Les chevaliers du ciel (2005) Reviews

• No big story but big shots

  sebastian_goofy2006-10-13

  The movie is somewhat disappointing at first sight: The story is kinda lame, the actors are quite OK, and it's boring from time to time. Some intermission shots seem clearly constructed, like they needed some human acting in there. But then you see the shots taken in flight, the planes, the sky- it's simply amazing. I've never seen a movie that features flight to that degree. Well, I've seen quite some movies featuring airplanes (flying, that is- not Airforce One or such), but that movie is different. Forget the story, forget the actors- there is only one thing important in here, it's the beauty of flying. It's not even the planes itself, it could be almost any other aircraft. Some shots are simply beautiful, some are amazing, some are interesting, and some make you lean back in your chair, stunned, willing to make your PPL next week. Flying is beautiful. This movie shows it. However, if you can't stand flying or understand the fun in it it's not worth viewing. But if you like movies like this, watch it. By the way, it's from time to time almost the same as watching those Mountainbike vids that you can run as a background on your PC. Nice shots with nice action to look at and you can watch it all day long. I gave it 8 points, 2 for the flying, 4 for the camera and the idea, another 2 for the not too bad acting. No, seriously- it's 8 points mostly to the camera and the idea behind the flight shots. It could be 10 without any acting in between, but then it wouldn't have been a movie for the regular cinema anymore.

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• It is not the story-line, but rather the well integrated flying sequences that make this film special

  i-love-lamborghinis772006-09-15

  Admitedly this film is somewhat lacking in film techniques and complexity, but the reason for this is not that it is a bad film but rather a film with a different aim. With so many films coming out every year it is unavoidable that they be judged and compared, but this constant rating of films has created a certain stereotype of qualities which a film should have to be good. This kind of stereotyped rating, although often setting a good standard for comparison, works against films such as Sky Fighters. This is because in my opinion Sky Fighters has a different goal to most movies, rather than using the common methods to deliver a complex story line, Sky Fighters is a tribute to fighter pilots. It does an excellent job of portraying the complexity and importance of the role of a fighter pilot, as well as demonstrating the qualities a pilot must posses. Sky Fighters uses all real flying and aerobatics footage to achieve a very real demonstration, from the technical aspect, of what it means to be a fighter pilot. This film is very appropriate for anyone interested in fighters, aerobatics and the people behind them. I do not recommend it for audiences looking for a sophisticated or complex storyline.

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• A cinematographic rival to Top Gun

  quoc2006-01-14

  For fans of modern military aircraft, this movie is not to be missed. There are not too many movies showing Mirages in action, in this case the Mirage 2000C and 2000D. The plot is better than average, has some similarities with Top Gun and the end is a bit anti climatic. I rated Top Gun better for the plot, but Les Chevaliers du Ciel better for its flight scenes. And it is for the aircraft that you want to see this movie. The majority of the Top Gun scenes are shot from the ground, here the flight scenes are shot from a modified fuel tank mounted on the Mirage 2000 or the Alphajet. The flights look very unique and many images are sensational. In Top Gun, the adversary aircraft is either an A4 (as used by Top Gun then) or the Northrop F5 disguised as MIG29 (in real life they are very different beasts). Here, the adversary aircraft is a Mirage 2000 that was stolen by a terrorist organization. There are 2 scenes that are breathtaking and unique. One with a M2000 flying close and hiding under the belly of a Qatar Airways Airbus A340 in the opening section! And the other is a Mirage 2000D going supersonic (!) at very low level over the Djibouti desert. The Mirage are flown by French Air Force pilots, and you can see they make full advantage of the high roll rate of the delta wing design to change directions abruptly. Last, the movie has women pilots in the plot unlike Top Gun, although I disagree with choosing a woman in the role of a bad guy.

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• Surprisingly Good Action French Movie

  claudio_carvalho2007-02-19

  While in an international fair of exhibition of airplanes, a French Mirage 2000 of the last generation vanishes and pilots Antoine "Walk'n" Marchelli (Benoît Magimel) and Sebastian "Fahrenheit" Vallois (Clovis Cornillac) are assigned to locate the plane that is flying in a hiding position below a commercial airplane. The pilots order the Mirage to return to the base, but the Mirage attacks Fahrenheit instead, and Walk'n immediately shots the Mirage saving his partner. However, the evidences are forged by the leader of a force called "Special Missions" and Walk'n is falsely accused of not following the orders and discharged from the air force. Blacklisted in the commercial flight companies, Walk'n and Fahrenheit are pressed to join the Special Missions team, where they disclose betrayals in a net of espionage. "Sky Fighters" is a surprisingly good action French movie, a sort of "Top Guns" of the Twentieth-First Century. The cinematography is spectacular, with impressive air flight sequences and the story is full of action, betrayal and espionage with many twists. In the end, this movie is a great entertainment. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Os Cavaleiros do Ar" ("The Air Knights")

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• mediocre movie, but one of the best for the genre

  florian-heigl-22006-12-30

  The storyline was nice, had a few little twists and You don't neccesarly find out the whole plot within the first few minutes. The air scenes are very, very good, probably within the best of all movies that feature some air combat. As the movie often gets compared to Top Gun: well, if You found Top Gun a bit plotless, a bit boring, a bit too much romance and the fighting very, very lame, then You'll definitely enjoy this movie. Sky fighters is about 70% air combat, 25% story and 5% romance. I dimly remember the soundtrack was real good too. It would probably be a mistake to bring along Your girlfriend.

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