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Reviews
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Technically very good, historically poor1
This is a very technically good film, with interesting casting and scripting, but it is far from the truth historically. Being from the Milwaukee Wisconsin area, I did some research into the history of this man, and found it very different from the Hollywood depiction.
The Generals insubordination was more about his arrogance and ego than any caring about the future. He was a spoiled rich brat who always had things his way. The changes that came in aviation would have came without his infamous courtroom case. He was the exact opposite of the Gary Cooper portrayal, being short and angry in nature.
He sacrificed his military career because he cared so much about the fliers? Questionable at best. This rich kid was tired of playing soldier, so went on a public opinion campaign, that was somewhat successful in giving him a role in the history of aviation.
He was very effective at alienating everyone around him. There are numerous histories of this man, polarized either in the he was a visionary versus a pompous self righteous jerk, all making good reading.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Nice try at movie simulation falls short
This was a very nice try at simulating a real movie, but falls short of success for several reasons as many have pointed out. It will be very interesting in the future as other movies are created through simulation environments, hopefully with better results.
The general look of the film is acceptable and different. It appears to be a sort of soft-focus extra strong chroma with sepia filter effect, and could have been varied more. The writing of both the story and dialog are poor. So again, we have essentially an effects film with little else to support it. A clear case of the media overpowering the message.
The acting is transparent, due mostly to the poor dialog. The science in the fiction is primarily fantasy. A science fantasy in comic book style with no pathos, understanding, or heart. This was probably the result of too many programmers and too few normal people involved in the production.