Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

JohnHowardReid Copyright 13 July 1963 by Universal Pictures. New York opening at the Palace and others: 10 July 1963. U.S. release: 21 June 1963. Australian release: 13 March 1964. U.K. release through Rank: 8 September 1963. 116 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A new air force base commander whips his men into shape, no matter what the cost. Locations at Beale Air Force Base (near Sacramento, California), at SAC headquarters at Offut Air Force Base (near Omaha, Nebraska) and in San Francisco. Dedicated to the airmen of the 456th Wing.COMMENT: A familiar story, which many another service yarn has handled with far greater power and authority. True, the average viewer doesn't really expect to have his interest quickened at ground level in this sort of propaganda, yet panacea; but even in the air, "A Gathering of Eagles" amounts to little more than a flock of sparrows. The players — with the solitary exceptions of the ever-reliable Kevin McCarthy and (in a regrettably less important part) Robert Lansing — are likewise woefully inadequate. True, Rod Taylor gives his clichéd role a game try, but is ultimately defeated by at least three particularly weak and unconvincing turns of the plot. The two principals are ridiculous. In addition to their jointly uninspired acting, Rock Hudson suffers from odd lighting which at times presents him as an eager-beaver pretty boy, at others as a jowly, surly, middle-aged crab; whilst Miss Peach is burdened with costumes that so emphasize her bust-line that on many occasions she seems perilously close to over-balancing. Delbert Mann's scrupulously dull direction is no help whatever.

dcjimd This is a study in the problems of military command, about how to reconcile the difficulties of a leader trying to decide whether to be a buddy to his men or a tough and hated son of a bitch who just wants to get the job done, no matter what the personal cost. In this case, Rock Hudson plays the commander of a Strategic Air Command B-52 bomber wing and missile base in Northern California.As a command study, it was all done far better in films like "Twelve O'Clock High" and "Command Decision" although some of the aerial footage is impressive. The one reason I watched this film is that it contains a song called "The SAC Song" written by musical satirist Tom Lehrer (known for song parodies such as "National Brotherhood Week" and "The Vatican Rag" a number of which were sung on the 1960s TV show "That Was the Week That Was." ) The song is very short (it is sung in about a minute) but it is typical Lehrer and, probably for legal reasons, does not appear in the recent complete CD collection of his works "The Remains of Tom Lehrer.) I am going to try to put it in this listing as a quote.

Neil Doyle ROCK HUDSON is a Strategic Air Command colonel who pushes his men to the limits and neglects his British wife (MARY PEACH) while alienating his colleague (ROD TAYLOR) whom he thinks is getting too chummy with the men under his command.There's nothing about this service yarn to distinguish it from other such efforts, as STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND (with James Stewart/June Allyson) or ABOVE AND BEYOND (Robert Taylor/Eleanor Parker). The romantic interest is dull and Rock Hudson's character is never made too plausible. He starts out as an amiable instructor but switches gear without sufficient character explanation.A broken fuel line provides some tension at the 45-minute point in the film where Hudson and crew have to make a safe landing without an electrical spark from the landing gear causing a fire. Beyond that, the dramatic tension for the first hour is limp and the story is slow and mechanical.With the main focus on Readiness Alert, it's still a timely service film hampered by a bad performance from leading lady Mary Peach, an American looking gal with a heavy British accent. Chemistry between Peach and Rock Hudson is practically non-existent. Fortunately, ROD TAYLOR is fine in a co-starring role and BARRY SULLIVAN sympathetic as a man whose drinking problem gets him booted out by Hudson who says he's "not running a rehabilitation center". He shocks his wife with Sullivan's dismissal and his brusque behavior begins a strain in the marriage.With Hudson dismissing Taylor from command, the story loses steam before the final Operation Readiness Alert goes into action with Taylor subbing for absent Hudson and eventually redeeming himself in Hudson's eyes in time for a happy ending.Supposedly a tribute to the Officers, airmen and wives of the Strategic Air Command, it should be of above average interest to those service personnel but of limited interest for the average movie-goer in search of strong entertainment.

Michael D Mellgard When I was very young, from 5 until 8 years old, Mom worked civil service at Turner AFB in Albany, Georgia. I vividly remember the B-52's taking off and landing. Watching the scene with Hudson and Taylor on the tarmac timing the take-offs brought that memory back as though it was yesterday..We actually lived on the base for awhile before moving into Albany. The housing that the officers lived in reminds me of going over for dinners and getting to wear the flight helmets...imagine a little kid running around the mid-century home with that on his head. My brother would fight over who got to wear one. I cannot comment on the script and the actual life of the members of the AF since I was just a little kid. I do remember Mom coming home from the base the day President Kennedy was murdered and saying the the whole base was gearing up as though WW III was about to start. Hudson's character would not be out of place in the service, since as a former military man, I can say I have served under men who makes him look like a pussy cat. The fact that the film was able to use authentic locales makes it much more enjoyable. I work in the prop industry in Hollywood and I was practically salivating at the production design until I remembered that it was current for the time.