Flight from Ashiya

In Flight from Ashiya, Richard Widmark, Yul Brynner, and George Chakiris are search and rescue pilots. It's a tough business, one that requires compassion, courage, and logic. Sometimes, not everyone in need gets rescued because there's limited room in the planes. Dick is supposed to be the hardened villain, and we're supposed to be on George's side. But anyone who knows anything about their profession will take Dick's side! They're a search and rescue crew; not guardian angels. By definition, they have to search and rescue those they can. They can't save everyone, and some people will be left behind to die. Yet George gets tears in his eyes and calls Dick and unfeeling monster. It's pretty unfair.

And, as we learn through flashbacks, Dick has had his fair share of heartache in his past to help harden his heart. He fell in love with beautiful, sweet Shirley Knight; but since he's got "pain" written all over his forehead, we can guess it didn't last. Details will be revealed in their own time, and Dick gets a nice big weeping scene out of it. How often does he get to do that?

No matter your type, ladies, you'll get to have some eye candy during this movie. Three tough guys with soft spots in their hearts are pretty irresistible to a female audience. While they each have their distinct roles (Dick is the uncompassionate veteran, George is new and too soft), Yul is the only one with an active love interest with Suzy Parker. We can all hope that he makes it safely back from his missions and into Suzy's loving arms. She didn't make many movies, so it's always a treat to see her.

It is said, during the worse disasters, we see ordinary people, exhibiting extraordinary heroics. Basically that's the core of this film entitled " Flight From Ashiya. " The men of the Air Rescue Service are given a ceremonial tribute and for the most part it's about them. Three men and their lives are personified each offering a segway into their background. The first is Glenn Stevenson (Richard Widmark) the experienced commander who's lingering demons are a deep reminder that his personal bigotry is not only a hindrance to his job, but is itself more of a danger than the black ocean he willingly faces. Next is his second in command, Lt. John Gregg (George Chakiris) who's memories of a mountain accident have become a major obstacle to his courage. Fearing he caused the death of stranded villagers, he doubts he will ever overcome it. The last member of the crew is Tsgt. Mike Takashima. (Yul Brynner) Reaching into his past, he recalls vividly a tragic accident in which a lost love reminds him of his shortcomings and vulnerability. Together the crew receives a summons to fly into raging Pacific storm at night to risk life and limb and rescue a raft load of Japanese survivors on the verge of drowning. The film is a stark reminder of what these courageous men face in their tireless efforts to save lives. Excellent acting from Widmark, Brynner and Chakiris make this a worthy tribute to the profession. Unfortunately the clumsy use of miniatures and models diminishes the visual power of this fine movie. Nevertheless, actual locations and backdrops add to the touching story and contribute to it's success. ****

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 .

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.

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.