We’re still six months away from the premiere of Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the runaway hit, Top Gun, which was released over three decades ago. Besides the F/A-18 Hornet and F-14 Tomcat shown in the first trailer, several additional aircraft types are shown in its follow-on clip, among them a P-51 Mustang and what could be the SR-72 Aurora. We’ll leave it up to you to decide so sit back and enjoy!
Remember that Mattel now has the license to produce anything Top Gun-related and we hope to be able to discuss some of the gear, replicas and other merchandise at the upcoming Toy Fair in February.
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are heading back to the 1940s for their third World War 2-inspired limited series. Originally earmarked as an HBO special project that followed in the wake of Band of Brothers and The Pacific, Masters of the Air got the green light by the soon-to-debut Apple Plus streaming service after it became evident that HBO was either unwilling or unable to pony up the $250 million required to fund the project. For Apple, $250 million is but a drop in the bucket as it attempts to launch a new streaming service aimed at competing with the likes of Netflix, CBS All Access et al.
Originally known as The Mighty Eighth, Masters of the Air is based upon the book of the same name that was written by Donald L. Miller, which traces the exploits of the USAAF 8th Air Force and its daylight bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe during WWII. Its not clear when the cable show is expected to air or how many episodes will be made to cover the tale.
There haven’t been all that many films produced of late that have attempted to portray some of the huge armored conflicts of the Second World War. For one reason or another, film makers typically stick to small scale engagements to depict a battle largely because there aren’t all that many vehicles from World War II still in working condition. That said, it will be interesting to see how film maker David Ayers attempts to portray the pivotal battle of El Alamein in which the Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel, went toe-to-toe with Bernard Montgomery to wrest control of the all-important town of El Alamein away from the British 8th Army.
The film’s release is still a ways off — likely set for a 2021 showing — so there’s plenty of time to figure out how he plans to address the battle from a logistical standpoint. No big name stars have yet to sign on to the project and no mention was made of the size of the budget at his disposal, so it will be some time before a film trailer provides clues as to how he plans to depict the battle.
For more information on the film, head on over to this link.
There seems to be no shortage of WWII-based films coming to the silver screen, some revisiting famous battles, campaigns and even weapons of the savage conflict. Lancaster Skies is just such a film, focusing on the British bomber campaign in World War II while deftly paying homage to the British war films of the 1940s and 1950s.
The plot is familiar: Angry and bereaved by the death of his younger brother, Flight Lieutenant Douglas Miller, a broken, solitary, spitfire ace, who survived The Battle of Britain, transfers to Bomber Command, determined to take the war to the skies over Germany. On arriving at his new posting, he is given the unenviable task of replacing the much loved Skipper of an experienced Lancaster Bomber crew, who was killed in action just days before. Struggling to bond with his new crew, and obsessed with his mission to wage war at any cost, Douglas must find a way to gain their trust, and overcome his inner demons, in order to become the leader they so desperately need.
Look for Lancaster Skies to vault onto the big screen this coming February.
Not much is known about the plot to the upcoming feature film, 1917, just that it takes place, unsurprisingly, in 1917, which is the year the United States officially entered World War I. That said, it stars George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, with Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch. An amazing cast that should do for World War I what Saving Private Ryan did for the Second World War.
It is scheduled to be released on December 25th, 2019, by Universal Pictures. Perhaps you can decide what the story is all about based upon the accompanying trailer.
With a year to go before its release, Paramount debuted the first official trailer for the upcoming film, Top Gun: Maverick. The sequel to the block buster film, Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick again follows the trials and travails of naval aviator, Pete Mitchel, now a captain, and thirty years after his exploits downing three MiG-28s over the Indian Ocean. This time around, Mitchel has traded in his F-14 Tomcat for a F/A-18 Super Hornet and, among other things, is seen defending his legacy as an ace and Top Gun graduate. Look for Top Gun: Maverick to spill onto silver screens some time in 2020.
Earlier today, Trekkies were treated to the first teaser trailer for the upcoming sci-fi series, Star Trek: Picard. Set fifteen years after the events put forth in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the trailer is devoid of special effects and hi-tech imagery, and instead takes a close-up look at what Admiral Picard has been doing in the wake of leaving The Federation. No official date has yet been set for the series debut on the pay-to-play network, CBS All Access.
With Game of Thrones having run its course, some of you may be contemplating cancelling your HBO subscription. Before you do, you may want to wait for The Cold Blue, an all-new documentary that focuses on the US bombing campaign over Europe during WWII. Directed by Erik Nelson and featuring newly restored footage shot by Oscar-winning director William Wyler, The Cold Blue is a meditation on youth, war and trauma, and a tribute to one of the world’s great filmmakers and the men of the Eighth Air Force. The Cold Blue is scheduled to air on Thursday, June 6th.
Most people tend to associate the Vietnam War as a conflict waged between US and ARVN forces against the North Vietnamese Army and its Viet Cong allies. In actuality, there were several other nations attempting to defend South Vietnam from communist aggression, most notably troops sent under the auspices of the ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand) banner.
In 1966, a small unit of 108 ANZAC soldiers from the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) found itself cut off and surrounded by over 2,500 North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong insurgents near the town of Long Tan, a rubber plantation in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam. 1 ATF began arriving between April and June 1966, constructing a base at Nui Dat, which was located astride a major communist transit and resupply route and was close to a VC base area. After two months it had moved beyond the initial requirements of establishing itself and securing its immediate approaches, beginning operations to open the province. Meanwhile, in response to the threat posed by 1 ATF, a force of between 1,500 and 2,500 men from the VC 275th Regiment, possibly reinforced by at least one PAVN battalion and the D445 Provincial Mobile Battalion, was ordered to move against Nui Dat.
For several weeks Australian signals intelligence (SIGINT) had tracked a radio transmitter from the headquarters of the 275th Regiment moving westwards to a position just north of Long Tan; however, extensive patrolling failed to find the unit. By August 16th, the communist force was positioned east of the Long Tan rubber plantation, just outside the range of the artillery at Nui Dat. On the night of 16/17 August, VC mortars, recoilless rifles (RCLs) and artillery heavily bombarded Nui Dat from a position 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) to the east, damaging the base and wounding 24 men, one of whom later died. The VC positions were then engaged by counter-battery fire and the mortaring ceased. The following morning, B Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (6 RAR), departed Nui Dat to locate the firing points and the direction of the VC withdrawal. A number of weapon pits were subsequently found, as were the positions of the mortars and RCLs. Thus began the Battle of Long Tan.
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, is an Australian film which documents the fierce engagement as seen through the eyes of Major Harry Smith and his dispersed company of 108 young and mostly inexperienced Australian and New Zealand soldiers. Fighting for their lives, they attempt to hold off an overwhelming enemy force of 2,500 battle hardened Main Force Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army soldiers. With their ammunition running out, their casualties mounting and the enemy massing for a final assault, each man begins to search for his own answer – and the strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency and courage. The Battle of Long Tan is one of the most savage and decisive engagements in ANZAC history, earning both the United States and South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citations for gallantry along with many individual awards. But not before 18 Australians and more than 245 Vietnamese are killed in action.
As we inch ever closer to President’s Day Weekend, I wanted to point out that The History Channel is running a special two-night showing of Presidents at War on Sunday February 17th at 8/7C PM. As The History Channel puts it, “Presidents at War is a two-night History Channel event. This landmark series tells the story of World War II through the experiences of eight remarkable men. Men who, like sixteen million other Americans, bravely serve their country during its darkest hour, and then go on to further service as the nation’s Commanders-in-Chief. Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. This is the story of how their war experiences change them, how they emerge from conflict as leaders and how the crucible of war shapes the decisions they make when they reach the White House.
The Presidents’ experiences give a vivid picture of both the European
and Pacific theaters of battle in World War II. Nineteen-year-old
bomber pilot George H.W. Bush and twenty-five-year-old PT Boat commander
John F. Kennedy fight on the front lines in the Pacific.
Fifty-two-year-old General Dwight D. Eisenhower – a man who had never
seen combat before the outbreak of the war, goes on to become the
Supreme Allied Commander of the war in Europe – and seizes it back from
Nazi control.
These are men who would play a first-hand role in the war effort. They become men who would steer the nation through conflict and turmoil in the last half of what would become known as the American century, fueled by lessons they learned during the 20th century’s defining war.”
