The Great Waldo Pepper

It's 1926. WWI pilot Waldo Pepper (Robert Redford) is barnstorming and telling tales of his war exploits in a legendary fight against German ace Kessler. He gets into a rivalry with Axel Olsson (Bo Svenson) who travels with his girlfriend Mary Beth (Susan Sarandon). Waldo has been telling tall tales. In fact, he was a great instructor who was held out of the majority of the war. The two rivals become partners in Doc Dillhoefer (Philip Bruns)'s flying circus. He reconnects with sometimes girlfriend Maude (Margot Kidder). Maude's brother Ezra (Ed Herrmann) is building a monoplane to attempt the impossible outside loop. After many tragedies, he is reduced to being a Hollywood stuntman under an assumed name in a movie about the legendary dogfight.

The flying sequences are amazing with real planes. There are some dangerous stunts with limited camera tricks. The dogfight is thrilling. The tone turns quite sad in the middle. Quite frankly, I expected a heroic tale but it turns into a bummer with one particular incident. While that incident is powerful, it damaged the mood of the movie in a profound way. It actually may not be necessary since there are two tragedies in a row. The second one is the only absolutely necessary one. The first one should be reversed to uplift the story and the second one can be used to create the turn into the third act. Sarandon had more to give in this movie. The mood is bittersweet and the movie is pretty good overall.