Pluskylang Great Film overall

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Fulke Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Gatorman9 I was really surprised to find an 8.0 rating for this show when I looked it up on the IMDb. The truth is, it was a fairly heavy melodrama with largely contrived plots, pervasive overacting, and only selective loyalty to realism, something that always seems to characterize any fiction ever done about aviation on video. And yet, of all the shows I watched as a little kid and then got to see again as an adult, this is the only one that has really been able to continue to feel special to me in spite of all its flaws. Despite everything else, and at least during the first season with Lansing, it took its subject matter seriously and did not engage in dramatic license to too much excess (unlike in its last season-and-a-half). The episodes usually maintained internally consistent logic and emotional effect and careful attention was paid to editing; one remarkable feature was how well the editors knew their World War Two aircraft and were consistently able to synch the storyline and dialog of the combat sequences with the real-life combat footage inserted as part of those sequences. The aircraft interior combat sequences were all shot inside of the fuselage of a real B-17 (a permanently grounded wingless wonder that was a refugee of earlier post-war civilian uses like water bombing forest fires), so what you see there is as authentic as possible. Moreover, the brooding quality suggested by the subject matter (which Lansing was very effective in enhancing), the black & white photography, and the perfectly-conceived and executed bittersweet Dominic Frontiere theme and score, combined with flying, aerial combat sequences which included a great deal of real-life combat footage, and best of all, copious quantities of photography (both new and vintage) of the B-17 Flying Fortress, styled by one famous aviation photographer as "the most photogenic airplane ever built", created a unique kind of mood that has never ceased appealing to me since I was seven years old. As a result, after I grew up, I learned to fly and then through a stroke of exceedingly good luck just happened to find myself living in a city where one of the few remaining (there are only about a dozen) B-17's still flying was based, and there I joined the crew.However, in spite of what others have written, Robert Lansing was not perfect, even though he was certainly at least persistently interesting, and some attempt at verisimilitude was generally present in spite of the demands of dramatic license. And things only got even more contrived whenever an episode veered near Paul Burke playing the Joe Gallagher character. Thus, naturally, when Burke replaced Lansing in the second season it continued down the same track as the first except that its execution at practically every level was not up to the same standard. The contrived plots seemed even more contrived - not only was the acting of the new principal characters frequently weaker, but the writing itself was as well - and finally they went to color (it was by then 1966, after all), which fundamentally altered the mood, and yet something else was lost. In the third season, even the original striking score was largely abandoned for something a lot less brooding but also a lot less notable. Over that time the series went from a focus on high drama to much more of an action-adventure format, and started looking a lot more like THE RAT PATROL. As a result, both drama and even story details suffered in favor of variety and action, regardless of how realistic it made the end result. Even the editing became much more indifferent. Still, some new elements of interest appeared. Paul Burke's character, as the replacement for Lansing's, had some good, pretty credible dialog written to demonstrate his (as well as other senior officers') leadership ability, and he was pretty much up to the task of delivering it. In fact, there was a lot more believably representative dialog generally than in the first season, occasioned also by the fact that the newly formatted show at long last included some significant enlisted characters as well as more interaction among junior officers, and for the first time an actual sense of camaraderie developed at times between various characters; originally, every episode was limited to a confrontation between Lansing's character and whoever his antagonist of the week was. Moreover, a second extremely cool aircraft was added in the form of the legendary P-51 Mustang fighter, with excellent footage included, even if the plot elements to accomplish this were as often as not fairly strained, factually. But while these new aspects of the show gave the producers exciting new story opportunities it never realized its potential. Had the series capitalized better on this and stuck with the tighter writing and editing of the first season, perhaps it could have weathered the various changes, but it was not to be. Even after about Episode 8 of the third season, when the show actually did start to click pretty well as an action series, it was not enough to save it from cancellation. But still, 12 O'Clock High remains for me the thing that began my life-long love for the magnificent B-17 Flying Fortress, and eventually, for their real exploits and men that flew them.

DKosty123 Quinn Martin & Irwin Allen were 2 of the mainstays of 1960's ABC TV. It amazes me that this show did not last longer. It is very well done. Between this, the Fugitive, & The FBI, Martin pulled a big load for ABC.This series presented the story of the bombing crews in World War 2, specifically the B series bombers with the machine gunners in the turrets & the bombing runs over Europe. While the movie is well done, this series is also excellently done. The surprise is this lasted only 3 seasons. I often wondered when a quality series like this one got canceled if the ratings were rigged back then. They would cancel quality series like this & Star Trek in 3 seasons. Yet some series that were real garbage in comparison would last longer. The pretty much male cast in this show were all excellent actors who seemed to fit their roles very well. When this was made, the planes were still available to use to make things look realistic too. Overall, this was an excellent series. The stories were always the same & Martin did not get a chance to produce a finale for this one. Considering it went off about the same time as the Fugitive, it is hard to imagine him being able to finale this, though a re-creation of V-E day for these bomber crews would be exciting.

geminibird I recently had a chance to see this show again after many years. I thought that it was a great show before, and I feel the same way now (I refer to the Robert Lansing/season one show -- I agree completely with the comments that head this list).Robert Lansing, and the writers, show how leadership happens, when the commander doesn't have the option of starting over with someone else. He knows that his unit is only as strong as the weakest member, and he uses his knowledge and his leadership ability to get his men to do their best, even when it may cost him personal popularity.The combat scenes are well done, but so are the scenes when the airmen are back at the base, or off duty, in wartime England, socializing with the civilians before risking their lives on another day time bombing run deep into Germany.

jcoppel I had never heard of this series, yes I had seen the movie, it was terrific, now my husband and I are really enjoying this Series. No one could play the part of Frank Savage, like Robert Lansing does. He has all the Human Passion, that a man in his position requires. I am in awe at how he always gives a man the benifit of the Doubt, the men want to be what he wants them to be, and do what is expected of them.A very well done Series as far as I have seen. It is one that I want on video, as it shows us how fear must have engulfed the men in the air force. Little do we know how their necks would have been raw from turning their heads constantly, searching for the enemy, a heartwarming series, that make us say "Thank You" to all the men and women in World War11, whether on the ground or in the air, or in the boats on the ocean.Thanks to everyone of you, we have freedom, let us be Thankful.A First Time Viewer Joy