Wings, from Netflix, was a 1927 blockbuster about WW1 flying. It's not a talkie although this disc has a sychronized music and sound effects track that might be original since Wikipedia says such a thing existed. The disc also has colorized areas, flames in particular, which were also in the 1927 release.
Well, if you want to see great flying you need to see this one. The first time such work was ever done apparently and the director's method was very simple and very effective. Essentially nothing was faked. They taught the actors to fly, put them in the seat of a biplane fighter with a camera strapped near them focused on their faces and controlled by the actor who controlled the plane and the camera. The armada of fighters was supplied by the US Army as were thousands of extras for the ground battles and sets all around San Antonio, Texas. So when you see the hero grimace as he swerves all over the sky to escape a gang of pursuits behind him, it was all real, no cgi, no man in a mockup in front of a rear projection screen. Really great work.
Interesting to compare to Hell's Angels which came out a couple of years after, with sound. I think Hell's Angels has even better flying scenes although it has been a few years since I've seen that one. (Netflix has Hell's Angels too.) But I suppose they had Wings to build upon.
Jimski
Well, if you want to see great flying you need to see this one. The first time such work was ever done apparently and the director's method was very simple and very effective. Essentially nothing was faked. They taught the actors to fly, put them in the seat of a biplane fighter with a camera strapped near them focused on their faces and controlled by the actor who controlled the plane and the camera. The armada of fighters was supplied by the US Army as were thousands of extras for the ground battles and sets all around San Antonio, Texas. So when you see the hero grimace as he swerves all over the sky to escape a gang of pursuits behind him, it was all real, no cgi, no man in a mockup in front of a rear projection screen. Really great work.
Interesting to compare to Hell's Angels which came out a couple of years after, with sound. I think Hell's Angels has even better flying scenes although it has been a few years since I've seen that one. (Netflix has Hell's Angels too.) But I suppose they had Wings to build upon.
Jimski
