We've got the need for speed.
We're buzzing the tower, it's too close for missiles, we're switching to guns.
These are the top ten movie dog fights, of all time.
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Kicking us off at number ten, we want to get something off our chest.
Yes, to start off our list, we're going bold with probably the most well known,
and well loved cinematic dog fight ever.
The one from Top Gun.
>> Coming in guys, coming in.
>> Now, that's not to say Top Gun isn't awesome because, well just look at it.
[SOUND] The cool banter, and high intensity maneuvers of the F14's, and Mig
28's, were probably the things that got most dog fights fans started in the 80's.
Even though the Mig 28's were actually fictional planes, played by US F5 Tigers.
And if you need your fix on more cold war era dog fights, we can give begrudging,
not so honorable mention to those in Iron Eagle, and Fire Birds,
aka pervy Nick Cage in Top Gun with helicopters.
But let's be honest, Top Gun is truly one of a kind.
[NOISE] Next up for our number nine, we're gonna take it back, way, way back.
And back when airplanes were a thing people marveled at,
not just complained about having to take off their shoes to board.
People frigging loved airplane films, and
people like Howard Hughes loved making them.
Probably his best dog fight was found in Hell's Angels.
A brief moment of awesomeness, surrounded by a sea of melodrama doldrums.
But our pick goes to the film that first set the bar for
aerial combat cinematography, and won the very first Academy Award, 1927's Wings,
and it's two on four zeppelin run, two thirds of the way through.
Shooting over nine months, Wings was a massive endeavor.
Hundreds of pilots, thousands of extras.
The film invented the techniques needed to film the in air closeups,
that so define fighter pilot flicks today.
And no, those techniques didn't involve a green screen, blue screen,
or any color screen at all.
Those are the actors, in the planes, in the air, flying the damn things.
Take that, Tom Cruise.
Of course, we're not always film snobs.
Sometimes we like some good old fashioned blockbuster popcorn CGI fun.
And that could be from Flyboys, a World War I flick, that looks gorgeously
stylized, if slightly historically inaccurate, [SOUND] or Red Tails.
It's a fun World War II movie that combines banter,
with excellent virtual cinematography.
>> Yeah.
>> Or even Pearl Harbor's Battle of Britain.
Which, say what you want about Michael Bay.
He's pretty fucking awesome.
[SOUND] But our pick goes to The Red Baron, a 2008 German film.
And it's absolutely gripping, night time air battle,
featuring Manfred Von Richthofen himself.
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Sure, the film takes its liberties, but it snags our eye, because while most aerial
combat scenes take place during the day, The Red Baron uses darkness to its
advantage, and ends up with something beautiful, and unique to show for it.
Next up, we're looking at World War II's Pacific Front.
Of course, there's a whole movie called Pearl Harbor, that features a dog fight,
kind of based on the historical event.
But it mostly amounts to Ben Affleck, and
Josh Hartnett defeating enemy pilots by looking handsome and playing chicken.
[SOUND] And you could also check out Midway, for the massive titular dogfight,
that just misses our list.
But our number seven goes to the dogfight above the beautiful
technicolor Pearl Harbor battle from Tora!Tora!Tora!
[SOUND] Far more more historically accurate than Bay's Harbor,
Tora is a historical epic that was shot in two separate pieces, half American,
and half Japanese.
And one of the technical advisers on the film, was Minoru Genda,
the Japanese Chief of Staff who planned the actual attack on Pearl Harbor.
All together, it made for a far more accurate, yet still cinematic and
exciting, dog fight.
With some of the most authentic footage ever shot.
Of course, who says all our picks need to be historically accurate?
They can just as well be from the future.
Or, I guess, in this case, a long long time ago.
Now when it comes to sci-fi, the final battles from Independence Day, and
Stealth are both slick, and we really like the anachronistic time travel aerial
battle between F14's and Zeros from the final countdown.
But there's nothing quite like the iconic battle between TIE fighters and
X-Wings from Star Wars: A New Hope.
>> Yahoo!
>> Heavily inspired by famous dog fights of old,
it's no secret that Lucas was a aerial cinema nut.
He looked to Wings, 633 squadron, and especially Dambusters for inspiration.
Next up at number five, we always like to make an effort to keep it global.
So, if we're looking worldwide,
we can find some familiar dog fights with fresh perspectives.
Riding on the enemy side, De Stern Von Afrika shows us a German perspective on
Word War II dog fighting, that'll feel familiar to Hollywood fans.
[SOUND] Looking east to Russia, our favorite is bomber, and
it's early bomber V fighter battle.
[SOUND] But for our pick, we really enjoy the Kamikaze films,
that come out of Japan.
Instead of the death crazed suicide bombers depicted from the Western
perspective, the active kamikaze is depicted as complicated, and nuanced,
in equal measure, but always somber.
And you can look to the dog fights from Zero Fighter, and For Those We Love, for
some awesome footage.
[SOUND] But our number five pick, goes to final air battle before diving
into a kamikaze attack from The Eternal Zero.
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More solemn and graceful, emotional and tragic, than downright high octane.
This dog fight carves beautifully through the clouds,
and into the sea, earning it's spot on our list.
But there's more to World War II, than just the Pacific Front.
We can't forget the war going on in Europe, and the movies about it.
We can't mention them all, but
our favorites include dog fights from the Purple Plane, 12:00 High, The War Lover,
and especially The Battle of Britain.
Which staged one of the grandest battles of actual World War II planes ever seen,
outside of, well you know, the war.
However, our pick for number four, goes to the very first dog fight
between the titular plane, and a squadron of German fighters from Memphis Belle.
[NOISE] >> Six o'clock high.
>> Nine o'clock high.
>> Two 190's 12 o'clock high.
[NOISE] >> [INAUDIBLE]
>> Three fighters Nine o'clock,
coming around.
Keep your eyes on them, Dan.
[NOISE] >> This is a totally different kind of dog
fighting than the others on our list.
Instead of nimble and agile one man fighters, performing sky high acrobatics,
and aerial maneuvers, The Belle is a giant Boeing B-17 flying fortress bomber,
fending off attacks from all sides.
What's really incredible here,
is the sense of team work from the crew of the Belle.
You really feel the danger, which is why we love it for our list.
[SOUND] Next up at number three,
we're circling back around one last time, to World War I.
The granddaddy of the fighter plane.
We've got a couple more films to talk about.
First, Aces High.
The plot might be a bit generic and lame, but the flying certainly isn't.
It's got classic gun battles, and lots of them.
Second, The Blue Max, a British film about German pilots trying to earn a medal of
valor, for shooting down 20 enemy aircraft, this one is an absolute classic.
But for our pick, we're looking right after the war with The Great Waldo Pepper.
[SOUND] Feeling ashamed of missing out on aerial combat during the great war,
Robert Redford is shooting a dog fight for a movie,
opposite a famous German ace when the two start actually duking it out.
Of course, their movie planes don't have real machine guns, so they start ramming
each other, playing chicken, and trying to run each other out of the air.
[SOUND] Closing in at number two,
we're going animated.
Because while it's extremely difficult, and dangerous,
and probably illegal to actually blow up airborne aircraft for
the movies, it's a whole lot easier to draw it.
Macross Zero has a couple cool animated dog fights between laser
shooting fighter jets.
[SOUND] And we really wish we could pick Paths of Hate,
an awesome little short film about a single dog fight that's beautiful, and
weird, and as powerful as you can get.
[SOUND] But it's not a feature,
so it can't make our list.
But that's okay, because the 2D3D mash up, that is the opening fight
from Sky Crawlers, is equally gorgeous and worthwhile.
[SOUND] >> [INAUDIBLE]
>> [SOUND] Taking place in a parallel
world, with cool diesel punk planes where private corporations stage wars to
ease the populus, this flight is awesome Just as gripping and
engaging as any live action dog fight.
And if you haven't got enough of Nomura Oshi's take on the sky,
stay tuned to the end for a giant final battle of epic proportion.
And finally ticking down to number one, we've seen the past,
future and every war in between.
So can we get some modern aerial combat please?
Well the bad news is,
that dog fight movies have fallen out of the public's favor.
We're a long way from the golden age of the 50's and 60's.
But the good news is,
that some filmmakers don't really care, and have made some awesome flicks anyway.
And while that could be 2010's Soar into the Sun, that sees North and
South Korean air forces face off.
Our top pick actually goes to the very first dog
fight from Les Chevaliers Du Ciel.
[SOUND] >> [FOREIGN]
>> [SOUND] In a movie filled with
absolutely jaw dropping aerial cinematography,
this dog fight just takes the cake.
It puts you right in the pilot seat, follows the action perfectly, and
looks exactly like a modern dog fight should.
Which is why we think, it's the best movie dog fight of all time.
[SOUND] So what do you think?
Do you disagree with one of our picks?
Did we leave out one of your favorite dog fights?
Let us know in the comments below, and
be sure to subscribe for more Cinefix movie lists.
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