Rozz

I might enjoy this movie if I saw again today on TV. However, when my brother and I saw it in the theater (as part of a weeknight "crowd" of about 10-12 viewers) when it was new I thought it was the most terrible "Road Warrior" rip-off that could possibly be made. One of the things I remember about it was that it was LOUD, and that there was almost no letup from the noise. Then came the moment when the hero was about to go off alone, and one of the other characters asked "Where will you go? What will you do?", after which ensued the only moment of silence in the entire movie. Into this someone in the audience inserted what is probably the loudest instance of public flatulence I have ever heard. The majority of the (bored) audience cracked up except the one preppy-looking guy who was there with the only cute chick (who also laughed) in attendance. He took that as his opportunity to stand up and tell her "Let's go!" and stalk off leaving her to look at us with a shrug and "Whatever!" look before getting up and following him out. That was about the only memorable moment in the entire movie for us, but we still talk about it sometimes when we are reminiscing and want a good laugh.

I must admit that I came in search of info about this trilogy after watching a promo on the History Channel for the new Tom Cruise movie, "The Last Samurai". It had slipped my mind over the past few years, but the "Samurai" trilogy was at the top of my list of recommendations to friends for martial arts movies for years after I rented and watched it about 15 years ago when a now defunct video store had it in stock. I haven't seen the Cruise vehicle, and don't know what I will think of it when I do, but I'm happy it was made simply because it made me recall this series, which I see is available on DVD. I will definitely buy all three movies now that I know where to find them again.

As a life-long military aviation buff,this is one of my favorite movies. Other reviewers here have mentioned that it contains a few technical inaccuracies and some formulaic characters and plot devices.This is true, but it is a piece of '50s film-making and some of that is to be expected.It has also been mentioned as a great companion piece to "The Right Stuff", with which I wholly agree. In 1984, when seeing TRS for the first time, I thought "The folks who made this obviously saw "Toward the Unknown" and copied some of its style", especially in the scenes where aircraft are shown from above climbing towards the camera with the desert in the background. One reviewer refers to the "fictitious bomber" in the movie. The bomber was quite real, being the XB-51, which was tested but never adopted for service. I've always been a fan of the "X" series of rocket planes and the pilots who flew them, and the inclusion of the beautiful, dart-like Bell X-2 in this film is one of its highlights for me. About fifteen years ago I had a taped from TV copy of this movie that I got off of TBS or TNT, but it is long since bit the dust. I'd dearly love to have it on DVD.