Greg has a not-to-be-missed post, with relevant clips, about Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels with some of the most incredible action sequences in film – even more incredible when you realize how much of it was actually happening. The first clip is stunning – with the aerial shots of the depot, and the almost-beautiful explosions happening on the ground (reminiscent of some of those helicopter shots in Apocalypse Now, with the earth literally igniting down below). Hell’s Angels has some pretty atrocious acting, but that’s not the reason to see it. The reason to see it is those masterful action sequences (the dogfight sequence? Just un-freakin’-believable).
It is mind-boggling and humbling to see what they were able to accomplish, with a mix of live-action and the use of miniatures – to create a seamless and gripping whole – that also, flat out, just LOOKS phenomenal. There’s a moment in the first clip, of the munitions depot attack, when a truck drives toward the camera and the ground explodes beneath it, sending the truck flying into the air, the dirt and debris catapulting towards the camera. I am imagining audiences back then flipping out about shots such as this one, but it is also a great reminder of its effectiveness, because I, myself, used to the rather cold and, at times, unimaginative overuse of CGI in this modern day and age, flip out over a sequence that, you know, looks freakin’ REAL. Check that OUT, man.
Those old movie makers never fail to amaze with the effects they were able produce. What made the aerial dogfights in âHellâs Angelsâ so wonderful was the near insane obstinacy of Howard Hughes â and thank you HH. I also remember John Fordâs âHurricaneâ (1937) and his… well… hurricane â fantastic. A dimmer memory, I saw it before CGI even existed, also recalls Raoul Walshâs âThe Thief of Bagdadâ (1924) with Douglas Fairbanks â chockfull of magical effects. I thank the movie gods for all those imaginative men who never tired of showing off.
And how about the aerial footage and stunt flying in Only Angels Have Wings?? Yes, there were some models used, but not many. There’s one stunt (the plane flying off the edge of that plateau) that never ever fails to amaze me.