The Blue Max deals with an often ignored subject in cinema – German air warfare during World War I. Directed by John Guillermin (who would later go on to direct one of the true classics of World War II cinema, Battle of Britain), the film deals with a German aviator with his eyes on the prize - “The Blue Max” - an award given to pilots who shoot down 20 or more enemy aircraft. However, he learns that there’s a price to pay for becoming a hero.

George Peppard stars as Bruno Stachel, a German …easant who is promoted to aviator in the German Air Force. Although he’s an officer, he finds himself battling as much prejudice in the ranks of the German Air Force (because of his humble origins) as he does enemies in the sky. To prove that he’s just as good as some of the “upper crust” officers in the corps, he lets it be known that he’ll go to any lengths to win the highest honor the German Air Force can bestow on its own – the Blue Max. While attempting to realize his quest for the award, Stachel must deal with a hardnosed general, General Count von Klugermann (James Mason), as well as stiff competition from a fellow aviator, Willi von Klugermann (Jeremy Kemp) … all the while, maintaining his affair with Countess Kaeti von Klugermann (Ursula Andress). (Are you seeing a trend here?!?)

While The Blue Max contains some really intense and impressive dogfights, the film is simply too long (2 ½ hours) to maintain the viewers interest when you tack on all the secondary and tertiary elements to the story. While engaging at times, The Blue Max remains an average effort at best. If you really want to see a great film from the second wave of “Fox War Classics”, I’d suggest you check out John Guillermin’s other film, Battle of Britain.

Audio

Fox has included a nicely done Dolby Surround 2.0 track to compliment The Blue Max and it is definitely one of the better mixes in this most recent wave of “Fox War Classics”. The film contained quite a few aerial dogfights and the surrounds got a decent workout during these scenes that added to the effectiveness of the film. While the LFE is definitely lacking, it does create some small semblance of reinforcement for the effects, as well as Jerry Goldsmith’s impressive score. While the film’s dynamic range was somewhat limited by its source recording material, it was definitely more rich and full than most of the other films in the FWC series. Dialogue was front, center, and easily understood and although there were some thin moments noted, it never interfered with intelligibility at any time.

Fox has also included Spanish and French monaural tracks, as well as English and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Video

The Blue Max is given a fine anamorphic widescreen transfer in the films theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and while the presentation was fairly strong considering the age of the film, it still contained some problems associated with a print of its era. The image contained some pretty noticeable dirt, grain, and flakes, and while the flaws were out in the open for everyone to see, they weren’t overly distracting. Hues were accurately balanced and contrasted for the most part, with only a couple of scenes that were out of synch with the rest of the film. Bleeding and smearing weren’t an issue, while black levels were respectably deep for a film as old as this one.

There are definitely nicer looking films in Fox’s DVD stable, although The Blue Max doesn’t look too bad considering restorative efforts were miniscule at best.

Special Features

As with the other discs in the “Fox War Classics” series, the extras are spotty at best and all that we have included on The Blue Max are three Theatrical Trailers in English, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as trailers for other films in this most recent wave of Fox War Classics - 13 Rue Madeleine, The Desert Fox, The Enemy Below, Sink the Bismarck, and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison.

Parting Thoughts

While The Blue Max offers up some really great aerial scenes and battles, it just doesn’t stack up as a total package when compared to some of the other “Fox War Classics”. This is another one of those FWC films that I wouldn’t recommend purchasing sight unseen and would hold off on buying until I had seen it first. That’s not to say that the film’s not entertaining … it’s just that it’s slightly more hit-or-miss than some of the others. However, if you’re a fan of the film, or its principals, the $14.95 list is hard to pass up.

Special Features List

• Theatrical Trailer
• Fox War Classics Trailers