Rating:

Hollwood's output of patriotic, optimistic films during the course of the Second World War made for a number of by-the-books films created for the sole purpose of garnering support for the war effort.  It is a rare treat when one of these turns out to be a skillfully made, emotionally satisfying treatment of the subject.  Like Howard Hawks' best films, Air Force focuses on a group dynamic where a number of very different people are isolated and forced to deal with adverse conditions.  Approximately two thirds of the film takes place within one plane, relying on consistently engaging dialogue and striking performances to carry it through the full 2 hour runtime.  The attack at Pearl Harbor and events of the war are neither the central focus of the film nor brushed over in favor of complete focus on the background drama and Hawks' unique skill at molding memorable characters within their extraordinary, yet dutifully repetitive existence is at the forefront.

The plot, which works as more of a catalyst for the multi-layered drama to unfold, is both simple and effective - a routine military flight from California to Hawaii taking place on December 6th, 1941 is forced to go off course when news of the Pearl Harbor attack is received.  Although the film has a sense urgency, it is the laid-back chatter and interaction within the tight knit group that carries it along, involving us in the normal day-to-day activities of the men to the point where we begin to care for them.  Perhaps it is the claustrophobic setting of the plane's interior that bring us closer, but however Hawks and Co. achieve this intrinsic connection between the audience and the characters, the subtle nuances of their behavior makes for compelling drama and an intense psychological study of machismo.  Once the plane lands on the first Hawaiian island, it becomes a more typical war film focusing on battle sequences more than the intimate story set up in the first two acts.  Fortunately, the special effects make these action sequences almost as satisfying as what precedes them and Hawks wisely films parts of the scenes within the plane maintaining the connection with the men even when the dialogue is tuned down.  Overall, Air Force isn't one of the director's most impressive outputs, but when a solid genre entry such as this is one of your "lesser" films, it says a lot about the quality of your work.