The Arrow

Having seen the mini-series when it initially aired and seen again since, I think that what "The Arrow" tries to do (and accomplishes pretty well, I'd say) is to do what few Canadian films do: that is, it tries to introduce a little bit of mythology into a Canadian story. Certainly, as far as Canadian events go, the story of the Arrow is one that still resonates in the Canadian psyche as an opportunity thrown away by the politicians of the day. Having the Arrow fly off to parts unknown at the end plays into that wish to be able to correct the mistakes of the past.

That said, it was an enjoyable mini-series and didn't play any faster or more loosely with the facts than most of what passes for "historical" narrative. The casting was well-done and it did a good job showing the social impact of the Arrow project

I really enjoyed the movie! Given, I am a sucker for films about aviation, space, and engineering. About an all-Canadian interceptor/fighter built in the late '50's, that was years (if not decades) ahead of its time. The true story shows the development of The Arrow, a plane capable of Mach 2, but also the politics that ultimately doom the project. I am glad that it was not ALL "blame the Americans" as it showed Canadian internal politics, personality conflicts, personal flaws..... and ........ yes....... The Americans (who didn't want the competition in aviation from North of the border).

This ranks right up there with space and aviation films like THE RIGHT STUFF, and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON. It is also a great story of concepts ahead of their time getting squashed, like the film TUCKER: A Man and His Dream. A similar story might be (though not yet on film to my knowledge) about Jack Northrop and his flying wing which had a similar development and fate in the US. Of course, Northrop's concept was validated with the B-2...... But, I digress........

Though the budget was low (a Canadian Mini-series, after all), they did the most with what they had. The choice of R/C models for most of the flying scenes was a good choice! It gave the look of the film an organic feel, as opposed to the CG effects, which were so-so. I hope they donated the full-size mock-ups to a museum!

If you love stories about aviation, space, engineering, or cold war history, this is one to find on tape or DVD, or search for on cable! A must see!

The Arrow is a very dramatized version of the happenings around the Avro project.

The Arrow is a real feel good movie for us Canadians. Though Dan Aykroyd has had better days, it's important that he was included in the Canadian cast, bringing a familiar face to a long forgotten subject.

Just recently an original Avro Arrow model airplane was found in Lake Ontario.

This is a laudable attempt to portray the destruction of the Canadian aerospace industry by a scheming President Eisenhower and a clueless Prime Minister Diefenbaker. Unfortunately, that part isn't at all true. The Arrow was killed by cost overruns and the near-impossibility of developing a new plane, a new engine and a new radar system all at the same time. The geeky engineer character kind of annoyed me, too. The writers had him inventing about three things that were utterly crucial engineering and aerodynamics breakthroughs all by himself. Sorry, nobody's that good, not even the people who did that work in the first place. A lot of the people in the film are historical characters, some are composites. All in all, I really enjoyed this film, but the aviation geek in me gets irritated by factual errors.

I don't know any of the actual history, so can't comment on that but I was completely hooked after the first few minutes of this movie. This is one of the few movies I've seen that made me interested enough in the subject matter to want to learn more about the real Arrow. This is a very serious movie with lots of technical information but is fascinating. It is also interesting because the development of the Arrow is completely unknown to most people, even people interested in planes and aerospace. Even though it focuses on technology, the movie is a character study in how the individuals developing the plane are affected by political and management decisions they have no part of. Note to Ackroyd comedy fans, this is not a comedy and although this may be some of the best acting Ackroyd has done this is definitely not his most sympathetic character.