Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: B-52

This is topic B-52 in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-21-2001, 08:45 AM:

The aircraft, not the band.

One might expect that a two-hour documentary about a bomber would be not be very exciting. This expectation would be wrong. Admittedly, I like documentaries in general and I also don't realy mind films that lack a well-defined plot. In any case, I thought that this film was very well done and certainly one of the more interesting films to date to address Cold-War-era issues (and in a much more powerful way than fictional films like "Thirteen Days"). The film is an interesting expression of both a fascination with and a fear of US military power, as observed by the European director--it is not a film that could have been made as well by an American.

The film includes a mix of modern footage of B-52 aircraft and their crews, along with a good quantity of archival footage (which always seems to have been printed from the highest-quality film elements available--pleasantly surprising for a recent documentary), and interviews with people ranging from US military officials to other nations' pilots who have shot down B-52s to an artist who recycles bits of old, retired B-52s into museum exhibits.

The pacing is deliberate, but not slow. The film does get bogged down a bit as it tries to make an anti-Vietnam-war statement, but is otherwise relatively neutral; unlike many recent documentaries, interviewees here are given time to make their points, without being interrupted by a cut or by objection from the director.

Obviously, this won't make it to the gigaplexes and probably won't even get much of a theatrical release in the US (its US premiere was last night and it is scheduled to play at NYC's Film Forum in December), but it is definitely worth seeking out.