Synopsis
Robert Mitchum is veteran pilot Major Cleve (Iceman) Saville. Beyond cool under pressure,he takes charge of a squadron during the Korean War. He has two difficulties to deal with. Onoeis Robert Wagner, who is too undisciplined for his, or anyone else’s, own good, despite hisprowess in shooting down MiGs. Lee Phillips can’t hit an enemy jet to save his life, but he doeshave a pretty, ignored wife (May Britt) with whom Mitchum falls in love.
The soap opera elements pl…y out in very predictable fashion. For that matter, so do theadventure sequences. There isn’t really an unexpected moment here, yet the aerial combat scenesare well done, and make good use of the Cinemascope screen.
Audio
The sound is in 4.0, but for the most part, you’d be hard-pressed to tell. Virtually the onlymoments when any surround effect is detectable is in some of the scenes with jets zooming byoverhead. At least there isn’t surround dialogue. The dialogue does have too much stereoseparation all the same. This is most noticeable when using headphones.
Video
The print is in pretty good shape for 1958. There is some grain, but it is minor, and there isvery little speckling. The colours are gorgeous, with very strong blues and reds. The interiors areespecially vibrant. There is no visible edge enhancement. There is a tiny bit of flicker, but theimage is very sharp. Both 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and fullscreen aspects areprovided.
Special Features
You have your teaser and your theatrical trailer, and a Movietone Newsreel of the film’spremiere. That’s all. The menu is basic.
Closing Thoughts
Routine stuff, though the action is handsomely mounted. There are certainly worse ways towhile away an evening.
Special Features List
- Theatrical Teaser and Trailer
- Movietone Newsreel
