bdk wrote:
I for one enjoyed the movie. It far exceeded my low expectations. I do expect aviation movies to be rather hokey. The best part is that my family enjoyed it. The star power of Tom Cruz drew them into the theater and there was enough of a balance to the story (non-technical stuff/storyline) that my wife enjoyed it. She was especially impressed that Tom Cruz could fly a Mustang and even got to see that exact Mustang at POF a few weekends later. Of course I could just sit and watch a bunch of airplanes flying around and have a good time. I can't get my family interested in airplanes (and I've owned a few) so that was a big win.
The thing that makes me wince during aviation movies is when they force a term or phrase into the dialogue in a horrible, non-applicable way. I call it the "Military Compact Syndrome" because the worst case I can think of was in the movie, The Right Stuff.
In the book (fabulous book - very well written and funny and informative) Wolfe described the military compact between the Military and the people in the military. For putting your life on the line there were certain goodies to be had in return.
It was woven into the book perfectly.
In the movie, the term was used in the most awful possible way where Mrs. Grissom is complaining that they aren't getting the star treatment, after Gus Grissom's flight, that they were supposed to get.
She yells, "What about the MILITARY COMPACT?"
It wasn't a term anyone used. No one would speak like that. I winced strongly.
In TG:M, I winced a bit when Cruise said, "That's the coffin corner.".
Now that is a phrase people use. But at the time he used it, it didn't quite seem to fit and it felt like they were looking for a way to include the term just for coolness sake.