Flight from Ashiya

If you want to see this film it helps being not too attentive. This film has a nice surface which promises an entertaining, adventurous film but unfortunately "Flight from Ashiya" instead is full of clichés, stereotypical characters and of often unintentionally funny story lines. "Highlight" is the story of Yul Brynner which takes part in Africa and which involves a super-exotic woman and a doll's house's Africa. The end of this part of the film is ridiculous and at the same time disgusting and a perfect example of the exploitation of a character for a very cheap effect. The most funny is the pathetic narrative voice-over commentary which claims that everything in this film really happened - which indeed would surprise me... All in all "Flight from Ashiya" unfortunately is a perfect argument for all the people who despises classic Hollywood films for being stereotypical and false, which this film surely is.

I concur with the most of the previous comments. The film is silly, the acting is wooden, the story is contrived and mawkish, and the 1941 and 1942 flash back scenes give no real sense of the periods depicted.

Most of the scenes filmed using models are ludicrous, especially the water landings and the take off after the rescue, but there are some good shots of real aircraft (Sikorsky UH-19 helicopter, Douglas DC-3, and Grumman HU-16 Albatross amphibian) and a few flying scenes that will appeal to aviation buffs.

One previous comment is in error: the air rescue aircraft is a Grumman HU-16 Albatross, not a Martin PBM.

Relaxed entertainment for plane films fans dealing with three pilots , US Air Force operating in Japan ; they carry out a rescue attempt over Pacific . Exciting flick with overwhelming aircraft scenes , pyrotechnics , some silly and boring romances and including a moving final . This interesting picture packs big stars , intrigue , action , love stories and historic deeds ; however being deliberately narrated and predominates the melodrama . A helicopter rescue team piloted by Lt. Col. Glenn Stevenson (Richard Widmark), TSgt. Mike Takashima (Yul Brynner) and 2nd Lt. John Gregg (George Chakiris) tries to save the survivors of a shipwreck off the coast of Japan during a raging typhoon . As they are plunged into hell with the most fearless breed of men on earth . Later on , there take place various flashbacks about the aviators ; as 1954 Germany where the Air Rescue Service pull off operations piloted by Glen Stevenson and John Gregg ; Manila during WWII where Stevenson (Richard Widmark) falls in love for a beautiful girl (Shirley Knight , though Tuesday Weld originally announced for this role) and Tunisia 1942 where Mike Takashima (Yul Brynner) to win the heart a gorgeous Arabian woman (Daniele Gaubert) with tragical consequences .

Thrilling film in which there are nail-biting action scenes , drama interlaced with breathtaking aerial scenes , love stories , intrigue , suspenseful set pieces and almost overloaded with stars . The movie gets a simple emotional appeal , professionalism , though being regularly shot and slow-moving . Stiff as well as excessively melodramatic screenplay by Waldo Salt based on the novel by Elliott Arnold . Good trio protagonist as Yul Brynner , Richard Widmark , George Chakiris along with the beauties Suzy Parker , Danièle Gaubert and Shirley Knight . Nice special effects interwoven with impressive aerial scenes and excellent production design by expert Eugene Lourie , though including excessive maquette and scale model . Filmed on splashy color and brilliant cinematography in Panavisión by excellent cameramen Burnett Guffey and Joseph MacDonald . Rousing as well as evocative musical score by Frank Cordell.

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Michael Anderson . This is one of various and professional works of his long career as filmmaker . He was a craftsman with reputation for making a variety of commercial and amusing films , it's well demonstrated in ¨Flight from Ashiya¨. Anderson did most of his best work in the thriving British cinema of the 50s . Anderson was quickly a man with a reputation for making a variety of commercial , entertaining movies . As his films from 1953-58 were all quite well received , his cycle ended with the best of them , the suspense/thriller ,¨Chase a crooked shadow¨ . Latterly resident in Canada , he has continued to direct , mainly in lower-profile projects and TV adventure movies . Anderson has filmed all kind of genres as cinema as TV ; such as Adventure : ¨Around the world in 80 days¨ , ¨Doc Savage¨ , ¨The sea Wolf¨ , ¨20.000 leagues under the sea¨ ; Sci-Fi : ¨Logan's run¨, ¨The martian chronicles¨ , ¨Milennium¨ ; Thriller: ¨The Quiller Memorandum , ¨Dominique is dead¨ , ¨The naked edge¨ , ¨The wreck of the Mary Deare¨ , ¨Murder by phone¨ and Wartime : ¨Battle hell¨, ¨Shake hands with the devil¨, ¨Damm Busters¨, and ¨Operation Crossbow¨ . ¨Flight from Ashiya¨ is an interesting as well as tedious film at times , though it will attract to Yul Brynner and Richard Widmark fans .

I had expected lots of action and I got it but it was of the dreary melodramatic romantic type and not of the shooting type. It's no surprise that the release was delayed by two years as the makers must have realised that it was not very good. The few action scenes were impressive and looked expensive to make which perhaps explains why they were so few in number. The large numbers of flashbacks , essential to the plot, further reduced the enjoyment. A waste of acting talent with a way over the top romantic plot and script. Not one for Richard and Yul to be proud of, but it was not their fault of course.

This is, despite a fairly epic attempt at storytelling and a heavyweight cast, a snoozefest. The pacing is very dry and ultimately predictable and the storyline is trite, contrived and pat. Widmark, Chakiris and Brynner are on a rescue mission and as their plane approaches it's destination, each of them has a flashback to another dramatic time for them. Chakiris' is the most believable as he recalls a tragic rescue attempt of some villagers caught in an icy mountain range. Widmark recalls meeting a photojournalist (Knight) and falling in love against a war-torn backdrop. Brynner remembers meeting a foreign girl (Gaubert) who he can only communicate with visually since they don't speak each others' language. Parker gets the film's most pointless & thankless role as a woman who pines for Brynner back at the base. The film ranges from stodgy to overwrought with many unintentionally amusing moments and some really ripe dialogue. Made at a time when studios were still getting used to a little more freedom with immorality, it wants desperately to be cutting edge and racy, yet is hopelessly old-fashioned and silly. There is NO attempt at period flavor. Knight's story is set in 1941, yet her hair and clothing are early sixties (she even wears a skirt almost identical to Parker's, whose story takes place in 1964!) Her awesome mane of hair could easily have been styled into a neato '40's 'do, but alas, no one did. Widmark and Knight's story tries to cram a two-hour-movie's worth of clichés and dramatics into about 20 minutes. They literally fall hopelessly in love after one plane ride! The same can be said of Brynner's affair. He gives his seat to a girl on a bus and then can't live without her. This whole section of the film is ludicrous, but Gaubert is quite lovely. The ending of this sequence is surreal and jaw-dropping! It must be seen to be believed and is almost worth sitting through the film for. There are worse ways to spend two hours, but this is hardly rewarding entertainment. There is also a hilarious before and after narration by a man who sounds like he did voice-over for army recruitment shorts.