"THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI" - Low Fuel Carrier Landing

[tradercris]

Good film, very good book.

FYI the speech at the end where the one commander lauds the lost pilot Brubaker **sorry spoiler** "where do we find such men..." President Ronald Reagan once referenced that scene and monolog as if it was a real life event.

[swennsyever9]

remember so clearly 1st time i saw this great movie. i was just a kid maybe 10..the ending....holden rooney holiman...i couldnt believe that scene. i didnt want to believe that scene.

then the denouement: cag's xchng w/ the admiral: "he was your boy but he was my boy too." fmarch & charles mcgraw...just a great acting scene.

& mickey rooney deserved an oscar if anybody ever did -- wonder if he was even nominated.

absolutely a great movie

[likepatsandGTOs]

Man those times were brutal...early jets with slow throttle recovery, no angled flight decks oh and the 45 degree water if you ditched. Brave guys indeed - in Frederic March's soliloquy at the end "Where do we get such men?!"

[wmichswingers]

the angled deck developed by the British prevented this situation-- the pilot simply opened his throttle and went around again

[ElPresidente101]

Not for this one smartypants, on LOW FUEL, there is no other option. It says low fuel landing in the title. Otherwise, he wouldve hit the deck and throttled out.

[ae62ea]

I believe, what wmichswingers is alluding to is that with an angled deck, the pilot doesn't have to face the hind-ends of parked aircraft, heavy equipment, picnic tables and other stuff that might otherwise inconveniently be found in his landing area and roll-out path... But yeah, on a 2nd go-around he'd hafta fly a mighty tight pattern ;) The USS Oriskany actually got an angled deck- about 3 years later.

[eviltman]

I actually said "yeah!" when the hook caught him. otherwise he was a goner.

[whitewolfoftctown]

THis was the best carrier movie in history

[Auggie56]

Notice you can hear the canopy retract motors over the jet engine.

[blindandwatching]

That film is still good.

[bobtonja]

Filmed aboard the Oriskany which is now a artificial reef off of Pensacola.

[richardsiow]

I use to fly the panthers and they were beautiful planes to fly. William Holden has played part well in this movie.