The Hunters

Practically unrecognizable when held against Salter's novel. The gut-wrenching fear of failure which permeates every page is replaced with two-fisted punchin' and killin', and it's a shame because they threw away a lot of good stuff to juvenilize the story. On its own terms, though, it's a pretty routine wartime melodrama marred by embarrassing Anglo-centrism, but buoyed by some stone cold BEAUTIFUL and deeply exciting arial photography, the caliber of which I have never seen matched.

Good mostly for the drama in Japan and the footage of fighter aircraft of the day.