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DVD : The High and the Mighty (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Rating: - An Excellent DVD package
This is a well presented DVD, with several extras, from which you will learn just about every aspect of the making of "The High and the Mighty" as well as one part of the Batjac Story. The film itself looks magnificent in all it's CinemaScope colour glory and is a tribute to the people who have restored this film. The film itself is the grandaddy of all disaster flicks and looks quaint now (to quote Leonard Maltin) as of course it has none of the special effects that we see in movies now. The film is still interesting to watch and does have some good moments and some suspense, but perhaps the most interesting thing about the movie is to see John Wayne play a slightly different type of role than we normally see him in. AS a DVD package well worth it.

Rating: - The High and the Mighty
I waited a long time for this movie to be released - and it was definitely worth the wait. I think it is one of John Wayne's finest...and the supporting cast is excellent. One definitely worth seeing.

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Rating: - Excellent Choice
My all time favorite movie. If you love this movie, you will love this DVD. Beautiful picture, excellent sound. Just like seeing it in the movie theater. I am very pleased with this purchase.

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Rating: - A real treasure
The first time I saw this picture was the only time Cinemax ran it and since that time a poor VHS copy made off the cable (4 hour mode and monophonic linear sound track) has been one of my "treasures". Before the official DVD was released I had made a DVD copy of that VHS tape to preserve it.

The new collector's DVD is a very well restored version of the movie. The only thing it is missing is the song in the soundtrack which WAS present for a few days of the movie's theatre run to allow the song to compete for an award. It was missing in most of the theatre run, and in it's few TV showings. I wish they had restored it to the collector's edition DVD, or at least included it on the second "extras" disk.

The movie is true to the novel (the author of the book also penned the screen play). As a private pilot myself I can relate to the story. If you've never flown a plane with a constant speed prop you probably didn't understand what Dan did with the controls to save fuel, but they got it right in the movie.
He lowered the propeller RPM by increasing the pitch of the props and then applied full throttle. This is sort-of like running your car on overdrive, it's harder on the engine but it saves fuel.

This restored version may have some extra footage over the version I've seen on TV (If my memory serves me). The colors are bright and even the darker shots at night are clear. The sound track is great and has quite a depth of surround when run through a dolby 5.1 decoder. It's been a long wait, but well worth it.

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Rating: - The original airplane disaster flick - holds up well after fifty years - fully restored
When "The High and the Mighty" came out in 1954 the vast majority of people had never been in an airplane. In fact, heavier than air flight was only 51 years old (it has been 51 years since 1954!). However, it was only nine years since the end of WWII and the year after the Korean War ended, the airlines were growing, and the public was starting to travel to exotic places like Hawaii in propeller airplanes (jet travel for passengers didn't follow until the fifties ended and the sixties were under way).

This movie, dealing with a passenger flight that is at risk of having to ditch at sea, was a frightening concept to most people. John Wayne produced the movie and was not supposed to have a role in the film. However, Spencer Tracey turned down the Dan Roman role and Wayne took over. The film was a huge hit and played for two years in New York's Time Square and was nominated for six Oscars™.

This movie also began a film genre that continued for decades and culminated in the Airport films of the 1970s and then became a parody in the Airplane! movies. From out vantage point, when flying in an airplane is about as glamorous as riding in a bus to summer camp, the interior shots seem far too spacious (although seats were bigger in those days), the inside dimensions are just too big for prop planes or even today's jets. The exterior shots of the plane bobbing in the wind and rain with engines roaring then switching to a quiet interior where people can whisper to each other and be heard would only be believed by anyone who had never flown (which was everyone in those days). But this cutting was made very funny in the first Airplane! movie.

This is a long film, about two and a half hours, and most of it focuses on the personal problems and relationships of the folks in the back of the plane, the crew, and how Wayne's washed up character fares with the Captain (Robert Stack) who disdains him. All of this was copied again and again with different twists over the years and depends on the way these details hold the audience. However, remember this was the original airplane disaster flick and The Duke pulls it off quite well (he made a couple of pots of money from this thing).

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