Review of Air Force (1943) by James H — 14 Jul 2008

The ultimate master-of-all-genres director Howard Hawks is in top form with this World War 2 action/drama. Hawks never really had his own directorial "style" (unless you count strong women and naturalized diologue).

He always approached each film with what was the best way to tell that story. By using no preconcieved notions, he mastered all genres. Here he approaches the war genre more in the way one would make a disaster film.

A B-17 Flying Fortness and it's crew on a standard mission attempt to land at Pearl Harbour only to find it being attacked. They try to land various places around the Pacific, only to find out about attacks in those places.

Their search to find a safe landing and to find out what has happened to family and loved-ones is the core of this story. There is an eerily similar feeling of "what is happening to us and what will happen next" that we all felt on September 11, 2001 durring those attacks.

There is a perfect moment early on when they hear radio broadcasts around Hawaii of the attack and the communications of the Japanese pilots. One charecter asks if it's Orson Welles in reference to the War Of The Worlds panic broadcast of only three years before.

The patriotic ending was perfect for the war-time audiences who would have seen this when it was first realeased, but may date this film for current viewers. I would reccomend this film to anyone, not just war film fans.

Because Hawks films are not about the events of a story, but about how people react and respond to them. This film is not so much about war as it is about history. I recomend it strongly.