Air War

In the publicity for this movie, the filmmakers take great pride in the reconstruction of war planes from the 1960s. And they've chosen to start the movie off by showing fighter planes in action. There's a mistake that artists make -- assuming that where they invested the most effort is where the audience will feel the most appreciation. We (by which of course I mean I) don't care much about those airborne toys until the ground-level plot has got underway and we understand that there are identifiable human beings involved.

As the movie progresses, pilots are introduced as characters so that by the next time around we care more about what happens to those planes. Another reason we care is that there's a war to be fought and it's very important that our country win. In that way, this movie contrasts with a long line of famous Israeli movies, such as Waltz with Bashir, Foxtrot, and Lebanon, that portray soldiers as pawns of little meaning in a senseless, unnecessary conflict. As if addressing the peaceniks of the world, one of the characters adds an important word to a common saying: "Peace is made with defeated enemies," he remarks.

Coincidentally or not, by taking us back to a decade when the country wholeheartedly supported the war effort, the movie takes us back to a time when female soldiers were supposed to be seen and not heard. The movie pointedly shows that their voices are ignored, an observation that seems prophetic considering that the script comes from a year or two before the female lookouts warned in vain of the coming October 7 attack on Israel.

This movie has been called Israel's "Top Gun," and although I haven't seen the non-Israeli one, I read a summary and I can see similarities. This movie focuses on two pilots, one of whom needs to learn to assert himself a little more whereas the other needs to learn to take other people into consideration. It's good that the scriptwriters realized you can't base a movie entirely on planes zooming past one another.

This is definitely a strange duckling in the mass of other Israeli films that get funded by the Israeli movie fund. This movie was blocked from being made by the mainstream movie making community in Israel, and it was made with a small budget.

Instead of being pathetic and remorseful soldiers, that hate the reason that they are fighting in war there is a tremendous feeling of Justice in this film.

There is pride in the mission and understanding that fighting the enemy means defending one's own country.

The acting is quite great the story is those patriotic and personally moving. Good stuff!

"Air War" feels like a film born more out of a need to have an Israeli CGI air combat movie than any burning artistic imperative. It's a perfectly watchable experience, managing to piece together its narrative around its digital dogfights.

The CGI elements, while undeniably present and serving their purpose of depicting aerial combat, are clearly constrained by a budget that isn't attempting to compete with international blockbusters. They get the job done, showing planes in motion and explosions where needed, but one won't mistake them for cutting-edge visual effects.

Despite any limitations in the visual department, the film benefits significantly from its lead actors, Maor Schwitzer and Daniel Litman. They are genuinely strong in their roles, bringing a much-needed intensity and presence to the screen. Their performances provide a solid grounding, often making you forget the digital nature of the surroundings.

Ultimately, "Air War" comes across as a functional piece of filmmaking. It's an earnest attempt to create a particular type of action film within local constraints, without pushing any deep thematic boundaries. It's a perfectly acceptable viewing for those curious to see an Israeli take on the genre, primarily buoyed by its capable cast.

The dogfights were good and intense, even when we occasionally know the results.

The main storyline is also great but could be way better, and i think it could contain more drama than the action.

The scenes in egypt are great, and the shooting of these scenes make them even nore instense than expected.

I didn't like the gray photography of the base less, but when the dogfights arrive the photography is indeed spectacular, and the sinai scenes are just simply beautiful.

The effects were great most of the time, my problem is more with some kind of explosion at the end of the movie, which doesn't look that good, but it isn't terrible, but overall the effects are realy good

7/10.