Aces High (Umbrella) (1976) (NTSC)

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General		Extras
Category	War	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1976
Running Time	108:36
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Jack Gold
Studio Distributor	S. Benjamin Fisz Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Malcolm McDowell Christopher Plummer Simon Ward Peter Firth David Wood John Gielgud Trevor Howard Richard Johnson Ray Milland Christopher Blake Gilles Béhat Elliott Cooper David Daker
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Richard Hartley Carlo Rustichelli

Video (NTSC)		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	480i (NTSC)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     In France in late 1917, when the life expectancy of new RFC pilots was less than two weeks, Lieutenant Croft (Peter Firth), with all of 15 hours flying time, gets himself posted to the squadron commanded by Major Gresham (Malcolm McDowell); Croft idolises Gresham having attended the same school. However, things in France are not as Croft had expected; the only way Gresham is able to fly is to drink heavily while another pilot, Crawford (Simon Ward), is a cynic and a coward, refusing to fly. Others however seem more adjusted to squadron life and welcome Croft, included aged squadron adjutant Sinclair (Christopher Plumber) and a pilot, Thompson (David Wood), who leaves as little to chance as possible. Croft must learn his flying skills quickly to have any chance of survival, especially when the squadron is ordered to undertake the almost suicidal mission of shooting down German observation balloons.

     Aces High is based on the play Journey’s End by R C Sherrif, changing the location from the trenches to a RFC squadron. On the ground many of the characters are clichéd: the leader who drinks, the coward, the wise older man, the young, naïve virgin. The events on the ground are just as clichéd; the sing-a-longs and antics in the mess, including the hosting of a riotous party for a German pilot Gresham had shot down, the visit to the “club” where Croft loses his virginity, the scrounging mess corporal. Other than Christopher Plummer none of the characters are particularly convincing, the worst being Simon Ward who fails to give his role any conviction. Cameos by guest stars including John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Richard Johnson and Ray Milland do add a brief touch of gravitas, however, while the airdrome location and the muddy trenches do look realistic. But of course the drawcard in this type of film is the aircraft.

     Made in 1976 prior to the advent of CGI, the aircraft used in the film may not be authentic (I doubt if any WW1 vintage aircraft were still flying in the 1970s) but the flying sequences in Aces High are spectacular with biplanes, a monoplane and a triplane spinning and twisting around the sky. Just watching biplanes emerging from the clouds, landing or taking off is an absolute joy. While Aces High may be pedestrian while on the ground, in the air it soars!

Video

     Aces High is presented in the 1.77:1 aspect ratio, the original ratio being 1.66:1. It is NTSC and 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a reasonable print for an unrestored 40 year old film. Colours are generally natural but dull (it is winter in Flanders after all) although the red curtains and the red feather boa in the club sequence are bright and bleed a bit. Detail is generally fine, blacks are acceptable while shadow detail can be a bit indistinct. Skin tones can vary, sometimes looking very red, while brightness can also vary, although not markedly. There were frequent tiny marks, mostly noticeable against the sky, although none were large or distracting. Grain is nicely controlled.

     No subtitles are available.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono at 192 Kbps. The film was shown theatrically with mono sound.

     Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand. The engines of the aircraft taking off and while dogfighting and the explosions of anti-aircraft fire had a bit of resonance although the machine guns were somewhat flat. The score by Richard Hartley was also a bit predictable.

    I did not notice any lip synchronisation issues. Pops, clicks and hisses were not present.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Nothing. The programme starts when the DVD loads.

     There have been various versions of Aces High released; none have any extras, the aspect ratios vary from 1.66:1 to 1.85:1 and all suffer from artefacts to some extent. The previous release in this country was reviewed on this site here; it was PAL but the greatest drawback was that it was the cut version of the film running only 97:05, missing a number of scenes including the pilots in the mess looking at pictures of nude woman. This new release is Region All and uncut, running 108:36, and at least it looks OK.

     Aces High features stodgy acting and clichéd situations but once it gets into the air, which fortunately is quite often, the aerial sequences are stunning and will delight any fan of flying movies or vintage aircraft.

    The film is over 40 years old; there are some artefacts but the video and audio are acceptable. There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall