BIGGLES could have been a great, authentic adaptation of the famous 'boy's own' adventure stories by Captain W. E. Johns, but some genius scriptwriter had the idea of updating the storyline to then modern day to draw in the American audience. Thus we get a slapdash sci-fi outing involving an annoying Yank who repeatedly time travels to WW1, where he gets involved with the antics of the eponymous hero.

In essence, this is a film of two halves. The period-era stuff is fairly decent, featuring a workable performance from Neil Dickson as the hero. There are the requisite aerial dogfights and gun battles, all of it following a simplistic action-template formula, but it works well enough. The old ruined gasworks setting of Kubrik's FULL METAL JACKET is brought into play again and provides a fitting backdrop for the action.

A shame, then, that the modern-day stuff is so off-putting, and no surprise that it has dated more than the WW1 story. Alex Hyde-White's American accent is way over the top, and the lame humour adds absolutely nothing to the story. The only good part is the presence of Peter Cushing in a large-ish supporting role; this was to be his final screen performance, and it's an acceptable denouement for the star, his character filled with the quiet dignity we've come to associate with the actor.

This had been another childhood viewing; actually, I had owned the computer game it spawned (of which an advert is included among the surprisingly extensive bonus features here – more on this later).

The film is an old-fashioned adventure (based on a character, a British air ace of WWI, created by Capt. W.E. Johns) but given modern trappings – by way of the time travel concept (just then brought back into fashion via BACK TO THE FUTURE [1985]),a young American ad executive is transported into the thick of battle and has to aid his so-called "Time Twin", Biggles, in destroying the German forces' secret weapon! While this element may not have been necessary in rendering the war exploits exciting, I guess it was considered safer (especially for American audiences to whom the name Biggles wouldn't mean much) – then again, this makes for some amusing misunderstandings (involving the American's bewildered colleagues or him being chased by police) to go along with the dogfights (incidentally, Biggles has three inseparable buddies and a Von Richtofen-like nemesis); at one point, it's Biggles (played by Neil Dickson, by the way) who's thrown into our times and then takes a modern helicopter back to 1917!

Still, the biggest joy of the film is watching Peter Cushing's graceful farewell performance as Biggles' aged superior (not so dignified was his cameo appearance during the accompanying music video for the obligatory theme song, "Do You Want To Be A Hero?"). With this in mind, the film's ill-advised soundtrack consists of cheesy electro-pop rhythms – which, more than anything, betray this as a product of the 1980s!

Apart from the expected fillers, the extras contained a number of vintage 'documents' – from an interesting 20-minute featurette (in which Dickson, somewhat bafflingly, states that the film should appeal to fans of such effects-laden blockbusters as GHOSTBUSTERS [1984] and GREMLINS [1984]) to excerpts from TV programs discussing/advertising BIGGLES (to which was added the subtitle "Adventures In Time" for the U.S.) at the time of its release.

Attractive and fun movie about time travels with frantic action, thrills , humor and spectacular scenes. A bold idea decently adapted in its execution but with a lousy musical score . It deals with a young businessman: Alex Hyde-White from present-day NYC is suddenly transferred into 1917 WWI .There he takes the identity of a spy and befriends a 1917 WWI flying ace : the husky Neal Dickson who has a genteel streak that conceals the viciousness required in war . The posh executive lnexplicably finds himself aboard a fighter plane over Europe.

This is an amusing film with emotion, breathtaking scenes, dogfighting , wooden but likeable interpretation and a lot of twists and turns . The much-loved WWI heroics of Biggles , the pilot from Captain WE Johns series of books are updated to 1986 Manhattan via a time travel gimmick, being prior adapted in a long TV series .Time-travel fantasy in which an ingenious executive is transported to Europe WWI and suffering several adventures , risks and dangers. The time-travelling American young is played by the sympathetic Alex Hyde White as a naive executive and his buddy is Neal Dickson as Biggles who is the best thing in a passable film that hardly plays fair with buffs of the original . Support cast is frankly well such as Fiona Hutchinson, Marcus Gilbert , William Hootkins and special mention for the great Peter Cushing in his last acting , playing an important secret agent whose headquarter is in the Tower Bridge .The big drawback is the horrible soundtrack by Stanislas composed by synthesizer , it ruins the film. It packs a colorful and evocative cinematography .

The motion pictures was professionally directed by John Hough including some flaws and gaps. Hough is a fine craftsman who has a long, uneven and eclectic career directing all kinds of genres . As he made terror movies: Hell's gate, Howling 4, American Gothic, Incubus , Legend of Hell house, Twins of evil ; Adventures: Treasure island, Escape to Witch Mountain, Return from Witch Mountain, Black arrow , The watcher in the woods, Dirty Mary crazy Larry ; Romantic drama: Duel of hearts , The lady and the highwayman, The dying truth ; Western : Triumphs of a man called Horse; Suspense: Eye witness and WWII : Brass target.