GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

mark.waltz This semi-documentary war drama is a face paced look at the lives of the pilots whose job it is to measure distance from the air to make sure the bombs they drop hit their targets. It even starts off like a documentary with no real credits (those are held off until the end) and explains in good detail of what these extremely brave men do, at great risk to their lives, but at even greater risk to their country if they didn't. The first half covers their training while the last part takes us on one of their missions, a dangerous one that has them falling right into the camp of the enemy. That sequence had me riveted to my television in total awe to the technical impressiveness of it all and the horror of these men's situation.But no matter how much their own lives are in peril, they get the goods on the enemy, never once giving into the tortures and utilizing a popular children's story in giving away American "secrets". The cast is superb, and includes Pat O'Brien (as the trainer), Anne Shirley (well utilized as the only major female character in a men's story), Robert Ryan, Randolph Scott (who gets a great final moment) and Eddie Albert as a trainee who meets a most horrifying destiny in the most shocking moment of the film. A rousing song of the Bombardiers is a light-hearted moment that is poignant and fun but never corny.

deschreiber Where to begin with this dog of a movie? We could start by pointing out that the premise of the story is wrong, namely, that bombardiers are about to become the most crucial people in the war and that with their wonderful, new, super-top-secret bombsite they will be able to hit their targets right on the nose from 20,000 feet. Total nonsense. Even when the movie was made, nobody could have believed it. Here is a good example of wildly inaccurate bombing was right to the end of the war, from the article on precision bombing in Wikipedia: "In the summer of 1944, 47 B- 29's raided the Yawata steel works from bases in China; only one plane actually hit the target area, and only with one of its bombs. This single 500 lb (230 kg) general purpose bomb represented one quarter of one percent of the 376 bombs dropped over Yawata on that mission. It took 108 B-17 bombers, crewed by 1,080 airmen, dropping 648 bombs to guarantee a 96 percent chance of getting just two hits inside a 400 x 500 ft (150 m) German power-generation plant." Early in the movie a cadet has moral scruples about bombing women and children. Oh, but that's what the wicked enemy does, he's told; our side bombs only military targets and does it with wonderful precision. Total nonsense again, on both counts.As for entertainment value, "Bombardier" has just about none. There's a little bit of information about how bombing crews are trained and a few interesting shots of Flying Fortresses——on the ground——but nothing else. There's the usual attempt to add a little romance and a bit of drama about who will pass and who will fail in the training, and whether anybody is afraid (sure, they are, but only a little), but it's all very lame. The dialogue can make you cringe, particularly the lines given to women. Almost all the flying scenes are done badly with pitiful models. The air battle near the end is almost laughable. As the film ends, a final shot is supposed to show a sky crowded with bombers in formation, but the artist who drew the scene has the sky so full of them, so jam-packed together that they're just about overlapping each other, like a flock of starlings.Or how about this for crappy writing? Near the beginning, the air force brass are talking about Hitler's Stuka attacks in Europe and how the U.S. had better get prepared in case one day it has to fight him. At the end our bombardiers are bombing Nagoya. But at no moment in between do we hear about Pearl Harbor or the start of the war for the U.S. Forgot to mention that, I guess.Don't waste your time. I did, and I regret it.

Michael O'Keefe This war drama from RKO Radio can't help but appear dated, but is evocative of the mindset in the early '40s. An entertaining piece of propaganda with just enough war action and actually features some good acting. The two primary stars Pat O'Brien and Randolph Scott argue over methods of training for the war effort. Scott playing Capt. Buck Oliver, who is adamant about recruiting pilots; O'Brien stars as Major Chick Davis pushing the training of pilots in high altitude precision bombing. The latter becomes head instructor at a flying school inherited by "Burt" Hughes(Anne Shirley). Davis is surprised when Oliver arrives as a flight instructor and insists he complies with the program of bombing training. Sub plots involve the competition for the affections of Miss Hughes; and the arrival of her brother Tom(Eddie Albert)as a student. Intense and grueling aerial footage. Richard Wallace directs; other players include: Robert Ryan, Richard Martin, James Newill, Barton MacLane and Brigadier General Eugene L. Eubanks. And in smaller roles are: Paul Fix, Eddie Dew and Hugh Beaumont.

bkoganbing Pat O'Brien takes his Knute Rockne character and joins the Army Air Corps in Bombardier and he and Randolph Scott have a disagreement as far as air tactics go. Scott wants to do things as they do in the RAF where he's been an observer. Fly in low and drop bombs and avoid being shot at.O'Brien is more interested in technology. Develop and learn how to use an accurate bombsight so you can be up around 20,000 feet and only have to worry about enemy planes which presumably your fighter escort has to deal with.But since these guys are friends it's a good natured fight as both are in the business of training bombardiers. Among the familiar faces they train are Eddie Albert and Robert Ryan before both went in the service themselves. Bombardier is so very dated now, but still entertaining. The advances in technology are light years beyond what O'Brien and Scott are dealing with. Film buffs who are air historians might like it though.