2) This video contains the three music videos from the band’s "PermanentVacation" album, plus footage of the making of those videos to the musicofthe album’s title track and "Hangman Jury." It’s excellent for Aerosmithfans who remember that great album.

2) When this was filmed I doubt they realised just how well it capturedthat era in time, not only because of the band looking so young(obviously) but with the shots of the audience and the crew setting upand people just hanging around prior to the show, it really does catchthe moment in time well. It was reportedly one of the hottest summersat that time and it shows that with shots out into the audience withthe sun blazing down and the fried egg clip! Aside from all that theband were at the top of their game and put out an excellent performancewhich in my opinion is filmed well for the time, also during the showTed Nugent makes an appearance during the song Milk Cow Blues as anadded bonus. All in all this is a great film of a band in their primeand gives a great impression of that summers day in Texas in 1978.

3) If you like old Aerosmith, then you’ll love this video from a 1978 concertat the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX. They play all of the old classics thatmade them America’s greatest rock band. The recording is excellent andsomeof the crowd shots are fantastic as the band headlined a 15 hour show infront of over 100,000 people.

The only problem I have with this video is that they left out themusic videos from the album DONE WITH MIRRORS (1985). It would have beengreat to see the "Let Music Do The Talking", "The Hop" videos, I alsothinkthere was a 3rd video.

They also forgot to add videos from ROCK IN A HARD PLACE (theirbestalbum of the 80’s, just bearly beating PUMP (1989). That album had threevideos ("Lightning Strikes", "Bitch’s Brew", and "Bolivian Ragamuffin")fromthe album and a late production "Sweet Emotion" which was from their #2album of the 70’s and in general TOYS IN THE ATTIC (1975). They probablyskipped it because all of their albums prior to 1985 were Columbiareleasesand everything afterwards was a Geffen release.

There was also a "Walk This Way" video made in 1986 with RUN-DMCthatshould have been here too. I also heard of planned production (In 1986)of"Dream On" (From AEROSMITH (1973) and "No Surprize" (From NIGHT IN THERUTS(a.k.a Right In The *uts)(1979) videos. Still its a great video, its justneeds a sequel to put these videos in.

2) You know, I had forgotten what an excellent video 'Living on the Edge'was … but I did remember 'Angel', twenty years after I last saw itand developed a huge crush on Steven Tyler in that trenchcoat. It isstill a really good video – and yes, I still have that crush! Anyway,this is a really good promo collection including videos made between1987 and 1994 (so it misses out their huge hit for 'Armageddon'), andshowcases, with its 'making of' segments in-between, what a lot of funthe band are when not in 'showtime'.

Amongst the other excellent titles on here are 'Crazy', 'Cryin','Amazing', 'Love in an Elevator', and 'Rag Doll'. It is good to seeboth the band in action and the different stories and scenarios set upto support their songs.

Now, when will we see another collection?

3) Definitely one of the best videos to come out of promotion for theband. If it’s a greatest hit, it’s on this video. Highly recommended!Videos include, (not in order):

From PERMANENT VACATION:

Dude Looks Like A Lady Angel Rag Doll

From PUMP: Love in an Elevator Janie’s Got a Gun What it Takes TheOther Side

From GET A GRIP: Eat the Rich Living on the Edge Cryin’ Amazing Crazy

From BIG ONES:

Walk on Water Blind Man Deuces Are Wild

If many of these happen to be your favorite Aerosmith tunes, then thisis the video for you. It’s awesome. Sit back, relax and look.

4) There was a time when Aerosmith was hungry and kicked major butt! TheirPermanent Vacation, Pump and Get a Grip albums were all a reflection ofthat. Now that Alicia Silverstone is all grown up, they are relying on notso original videos to feed their fans. C’mon guys, get high again and getback to the system that works!

5) This video ROCKS!, so does Aerosmith, they are the best band in the world.Steven and the rest of em look soo sexy,LOL, well actually its true.. toallAero fans you won’t be disappointed=). this video is soo funny too,, SEEIT!!!!!!

6) Aerosmith can do no wrong, but when it comes to music videos, they eitherhit the bullseye or completely miss the target. About 89 percent of themworked, but some were just horrible. What’s with the guy wearing thegogglesin the virtual sex tour? Horrible version of a video and I hate to thinkofwhat was spent. I think it’s the elderly trying to appeal to the youngcomputer generation.

7) This one consists of several behind the scenes and interviews mixed inwiththe videos or at least a clip of the videos from all the songs on BigOnes–all that is except for the hard to find Blind Man and Walk on Watervideos. Deuces are Wild didn’t have a video, either, so I believe 12videosshow up on here in one form or another. Check it out. Songs on the tape,then, are Love In an Elevator, Rag Doll, Dude (Looks Like a Lady), What ItTakes (Recording of), Janie’s Got a Gun, Cryin’, Amazing, Crazy, The OtherSide, Livin’ on the Edge, Angel, Eat the Rich (Non video, but behind thescenes on there). Other Aerosmith videos out there: Big Ones you can lookatis the best, then something like Video Scrapbook, Texxas Jam ‘78 (good setlist), then Things that Go pump in the night, then Making of Pump, thenPermanent Vacation 3×5. That’s my ranking for the Aerosmith videos,anyway.Of course, I love them all, but I’m just looking at for potential fans whonaturally want to start with the best videos. Rock on!

2) This is one cool video! It contains footage from several Aerosmithconcerts,both old and new. It also contains rare footage of the band backstage,traveling and goofing off. It even contains a VERY rare look at the videosfor "Chiquita" from 1979 and "Lightning Strikes" from 1982, while the bandwas actually broken up!

• Plane was piloted by M. Cody. This would make him one of the very first stunt pilots committed to film.
• The filmmaker’s identity remains a mystery.

The camera begins to follow the plane from the time when it leaves thehangar, and sticks with it as best as possible through its flight. Attimes, the plane moves too quickly for the camera to catch everything,but in general it is a creditable job for a time when that kind ofphotography was not so common.

The airplane itself is quite interesting, since it is the kind ofeccentric-looking contraption that was common in the early years ofpowered flight. This short film also does a decent job of capturing themood of those who were involved with the flight, as they hope thattheir hard work will prove worthwhile.

All in all, this is a pretty interesting little feature.

2) It's really hard to rate many of the early films, as they were mostlyvery short films featuring practically no story. By 1910, when thisfilm was made, this had changed a bit–though the bulk of films stillwere only a few minutes long. Sure, there were some exceptions such asGeorges Méliès' feature-length "Voyage dans le Lune" (1902) which was14 minutes long and "The Great Train Robbery" (1903) which was 12minutes long. But the bulk of the films people went to see were a lotlike the 4 minute long "Aeroplane Flight and Wreck". Essentially, mostfilms still hadn't changed that much since the early Lumière Brothersfilms other than they'd gotten a bit longer (from 90 seconds to 240seconds) and the camera was no longer stationary during the entirefilm.

Here in this film, something occurs that the Lumières could not havedone–the camera follows (as best it can) a plane taking off and sooncrashing. Audiences of the day must have been astounded to watch anearly airplane (apparently a Curtis biplane) spectacularlycrash–especially because in 1910 few people had still actually seen anairplane. By today's standards, the crash is a major anti-climax, asthe plane is only going perhaps 20 miles and hour when it thudsunexpectedly to the earth from a height of perhaps 10 or 20 feet! Iwould assume the crash was not planned and just occurred by chance.Considering the pilot looked okay afterwords, it seems this wasactually a very good thing–giving the audiences a thrill.

While most modern audiences probably won't be particularly amazed bythe film, it is great for film buffs and people who would like to seeperhaps the earliest footage of a plane in flight (the 1903 WrightBrothers flight was only captures by a camera–not a moving picturecamera and very few additional flights actually occurred between 1903and 1910).

2) My copy of this tape is subtitled "The Beautiful Workout," but I think it’sthe same one listed here as "Beginning." Forget the workout; videographerRon Harris was a darling of the Playboy Channel in this era, and his styleis evident throughout all four "classes" on this fun, sexy anthology. Theindividual segments used to run unscheduled on Showtime and I left thatchannel on continuously in the hopes of catching them. The girls (yes,_women_, I know; but the narrator on the tape says "girls" and that’s how Iremember them, so girls they remain for this review) were utterly lovely andtheir dance/exercise movements were like a homing missile aimed at my senseof the erotic. Lots of people dismiss this kind of thing and I guess theyhave a right to, but I am a little bit proud of the fact that a sexy dancinggirl doesn’t have to be naked to be exciting. The girls’ Danskin leotardsdon’t hide much, but a little goes a long way when you want the sort ofthing Harris delivers via "Aerobicise."

I don’t know if it qualifies as porn, though it sure ain’t no workout videofor anyone truly looking for exercise. What it does do is satisfy the samevoyeuristic urge that had some guys wanting to peek into a women’s (there,see? I grew up and said "women") aerobics class, before Tae Bo had thempunching instead of bouncing. Doing that for real would be childish andmaybe even a sign that one needs therapy. But this is just a harmlessvideo.

Have fun.

3) By the tone of the near-breathless reveries of some of the earlierposts regarding this one time "Showtime" cable TV cheese-fest, I thinkwe all know what was really getting worked out by those watching"Aerobicise." Touted as a home workout and exercise program,"Aerobicise" was little more than soft core porn with redeeming socialvalue. Taking place in a stark white studio, one or sometimes severalleotarded beauties would perform "exercises" to the accompaniment ofporn flick instrumentals while a camera would swirl around them with agynecological zeal. The exercises consisted of lots of whipping hair,arched backs and looks into the camera that communicated a lot morethan good old-fashioned health consciousness. What was funny was thatwhat with all the pouty close-ups of the women "blowing" air out or thein-your-face crotch and protruding buttocks shots, you couldn’t do theworkout if you wanted to. And apparently nobody cared. Later in theseries men were added and the workouts took on an even more hilariouslyoily quality as the mutual pelvic thrusts and hip grindings werecertainly the inspiration for the film "Perfect" All those guys whoused to stand outside their wife’s exercise class trying not to looklike they were looking finally had an exercise video that cut to thechase. It has to be the only exercise video ever made that encouragedyou to stay seated at all times.

4) I’ve actually been looking for the Aerobicise series of videos. I foundthem once a long time ago at an "independent" store and I should havedubbedthem when I had the chance, curses! Aerobicise goes back to the pioneerdaysof " ON TV", before cable hit the north. The director captured the sexyvibeof the disco scene on video and made you want to be that sexy. Pumpingdance hits like "Dancer" by Gino Soccio, those hot workout diva’sshimmeredwith sweat and lip gloss as their blond crimps floated on air with everybounce kick step. The whole event seemed to culminate in a "come one comeall" challenge to any would-be lover to out last the stamina and toachievethe glamor that those girls obiviously had in bed as well as in the gym.

5) I wasn’t alive back when this was made, but my parents have a vidoetape ofit. I found it and popped it in the VCR, and was surprised at what I saw.First of all, you can’t even see half the workout because the camera manpractically shoves the camera in the poor women’s legs and rear ends! Ifanyone wanted to DO the workout, they would have been confused since youcan’t see what the girls are doing. It also doesn’t help that the girlsalmost seem to be doing this erotic dance-thing in it. Seriously, is thisaworkout or a porno for twelve-year old boys hitting puberty?

2) This workout DVD is awesome!! When I start doing it, I’m immediatelyhaving fun. She goes through the steps many times, and you definitelyget a workout!! Some of the moves really work out your abs, and youfeel like you’ve stretched a lot afterward. Plus, it helps in yourpersonal life!! *wink* You feel very sexy and desirable afterward, it’dbe a shame not to let yourself have this much fun!! You seriously mustgive it a try. The DVD’s are inexpensive, and you can do it in theprivacy of your home. As soon as I put it in, I feel as if I’m hangingout with girlfriends. Carmen explains it in a way that is easy tounderstand, and goes over the steps a lot so that you really get it.Its definitely worth your money!! Have fun takin’ it off!

3) How would you like to learn how to strip? This series will teach youbasics to total routine. If you want a tough aerobic workout, go withTae-Bo, but if you want to learn a routine that will turn heads, andincidentally develop a body that will hold that stare, this will do.

This series consists of 5 DVDs, each about an hour in runtime. Thefirst in the series (and the subject of this review) introduces you tobasic dance moves and will help you build a couple dance routines.Carmen will break the moves into smaller parts, a help with thoseunfamiliar with dance, so that it’s possible to use this at a learner’slevel. Additionally, there is little to no actual stripping; you haveto read between the lines. It’s accessible to men and women both, and Ibelieve it would be used mostly by women and watched mostly by men.

Do you need to learn stripping to help your partner? These days, Iguess you gotta have a gimmick! (nod in Gypsy Rose Lee’s direction) Ifyou are in good shape… you won’t get much of an aerobic workout,because there isn’t much jumping. It’s mostly on the floor, with somegood basic stripping movements and a little hip-hop too. Pretty goodmusic, though, and variety too.

I don’t have any complaints about the value, it’s good quality andworth what they charge for it (all 5 for under $40). The video pictureis top-notch, there are a good assortment of extras, lots of routines,favorite moves, etc. You won’t get tired of it soon. Unless you’re justwatching it.

4) Despite a couple of misguided quirks in production, this is actually afun workout. It's sexy without being completely raunchy, and you're notrequired to disrobe in any of the tapes. Here's a brief breakdown ofeach DVD. The first DVD is actually a couple of short dance routinesthat do incorporate some floor moves that would probably be seen inyour local cabaret. It starts out with a warm-up, and then it goes intoa couple of simple dance routines. If you're looking to break a sweat,then you might want to repeat the routines. The second DVD is basicallya straight workout video, which I think most people would get the mostuse out of. The third just basically deals with a couple of shortcostumed routines such as Naughty Librarian, and a menswear routine.That's about it. The fourth teaches you how to lap dance, and the fifthdeals with learning hip hop. My only qualms with this set is the factthat they thought that they had to put so many short routines on to somany separate DVDs. I think they could have easily narrowed it four bylumping the routines and the lap dance together, or they could havedone three if they had decided to nix the hip hop routine. I wish theywould have focused more on the routine rather than zooming in onCarmen's face, and some of the shadow art shots. Regardless, this isbest bought as a set. It is worth trying if you do find it.

5) I LOVE these videos! I hate to exercise, but this is more like dancingthan anything, and they’re so fun that I want to do it every day.There’s enough cardio to get your heart going, but there’s also enoughtime between her teaching the next moves to let you catch your breath.I like that when I’ve completed a video that I feel like I got a goodwork out, learned some dance moves, and I’m not drenched in sweat orgasping for air. My husband is definitely going to like what he sees…;) The only two complaints that I have are so small but, to me, worthbeing brought to attention. When she’s breaking down the moves, shesometime’s counts it off wrong which makes it a little tough to dancecorrectly. And, after we’ve done part of a routine on the floor, she’llimmediately want to start the dance from the beginning. The videodoesn’t give you enough time to get from the floor to the startingposition, and I have to scramble to get up, then end up missing thefirst few moves. Other than that, this series is totally worth everypenny, and I would recommend it to anyone.

6) I love these DVD’S the are excellent! They tone you and get you intoshape. If you’re in tune with your body and feel sexy, then you can dothis! It’s fun, and if you already know how to dance, then that’s theicing on the cake! Trust me, if you wanna look better and feel betterabout your self, then the DVD’S will help you do that. I mean an hour aday of 3 times a week, you will see results! It took me a mouth to seeresults and I’m loving it every time I look in the mirror! Trust meit’ll work! All you have to do is put the DVD’S on and you’re set, therest is up to you. It’s sexy the moves are great, and you will feel theburn every time to so these DVD’S. They even give you your own music topick and interviews as well. You can see the progress of them tryingthe dances out for the first time. And experts are saying this is agood workout then you know it’s true. Agin try it and I’m sure you willlove it!

I love it! :0)

7) I don't understand why is it called Aerobic Striptease. This titlewould imply that she takes all her clothes off. So I acquired thisvideo in the hope to see her naked and maybe spread eagle and what do Iget.. Just another boring aerobic video. I hope no one else makes themistake to buy this. Furthermore, I hope the other videos fake contentswill be revealed. And the producers will be held responsible. So..thanks to IMDb good movies come forward and bad movies are pushed tothe ground. And although I cant understand why the 10 lines minimumrequirement is needed I'm sure they have a good reason. So anyways,don't but this video because it's garbage.

When I saw my friend doing the moves in this movie I was amazed. I wasalso very impressed at what a good workout Carmen Electra presented inher dvds. The hip-hop was one of the best in my opinion. Not only is ita good workout but it’s fun. This is the best workout series out there.I highly recommend these dvds. My friend I’ve noticed has really tonedup, and looks very good. Doing these exercises will not only help youlose weight, but it will help you feel great, and look sexy. So whetheryou are looking for a good workout, a good dancing, or just want tohave fun and do a striptease for someone. This is definitely the DVDfor you. It’s cheap and well worth every penny.

It started slow, but then picked up the pace after about fifteen minutes.The story is a little thin, but the animation, the production designs (airships, weapons, robots, costumes, etc.) are VERY creative. You can tellthedesigners spent a lot of time creating them. We kept rewinding just to seeall the background details we missed.

The action sequences are GREAT, too! In fact, they’re BETTER than mostliveaction sci-fi films I’ve seen in years. The climactic battle scene alonehadus glued to the screen.

Like I said, I rented the DVD, but I plan on buying it now. This is amoviewe will watch several times.

JK

2) Aerotroopers is a cute, interesting fantasy which takes place on aplanet without a solid surface. People live in tree villages floatingin the sky and a giant beast (Nemeclous) is wreaking havoc on everybodyand everything. The only thing as dangerous as Nemeclous himself is theslipstream – a raging torrent of air which destroys everything is itspath.

Young Joshua wants to fly very badly and invents a glider early in hislife. Nemeclous comes along and destroys his village, but his gliderallows him to escape. He is eventually saved by an aerotrooper (Qyun)who takes him back to his airship (a fantastic dirigible) and recruitshim as an aerocadet.

The story that follows is epic in nature, as it takes Joshua throughhis training, up to his young adulthood and the beginnings of a sweetand innocent romance, all with Nemeclous hovering nearby waiting tostrike. In order to keep the story clear and to tie together many ofthe tangential scenes, a voice-over is provided. I don't usually enjoyvoice-overs, but this one works.

The only weak links in this charming little story are the humananimations and the soundtrack – both of which are a little painful. Theships look great, the back-story is surprisingly interesting, and theaction sequences are fun.

The film is definitely appropriate for kids, though there is plenty ofnon-graphic violence, and the story does involve the death of a coupleof the major characters – so be careful if you have a young one who islikely to be sensitive to this.

3) I am too old to have grown up playing video games, but I also am youngenough that Ray Harryhausen was before my time. I am an animation fanand have seen most animated movie features and watch anime seriesweekly on DVD.

So, after saying that, I loved this film. I am talking about the story,and the way it made me feel. The innocence, beauty, and noble ideals ofthe characters were very refreshing. It was a sweet movie.

I think my son might have problems with the animation, as he has playedvideo games most of his life, and as I've seen from the other comments,the expectations for animation is very high from these individuals. Butfor me, the characters appearing puppet-like was endearing. The scenerywas beautiful and the colors were marvelous.

I watched AeroTroopers twice and will recommend it to my son, with thehope that he'll enjoy the story and not worry that the animation doesnot match up to that of his latest video game.

4) While the voice talent is a tad heavy-handed (other voices/actors mighthave raised the over- all level of the production: perhaps there is asubtitled version somewhere?) younger viewers will find a lot aboutthis film to amaze and intrigue them. Jaded viewers will wince fromtime to time, but there's a charm to the piece that left me smiling andnodding my head, wishing I'd had Areo Troopers to watch when I was 15.

My chief salute goes to the design team: the retro-future world isfully realized. The film is full of cleverly designed machines,admirable costuming and inspired pyrotechnics. It was these triumphsthat kept my 50+ eyes on the screen to the point where I began to careabout the story.

If you are a fan of well-thought-out alternate-future machinery (as infilms like Wings of Honneamise) you'll find Aero Troopers rewarding,and worth toughing it out through the sometimes artless dialog.

5) Badly written, slow sci-fi animation story. Characters are cardboardwhich perhaps fits the puppet like animation. Miserable pacing of thestory.

Action sequences are not edited well and are difficult to follow.Background animation is miserable and often out of focus. Obviouslythis is a low budget attempt.

The dialogue is ludicrous. They all seem to talk like Yoda from StarWars? Why?

There are good ideas here; just poorly executed.

Don’t waste your time. Not even worth a rental.

6) The Nemeclous Crusade is unlike anything else in science fantasy.Combining superior CGI visuals with the spirit of 1930s sci-fimagazines, it combines to keep the viewer interested and then some asit proceeds through its world of the sky. The story involves Joshua, aboy who becomes a warrior for a sky-based civilization that is battlinga gigantic sky-ship that resembles both a whale and a shark. Joshua'srelationship with his mentor and with a girl who lands on theirsky-ship and assists in the battle with the whale/shark sky-shipbecomes a focal point of the story, told throughout with the feel of achapter of a biography. The film succeeds in making Joshua afascinating individual and compels the viewer to see his struggles withan intensity that caught me by surprise the more I watched the film.

The surreality of this world of the sky easily draws the viewer in andkeeps the viewer fascinated to the end, making for a sleeperscience-fantasy triumph.

7) I think the movie was worth watching the idea of free flight isgreat,and the action sequences are good.And as far as the animation ibelieve it could have been a bit better the model work and color weregreat as was the background the dialog was suppose to soundphilosophical this was a movie about people who lived in the sky andare supposed to be wise. i believe this movie is not a great movie buta good one,it does have some violence but nothing like you would findin a slasher movie. so i feel it can be watched by the everyone,ienjoyed the show as did my family but with all the films shortcoming’sit’s worth renting.

It was a different kind of animation. The story line needed some work.But the background of the story, the floating islands of trees remindsme of a book by Larry Niven called "The Integral Trees" Where a smokering around a neutron star supported plant and animal life. The peoplethat lived there were in a constant state of free-fall or zero gravity.They lived on huge trees that were in my minds eye very similar to thefloating forests in Aero-Troopers. I liked the bit were the kid madehis own glider. And being able to fly under your own power wasinteresting. How the instructor teaching the cadets had a very easternway of speaking.

9) This is quite an interesting story that has many good points to it. Thefocus group is more towards early teens who like to read Fantasy/Sci-Fibooks. It is a well laid out plot and a great story line. The CGIanimation is done very well, too. Its definitely worth to rent and watch atleast once. This is probably one of those movies that will get viewed by ayoung crowd, become lost from low end sales, and revived 20 years laterthrough chat groups in reminiscence. Hopefully, this will hang in a littlebetter than described, as it is a very good movie.

A young boy whose home and family in the sky is destroyed, gets adopted by agroup of guardians who do what they can to protect the skies. The boy vowsto hunt and destroy the mechanical monster, Nemeclous, that practicallyannihilated his way of life.

Its very hard to add more information without entering spoilers for themovie. Again, this is a rent once to find out its personal appeal. Definitely worth adding to a collection of a Fantasy/Sci-Fifan.

10) In today's computer animation age this film is at the bottom of thebarrel. The animation is jerky,lip syncing is non existent and theoverall look of the film is amateurish. However I've always had a softspot for small studios that attempt big things. There no doubt thatwith companies like Pixar,Dreamworks and Blue Sky studios film likethis are a joke.

Nueart Pictures tried to produce a science fantasy about a world offloating land masses,where no gravity exist, and dirigible are the mainmeans of transport. I love computer animation yet with the exception ofPixar studios's The Incredibles, all the big studios are making arecomedies with talking animals. And only small animation houses (mostlyEuropean and Japanese) are attempting to use this medium for moremature audience.

The story is about a boy (Joshua) who dreamed of the flying the winds.This takes him on an adventure against a mechanical whale that has beenterrorizing the skies. The pace is set through narration by an olderJoshua via The Wonder Years TV series. The story shares bits of MobyDick and Frankenstein. There is some violence and death so this isn'tintended for young children. And that's why I'm giving it five starsout of ten. It would have been more if they had polished the storymore. However they did avoid the easy path of creating some flyingtalking animals, a princess and have an unlikely nerdy hero learning alife lessons while saving the day.

It is my hope that one of the major studios will attempt in the nearfuture to give science fantasy genre a try without cartoon-like traits.May I suggest Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children. Which I recommendbefore looking at this valiant attempt but utter failure.

• Continuity: When the Japanese fighters attack the bomber, we can clearly see that there are five of them. Foxie also confirms there are five enemy planes, and the planes are counted during the attack as they are shot down by the gunners. But when we cut to a close-up of the Japanese pilot, more than five planes can be seen on the far side of his fighter.

2) I rented this and another latter-day Chester Morris vehicle – GAMBLER'SCHOICE (1944) – on the strength of his vintage work in the Pre-CodeRED-HEADED WOMAN (1932) which I have recently watched. As denoted bythe title, the film is a Grade-B war flick indistinguishable from thecontemporary spate of routine efforts – other than by the fact that itstwo leads (Morris and Richard Arlen) were way past their prime! It wasquite cringe-inducing to see men obviously in their forties act like acouple of schoolboys, by outwitting one another in an attempt to win adate with the much younger leading lady!

Otherwise, it offers nothing new but is also, essentially, painless tosit through: Morris and Arlen bear a lifelong grudge against oneanother, so the former obviously picks on him when the latter enlistsand finds out that Morris is his superior officer! Eventually, thetables are turned and Morris is demoted – for unwittingly causing thedeath of the brother (who was driven to prove himself) of the girl bothMorris and Arlen are in love with…but, in a surprisingly good climax,Morris ultimately atones for this by sacrificing his life fighting theJaps (when the plane he and Arlen are flying on is downed), thus alsopaving the way to romance for Arlen. AERIAL GUNNER also marks one ofthe first appearances of Robert Mitchum in a brief role as thecommanding officer of Morris' rival squad of gunners.

3) I had never even heard of this movie, but I bought the DVD because myfather-in-law was a WWII aerial gunner on B-17s in Europe and I'd justrecently begun getting him to tell his stories onto audiotape forposterity. I thought that this might add to my knowledge of what he hadexperienced.

Based on my father-in-law's first hand accounts, I can tell you thatthe aerial gunnery school sequences in this film are relatively closeto what the training was like. (For example, they really did make themassemble a 50 caliber machine gun while blind-folded.) However, thecombat/action sequences at the climax of this film miss the mark by amile.

I'd recommend this film to you if you are a fan of Robert Mitchum andwant to see one of his early (uncredited), bit-part roles.

I'd also recommend this film to any fans of Jimmy Lydon, who starred as"Henry Aldrich" in the many "Henry Aldrich" films of the 1940's. UnlikeMitchum, Lydon has a large dramatic role in this picture and since thiswas filmed during the same era as the Aldrich movies, you could havegiven this film the alternate title "Henry Aldrich Goes to War".

Unfortunately, sub-par writing, acting, directing, and budget allcontribute to the anemic quality of this film. If you're looking for aWWII story with real entertainment value, stick to the period piecesstarring John Wayne. I'm giving this film 4 stars based on it'scuriosity value alone.

4) ***SPOILERS*** 1943 war movie involving two army men who knew eachother on the outside on different sides of the law. Having his fathersent away in prison where he later committed suicide Foxy Pattis,Chester Morris,had it in for the young assistant DA responsible for hisdads death Jon David, Richard Aplen. Davis joining the army after theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor surprisingly meets Foxie who turns outto be his instructor in aerial gunnery school at camp Hags Texas, youcan just imagine what happens next.

The movie actually begins when Davis, now a lieutenant in theUSAAF,flies his disabled bomber back to the American lines in thePacific. Badly wounded with almost all his crew-mates, with theexception of Pvt. "Gadget" Blaine (Dick Purcel), dead Davis goes into along monologue about what happened From that point on we get the storyabout Foxie's courage under fire and how both David & Blaine owe theirlives to him.

We get the usual war story, from Davis, about him having all kinds oftrouble with Foxie, who does everything to wash him out of GunnerySchool, at Hags and the added attraction of both Foxie and Davis vyingfor the love of Peggy Lunt, Amelita Ward. It turns out that Peggy'sbrother the quite and sensitive Pvt. Sandy Lunt, Jimmy Lyndon,is alsoat Gunnery School and is in Foxie's class. Sandy panic-stricken atshooting his off tail-gun at the school's qualifying finals is given asecond chance by the understanding Foxie. The next day Sandy afterhitting his target goes psycho and blows up his planes tail sectionsending it into a free fall and crashing into an empty field. Sandy isvisited by Foxie at the hospital and forgives the very guilty strickengunnery instructor for sending him up in the air to shoot off his gunand then suddenly expires.

The movie then moves to the Pacific Theater of War where we now seeDavis in charge of a bomber crew and guess who's his newest crewmember, Foxie! Not only is Davis reunited with Foxie but the samepeople at Hags who were instructed by Foxie in aerial gunnery schoolare members of Davis' crew, what are the odds of that happening!

Hated by everyone on the bomber crew for what he had to do with Sandy'sdeath which was really nothing at all since Sandy was determined to goup in the air, and how the hell did Foxie know that he'd blow himselfand his plane up. Foxie gets his big chance to redeem himself later inthe movie in a dog fight with a half dozen Japanese zeros in the airand well as a full company of Japanese troops on the ground. Foxieheroically ends up giving his life to save his fellow crew members whoboth hated and despised him.

Nothing really out of the ordinary here when it comes to war propagandafilms released by Hollywood during WWII. There's also a very young, andruggedly handsome, Robert Mitchum in a small part in the movie, playinga tail gunner, that makes "Aerial Gunner" something of a curiositypiece.

5) Hollywood during World War II was slightly schizophrenic as it alternatedreleasing escapist movies that allowed theater-goers to momentarily forgetabout the war and patriotic "B" films that reminded all of the continuingthreat and the cost of fighting.

"Aerial Gunner" is in the latter category, reflecting Tinseltown’s desire toshowcase every branch of the service and virtually every specialty (no filmthat I can recall honored the Graves Registration units nor were blackcontributions to victory the subject of main features. I wonderwhy.).

"Aerial Gunner" deals with – aerial gunners, those enlisted men whose skillwith machine guns in swerving aircraft under furious attack often made thedifference between getting back to base or going down inflames.

The government generously supported these film projects and in this moviethe producer, director and cast were given not only stock footage but also abase, hundreds of servicemen as extras and planes to film.

Ex-New York City assistant district attorney John Davis (Richard Arlen) wasquite hated before the war by Coney Island barker "Foxy" Pattis forprosecuting his dad, leading to the old man killing himself. Big surprise,both men wind up at aerial gunnery school where SGT Pattis is SGT Davis’sinstructor. And he’s determined to wash the lawyer out. Real originalplot.

But then the scriptwriter came up with something truly novel. Both Pattisand Davis fall in love with the same girl, Peggy Lunt, played by Lita Ward. I don’t think this had ever been done before in a war movie.

Pattis and Davis are sort of reconciled and, somehow, both wind up in thesame unit in the Pacific where Pattis has become both an officer and a pilot(beyond highly unlikely for a noncom who graduated aerial gunneryschool).

The rest of the drama is predictable. "Aerial Gunner" offers hefty shots ofpatriotism and reminds all that Americans make great sacrifices at thefront.

What truly enraged me, and I’m sure will infuriate other viewers, was thescene when a gunner calls out that Japanese Zeros were attacking and thereimmediately is shown a single-engine monoplane with FIXED landing gear. Isthere an American kid today who doesn’t know that the vaunted Mitsubishifighter had retractable gear?

5/10 (but it does recapture a time in which movies made the war moreimmediate and, dare I say it, entertaining).

6) It conforms to all the conventions of its particular genre or rathercombination of two sub-genres: (1) the training camp movie, and (2) thewar movie. Two city guys grew up together but don't like each othermuch. The guy who turned out good is Richard Arlen. The guy who turnedsort of mean is Chester Morris. They both wind up in the Army Air Forcegunnery school in Texas. Both are sergeants but, by virtue of hishaving run a shooting gallery, Morris is an instructor and Arlen is oneof his dozen students.

It's kind of interesting watching the training regimen. The studentslearn to assemble machine guns blindfolded, shoot skeet, shoot at amoving target, and finally do some practice in the air at a targetsleeve being towed behind another airplane. I could never understandhow they could hit anything moving in three dimensions from a shootingplatform that was also moving in three dimensions. Imagine a formationof lumbering Flying Fortresses flying at 250 mph. being attacked by ahorde of Messerschmidts zipping around at 325 mph. Then put yourself inone of the gun turrets. It would be like trying to shoot a fly with abeebee gun while jumping on a trampoline.

As in all training camp movies, the two acquaintances have a beef overa local girl. And among the students there is the dummy, the washout,the weakling who gives it his best effort and dies trying.

Then it's overseas for a crack at those Japs. By this time, the goodRichard Arlen has become a commissioned officer and a pilot. The meanChester Morris is still a gunner. A bombing mission. They are attackedby five Japanese fighters after they've dropped their bombs.Rat-a-tat-tat. All the fighters are gone, but the Lockheed bomber isseriously shot up. Two men are dead, pilot Arlen is wounded, and "themotors are gone." (I have to insert here that they are called"engines", not "motors," and that Maxwell Shane, the writer, wasevidently not in the Air Force nor an engineer.) A landing on anisolated airstrip in Japanese territory while the mechanic repairs theengines and wounded Arlen gets patched up. They're almost done whenJapanese troops appear in the brush and start popping rifle shots intothe plane. Morris deplanes with his Tommy gun and mows them down,giving his life, while the others barely manage to escape.

It's not a bad movie, given its intent and its modest budget. ChesterMorris was a stalwart B-movie actor, a decent Boston Blackie. He's onlyof medium height but tough as hell. Morris always seems to be bitinghis lower lip and glowering. He puffs up his beefy chest, tucks hischin in, and struts around with his arms swinging manfully at his side,a kind of parodic masculinity. As an actor, Richard Arlen causes agreat big hole to appear wherever he is on the screen. The role of thebabe is perfunctory. Some of the supporting players can't act as wellas I can — and I can't act.

I don't think a heck of a lot of thought or effort went into thisquickie. At times it's almost painful to hear the corny dialog. Yetit's not without interest. It probably helps if you like airplanes butif you're looking for originality, look elsewhere.

7) After making his screen debut, Robert Mitchum continued to fill ourscreensby appearing in this film. He’s probably eye-candy for a female Americanaudience, or a Western audience who thought all American were tall andbroadshouldered like him. There isn’t much range in his acting and he doesn’ttake you by surprise.