Seen it many times, but was surprised once I bought it that it was released in 1951. I'd always assumed it was a wartime-made movie given the rah rah feel.
Would it be put in the Oscar race today....No, but it is a darn great flick to watch. Just sit back and enjoy.
It was wartime, the Korean War. One irony is that the F6F was still in use, along with the P-51, the F4U Corsair, and other WW2 aircraft. They were still highly effective if they stayed away from MiG Alley.
I expect that John Wayne was very "rah rah" for the Korean War, but Robert Ryan and Nicholas Ray were not. Public opinion was much less unified that it was during WW2. Fortunately, that public opinion was not quite as split as it was in the 1960's over the Vietnam War. Otherwise, we would have lost that one, too instead of coming out of it with an armistice.
The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.
It's got some good flying scenes. But the cast is interchangeable save for John Wayne and Robert Ryan.
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