Interesting War drama taken from German point of view , it deals with a young pilot named Stachel (George Peppard) in the air force of 1918, disliked as lower-class and unchivalrous , attempts ambitiously to earn the medal -The Blue Max- offered for 20 shooting down enemy planes . He reunites an aristocratic group of flying aces (Jeremy Kemp , Karl Michael Vogler) and emerges dispute , envy and hating . Most of the officer corps comes from Germany's high-class elite and Stachel feels out of place . His blind ambition leads him to claim a shooting down that is not his and when he confides in the gorgeous spouse (Ursula Andress) of a General (James Mason),conflicts are inevitable .

Big-budget extended adventures produced by Elmo Williams about a maverick pilot and his partners undergoing risked feats on air and bombing on earth . Based on a novel by Jack Hunter and being well adapted by Franchina and Ben Barzman . Very good aerial actioner plenty action , steamy romance , drama , fantastic cloudy scenes and spectacular dogfighting . George Peppard shows professionalism as crack fighter pilot named Stachel , an ambitious youth assigned to dangerous missions . Top-notch support cast gives excellent performance as Jeremy Kemp as astute contender , Anton Diffring , Derren Nesbitt , Peter Woodthorpe , Loni Von Friedl and Carl Schell as Von Richthofen , the famous Red Baron . Rousing aerial scenes staged by Squire , being wonderfully photographed by Douglas Slocombe and marvelous musical score by the great Jerry Goldsmith are the chief assets of this spectacular film . This lavish airplane movie is professionally directed by John Guillermin , habitual of disaster films ( Skyjacked , King Kong , Kong lives ) , adventures ( Tarzan in India , Tarzan's greatest adventure , Sheena ) , Wartime ( Bridge of Remangen , Guns at Batasi , I was Monty's double ) and intrigue ( Death on the Nile , Shaft in Africa , The whole truth ) . John Guillermin usually worked with George Peppard in various films ( such as P.J , House of cards and Blue Max) and Peter Sellers (Never let go , Walz of the Toreadors) . 'Blue Max' is a rehash of the former airplane movie clichés in which the splendid casting stands out . Rating : Good and entertaining , it's a fairly watchable and breathtaking film and results to be a good treatment of WWI flying aces .

This seemed a very strange choice to broadcast on Remembrance Sunday . If you're foreign let me explain Remembrance Sunday is a day in the British calender where people lay wreaths at their local war memorial and hold a two minute silence in honour of the British war dead who died in the First World War and in conflicts since then . It's an official national event and a very solemn one . Somewhat strange that the BBC broadcast a war film featuring Germans as lead characters !However THE BLUE MAX does contain some bloody sequences of First World War carnage so I guess it was an obvious candidate for broadcast

I first saw this on television in the early 1970s and was impressed with it then . I'm still impressed with it now though with reservations . As several people have pointed out the story drags when the story switches to the adultrous affair between Bruno Stachel and his Baroness lover . It should also be pointed out that George Peppard and Ursula Andress are rather unconvincing in these scenes and seem to be playing characters in a romantic drama set in the 1960s than in the early part of the century . I hated these scenes when I first saw the film and I hate them thirty years later . I also can't help thinking this sub plot makes the movie slightly over long . Was it included to make the movie more marketable to a female audience ? If a movie features thousands of men sticking bayonets into each other no woman will be going to the cinema to watch the movie full stop

That's my only real criticism though there are one or two other flaws regarding historical facts and planes used , but lets look at the positive points . This the best film I've seen featuring First World War dogfights , when you see a movie like ACES HIGH etc it's painfully obvious that actors are sitting in front of some back projection but with the exception of one rather poor scene you can believe the cast are indeed flying their own planes , the arial battles are superb as are the battles on the ground

The cast play up to their characters in thinking they are 20th century knights fighting in an honourable and elitist way and though they're the other side it's impossible to hate them in anyway , and it's interesting to see James Mason playing a morally upstanding army officer in a role almost identical to the one he played in CROSS OF IRON . I guess it doesn't matter whose side your on because politics will win out in the end

I liked this movie--probably because I love airplane films and the cinematography and stuns were great. In many ways it's like a 1960s version of HELL'S ANGELS or WINGS as told from the German perspective (plus a little bit of nookie). I loved the character George Peppard played--a guy perhaps ahead of his time because he hated outdated but popular notions of chivalry. No, he was out for personal glory and sexual conquests (not the most noble but certainly practical goals). The problem for me, though, was when the film shifted from the action to romance, the movie kind of lost its way. I really wanted to see more action as well as the cockiness and grittiness of Peppard's character. With a little bit of a re-write, this could have been a great film. However, it's still worth watching--though little kids are not the best audience, due to violence and non-explicit sexuality.