I am biased, as are all film reviewers. There are certain types of films we are naturally more positively predisposed to, and this is one of them for me. I love history and aviation and so it's not at all surprising that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Heck, there were a lot of very similar movies in the 1930s and 1940s--films about young cadets trying to make it through flight school, bombardier school, etc. After a while, they tend to blend a bit together in my head and I am sure that the average viewer would get tired of the genre pretty quickly. But if you also consider that this film was made by Warner Brothers (who made a lot of similar films) and stars some wonderful actors that I truly enjoy watching (George Brent, Olivia DeHavilland, John Payne and Frank McHugh), it's natural that I should like it. But, on the other hand, will you? Well, if you love this type of film, you are sure to be impressed. If you have not, then you probably will find that the film is a tad contrived and clichéd--particularly regarding the romantic triangle in the film. But considering how marvelously done the flying sequences are (exceptional for the time), the consistency of the writing and acting and the overall fun of the film, I think the average person would still probably give this movie a score of 6. I myself give it an 8 but realize that a good compromise between non-aviation/old movie lovers/history teachers and nuts like me is a score of 7.
