Straight after the Flying Legends airshow two weeks ago ( where two B-17s took to the air and I spoke with Sam Halpert, ex-91st BG ) I went home and watched a video of '12 O'Clock High' ( as if I hadn't had enough for one day - a true anorak ! ) What a classic film it is. I've seen it loads of times but it doesn't matter - the opening scene always makes me want to jump in my car and head for East Anglia and the old airfields. No CGI either - not even for Paul Mantz' celebrated B-17 belly-landing. A great, great film - they don't ( can't ) make 'em like that any more.
I don't know if the film made it to the UK but in this country they released a new version of 12 O Clock High a few years ago. What a turkey it was. If it comes to the UK, don't waste your electric watching it on TV. It was worse than the new version of All Quiet on the Western Front.
It's unbelievable how Hollywood tries to 'remake' old classics - the remake is nearly always awful compared to the original ( like 'Flight Of The Phoenix' this year ). I wasn't aware that '12 o'clock High' had been messed with in this way .
That's all Hollywood does anymore is remake old movies. War of the Worlds, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Longest Yard, The Amityville Horror. The list goes on and on.
I just got hold of an original 1949 paperback of the book 'Twelve O'Clock High' with a great movie tie-in cover. I'm looking forward to reading it as author Beirne Lay flew with the 100th BG.....
In the mid 60's they had a 12 O Clock High TV show but it was not very good. They showed the same flights and movie clips over and over from the movie and just changed the script. It was in B&w and not very good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057793/ I had been trying to find a web link to the new version of 12 O Clock High for you Martin but I can't find one. I guess that shows you how alful it was!!!
I am sorry Martin, I am having brain cell problems again. The movie remake I was thinking of was THE MEMPHIS BELLE (1990), not 12 O Clock High. I figured that one out when I was trying to get the answer to your Catch 22 question. I do remember the guy chopped into by the light plane while swimming, but hopfully that was a fake person.
Yes - David Putnam's 'Memphis Belle' ( 2nd time araound ) was a worthy attempt which failed. Not only that, but a B-17 was written off in an accident during filming. What a waste. Funny how young actors today just look too young for WWII movies....Look at photos taken during the war - although we know the guys are 20 or 21, they look about 30.
Just bought a copy of the "old" version of Flight of the Phoenix with Jimmy Stewart. I might watch the new version if it comes to television but, to buy it...no thanks. Everything Hollywood seems to spew out these days is nothing more than "F" this and "F" that, something blowing up every nine seconds, blood and guts everywhere, heads flying all over the place, the screen shaking violently, and on and on. I mean, they just seem to have lost their talent these days. There's no way the remake of this could even be half as good as the original!
The 'Phoenix' remake was released over here but was utterly panned by the critics and sank without trace. An interviewer quizzed Dennis Quaid as to why they bothered to do it again when the original movie was an undisputed classic. 'I don't think that anyone under 40 will have a clear recollection of the original' he said.....
He should have said 20 years old instead. At 35 I can say I've seen the old version 20+/- times since I was a small boy. I just saw Alexander today. Not to bad for an Oliver Stone movie although I was still confused at times, however, I really liked the soundtrack.
Anybody know/watch the 1995 remake of "Sahara", with H.Bogart? Seen the last half of it this morning.
No I never even read or seen the promos on TV. I have seen the WWII version a few times and liked seeing the old tank in action. The rest was just propaganda, but fun to watch. Do you have any links to the promos for the 1995 version ?
