Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

2freensel I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

jvdesuit1 One can enjoy this movie, but to claim that it's the top war movie of all time is really exaggerate. There is a movie which is far better than this one, it is "the Flyboys" which tells the story of the famous Lafayette squadron.The only interesting point in the Blue Max is the way the psychology of the characters are shown; the kind of opposition between classes in Germany as presented here, has probably occurred.Mason represents the old school which has values that matters more than ambition to succeed.Peppard is the guy which has an inferiority complex and tries to climb at all costs and means the social ladder.This opposition is probably one of the causes of the arrival of the Nazi Germany. In the review of the movie on Wikipedia, it is said that in the book Stachel does not die, and in fact meets the future commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, then-Hauptmann Hermann Göring.This makes sense and the movie should have followed this line. Stachel is the prototype of the future SS who will be regardless of ways and means to please the Fürher as to fulfill its needs for power, its ambition to the last limit, without scruples of any kind.Albert Speer was that kind of man for different reasons, but the result was the same. To conclude, this movie should be viewed not for the war environment but for the study of characters portrayed in the film.

TurboarrowIII I really enjoyed this film. It has great acting, action and superb aerial scenes. The cast are superb. George Peppard is great as Stachel. He doesn't care for the aristocratic comrades around him. He has fought in the trenches and seen death close up which has hardened him so he doesn't see war as a chivalrous game. He wants to prove he is equal to or better than them all so he will stop at nothing to achieve his aim of winning the Blue Max. Unfortunately this leads him to claim 2 kills which weren't his and this in the end causes his downfall. Peppard isn't wooden I don't think. I believe his character is meant to be cold and ruthless because of his experiences in the trenches. I also enjoyed Karl Michael Vogler's performance. He is very upper class and is still trying to fight a decent war despite the carnage going on around him. He sees the officer class as the backbone of Germany and even when Stachel is virtually murdered at the end he supports it because he believes Stachel and people like him are needed as heroes to help keep Germany from revolution. Jeremy Kemp too is great. He is an arrogant, upper class pilot who looks down on Stachel but sees him as a rival who is "hard to beat". The aerial scenes are great and the planes look brilliant. Other later films, like Aces High, borrowed scenes from this. The dogfights look realistic as do the scenes of fighting on the ground. I think this is a great film well worth seeing.

Wuchak I've seen most of the notable war flicks and "The Blue Max" from 1966 is one of my all-time favorites (other favorites include the original "Apocalypse Now," "Where Eagles Dare," "Platoon" and "The Eagle has Landed").THE PLOT: During World War I a low-class German soldier, Bruno Stachel (George Peppard), transfers from the muddy trenches to the aristocratic air officer corps. Stachel naturally becomes a bit of a fish out of water with his new higher class comrades-in-arms, but this doesn't bother him as Stachel is interested in only one thing -- gunning down twenty enemy planes to get the coveted Blue Max, Germany's Meddle of Honor. In fact, he's so focused on this goal that he'll do anything to achieve it, honorably or dishonorably. His success as a driven fighter pilot prompts his commanding officer to use him as a propaganda tool, a hero from the lower classes who is "common as dirt." Critics of the film complain that Stachel is unlikable and therefore not a very good hero to root for. It is true that Stachel doesn't seem very friendly, but how friendly would you be toward high-class "gentleman" after years of brutal trench warfare? It's also true that he's selfishly ambitious and rebels against the team spirit of the squadron, not to mention direct orders. In addition he's an alcoholic and an adulterer. But, as the German general played by James Mason states, he's brave ruthless and driven -- precisely what Germany needs at the closing months of the war. Stachel isn't a hero, he's an anti-hero.Let's face it, real life offers up few perfect heroes and "The Blue Max" is a powerfully realistic portrayal of air combat during World War I. The story should simply be digested as is without looking for a hero.One of the best sequences takes place in the first half of the picture: Stachel justly feels he is robbed of a "kill" because the plane he shot down couldn't officially be confirmed (even after he forces a corporal to escort him around the rainy countryside for half a day to find the downed plane). Later, while escorting an enemy plane back to home base he shoots the plane down when a wounded tailgunner awakes and instinctively starts shooting. Stachel lands and runs over to the downed plane along with numerous other Germans; he cuts the emblem from the plane and bitterly throws it at the feet of his superiors adamantly stating, "Confirmed." This is one of the most powerful scenes in filmmaking history.The film is universally praised for its scenic and compelling air combat sequences, but some people inexplicably criticize the drama on the ground. Personally, I find the ground story equally as interesting as the air fighting, maybe even more so. Besides, how interesting is mindless non-stop action without the contrast of interesting character-defining drama?Other highlights include a brief appearance of the Red Baron, the ravishing Ursula Undress -- I'm sorry, I mean Andress -- as the general's adulterous wife and an excellent score by (who else?) Jerry Goldsmith.The cinematography and Irish locations are excellent. The overall look of the film is cold, dark, cloudy and wet. In other words, kind of depressing. But, of course, World War I was no happy day at the beach!BOTTOM LINE: "The Blue Max" is a film of epic scope and certainly one of the greatest war films ever made. It may be from 1966 but it's not dated one bit. Highly recommended.

Shosanna Dreyfus How much you like this film will probably depend on how much WWI flying sequences and dogfights appeal to you, but I enjoyed it very much (although probably not as much as my friend Bridget von Hammersmark did since it's about her fellow Germans after all). The flying sequences are thrilling and I liked George Peppard very much in a role that is at times heroic and sympathetic and at other times shows ruthlessness, callousness or underhandedness. I liked the rivalry between Bruno Stachel (Peppard) and Willi von Klugermann (Jeremy Kemp) and also the theme of class and bourgeois politics that runs throughout the film. I liked scenes where Stachel has different viewpoints to the higher ups in the German military, because of his humbler beginnings and his more direct experience of life in the trenches. I also find it interesting in the aspect of how a supposed hero gets treated by his "superiors" when he is in danger of becoming a liability and embarrassment (I was reminded of some of the plots regarding Jack Bauer in 24 here). Ursual Andress reminded me a little of Bridget von Hammersmark here, but alas I found her character and chemistry with Peppard fairly dull, although at least she does contribute something to the story in the end (but mostly she's just an additional prize for the two pilots to compete over). Some more standard war movies probably wouldn't interest me very much, but this is one of the ones that had an extra element of excitement, ambiguity and character/human interest for me. I very much love the flying sequences and some good characterization and themes keep things on the ground moving too.