Blue Max, the

As directed by John Guillermin (who later made The Battle of Britain in 1969), the film's main assets are epic production values, great flying scenes, and stunning dogfights. The weak point is the sometimes ponderous character drama, not helped by Peppard, who is too lightweight an actor to convince as the driven antihero. Clearly influenced by Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1958), The Blue Max is a cold, cynical drama offering a visually breathtaking portrait of a stultified society tearing itself apart during the final months of the Great War. --Gary S. Dalkin

The flying sequences are beautifully shot. The love triangle involving Ursula Undress is important to the story, but gets in the way of the airplanes. A propros de rien, the Fokker DrI triplane is the most aesthetically beautiful WWI airplane - combining a triangle, circle, and rectangle. Shoulda had more in the movie.

The ending is kinda neat, even though you sort of know what is going to happen. The way it is shot was good.


Hubris Can Only Fly So High   June 15, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

John Guillermin's 1966 film about Bruno Stachel (George Peppard), a common German soldier during WWI who joins the Luftwaffe. Socially out-of-league with his aristocratic companions and eager for respect, Stachel will stop at nothing in pursuing honor in the form of the Blue Max, the most prestigious aviation medal.

The recurrent theme is hubris/arrogance and how it affects the human condition. All of the characters are driven by ambition and are amoral to a certain degree. Bruno Stachel has the most humble of origins (a peasant who first served in the trenches) and so is the most arrogant of the characters. He knows he's an ace pilot but is unable to earn the respect of his fellow officers because of his low social status. In his mind, he can earn the social respect he covets by earning the medal: then, he feels, people will have no choice but to respect him. Ironically, the respect he obtains is nothing more than the arrogance of others. Arrogance from his superior (James Mason) who needs to create a hero to look good himself as a commanding officer. Mason is quite the pragmatist in creating a hero to the point of letting Stachel sleep with his wife (Ursula Andress)to boost his confidence. The countess needs the fire of a young hot-head like Stachel to fulfill her desires: she only needs her husband to preserve her lofty title of Countess. Unfortunately for Stachel, there's a price for being the hero, and the greatest heroes are often those who die prematurely. Quite aware of this and tired of being cheated on, Mason's character realizes all too well the value of having the glory of a dead war hero illuminate his stale command.

Alltogether a great film with good cinematography. The film quality is excellent for this almost 40-year old film: so good, one would think it was filmed recently but for the actors in it. The dog-fight scenes are some of the finest ever to be filmed. The film is well balanced between the combat scenes and the personal drama: the theme is well carried by the plot. All of the actors perform quite well. I personally think that George Peppard performed his role competently: his being out-of-place or uncomfortable enhanced his performance instead of limiting it. Bruno Stachel is a character who is supposed to feel out-of-place and uncomfortable in his social surroundings: he exceeds in skill and arrogance to compensate for his insecurity. In sum though, the acting is top-knotch with great direction. It's a film not to be missed.


This ws a great war flim!   June 7, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I loved the way they captured the dogfight scenes but also acureatly portrayed Schtal's own oppinions, emoins, and feelings about the war and the invironment around him. I'm also supprised that it's such an old film because the editing and casting is done beutifully. Overall, I think it was a great movie, exept for the ending; but that's for all you viewers to find out about when you watch this film. In spite of the ending, I still give it 5 stars.


Worth the time. Peppard was fine by me.   March 21, 2004
Eric V. Moye (New York, by way of Dallas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

A really good war movie, perhaps in part because it was so relatively unexplored in film. It is the story of a German working class soldier ("common as dirt", as characterized by his General, played by James Mason) named Bruno Stachell (who is well-portrayed with icy self- assurance by George Peppard) man. Stachell leaves the trenches in World War One and becomes an ace in the German flying corps which is populated by officers and gentlemen. His obsession is a medal - hence the film's title - awarded to aces, and his colleagues, commanders and the British Air Force won't keep him from it.

Predictably, he rebels even as he never fits in with his comrades. It is illustrated well by his response to his first kill (which sadly goes unconfirmed even after he went scouring the countryside for the plane he shot down). He "responds" by getting his first confirmed kill by shooting down the next enemy plane over his own airfield. While his betters who populate the squadron never cease to remind him of his place, he continues up the ranks to best them all while ridiculing their so-called code of honor. "Chivalry?" he sneers. "To kill a man and then make a ritual out of saluting him is hypocrisy."

It has great flying battle scenes. Also, a wonderful supporting cast including the aforementioned Manson, his slutty aristocratic wife (the magnificent Ursula Andress) and a stick-up-the-butt colleague/rival fellow officer (Jeremy Kemp). Karl Vogler plays von Heiderman, the Commanding Officer who refuses to let go of his notions of warfare with honor, in the face of the barbaric commencement of the 20th century.

I disagree with the reviewer who says Peppard was out of his depth in this role. He plays the part of the anti-hero very well. I was even more impressed after reading that he did his own flying in this film.

It is very long, but worth the time.