowell overacts a bit, almost as much as Plummer under-delivers - neither here quite hit the spot, but Ward and Peter Firth's "Croft" do, and their efforts are convincing. Time hasn't really been so kind to this production, but forty years later it still offers a plausible glimpse into the dangers in the lives of young men who had barely learnt to shave. No, it's not the "Blue Max" (1966) but it isn't a bad attempt at telling a similar story.