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Nice effects though.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Flying Leathernecks is the 1951 retelling of the air effort in the Pacific and the fighting specifically on Guadalcanal. John Wayne plays Major Kirby a veteran fighter pilot from the Battle of Midway that takes command of a squadron with little combat experience. It is a character study of the effects of combat and war. It is interesting to see its impact on these pilots, particularly Robert Ryan's character, referred to usually as 'Griff.' Different from WWII pictures of the time, Flying Leathernecks depicts some of the harsh realities and casualties of war. Some of the characters that were developed throughout the film, some that you grow to like, are sadly the ones that are killed and injured in combat. However, the best part of the film is the friction of Major Kirby and Griff. Ultimately the tough an unrelenting attitude of Major Kirby is what develops Captain Griffin into a fine pilot and a man Kirby recommends becoming an officer. This movie is good, but is saddled by the era it was created in. For any John Wayne fan, it is of course a must watch.

Flying Leathernecks is notable as Director Nicholas Ray's first color film and his only war film. Right wing Howard Hughes controlled the production at RKO, while left wing Nicholas Ray made the best of it. As a result, Ray cast Robert Ryan as Captain Carl Griffin to counter John Wayne's Major Dan Kirby. Ryan and Wayne were also politically antithetical as were their characters, creating an interesting contrast and making a standard war film a bit more believable in light of several mishaps. Wayne and Ryan are well-balanced throughout the film as the hard as nails flight commander vs. the more humane second in command. Both have to keep a bunch of young squadron fighters together as they face mission after perilous mission. The film is set during the summer of 1942, following the Pearl Harbor Attack. Several reviewers have already pointed out the anachronisms involving the different planes used in the film, having them appear earlier in the war (in the context of the film) than was actually the case. This was often the case when films were made during the era of a present war, in this case the Korean War, about the era of a previous war (World War II). It's hard to imagine aerial color footage of the period depicted was not available, or it's possible Howard Hughes wanted to use the available footage because of little or no cost vs. researching more appropriate footage. In any event, color aerial and battle footage from the Korean War was used. Some of the wounded soldiers seen in the footage are jarring in such a Hollywood production and serve as a contrast to the largely flag-waving viewpoint of the film. As much as it is carefully interspersed in the film, even the casual viewer can decipher between the actual footage and studio sets because the lighting changes make it obvious. Therefore, the plane sequences with the actors are hopelessly phony due to the repeated actual aerial footage seen. Although usually not often the case, the film also takes time in several instances to highlight those left behind when soldiers are off to fight: parents, wives, children. Jay C. Flippen adds a supporting turn as Master Sergeant Clancy. **1/2 of 4 stars.

My angle on this film echoes some other posters who have a historical take on the film of which the most glaring inaccuracy is F6F Hellcats substituting for F4F Wildcats. The grainy combat footage was irritating and other WW-II films shot during wartime or shortly post wartime have been far more creative and sparing when possible in integrating stock combat footage in tandem with its own filmed footage, but the production simply appeared to not care about continuity in this regard.Not one of the best John Wayne WW-II films but not a complete slouch either, but as other posters noted, is fairly derivative of previous Wayne outings in term of his character in films such as 'Sands of Iwo Jima'.A decent but sluggish Wayne film in comparison to other Pacific theater films, the technical inaccuracies of 'Flying Leathernecks' definitely soured my enjoyment of this film.

Major Dan Kirby {John Wayne} is a tough no nonsense leader, he takes control of his new unit, the Wildcats Squadron, and from the outset they find him overly harsh. They were hoping that the more amiable Captain Carl Griffin {Robert Ryan} was to lead them, and as the war rages both Kirby & Griffin find themselves at odds with each other, but as the battle of Guadalcanal looms, this unit must come together or face the consequences.The Flying Leathernecks has its problems for sure, the production is poor and the inter cutting of real footage is overkilled to the maximum. However the acting is very good and its tale of men under pressure trying to do the right thing is highly engrossing. The aerial sequences have the desired effect, and the horrors of war are fully realised, but ultimately what makes The Flying Leathernecks a worthy picture is the portrayal of the two lead characters by Wayne & Ryan, how the two men do what it takes to give their squadron the best chance of surviving, both Wayne & Ryan shine and put much gravitas to the picture. As a character study it isn't as good as something like Twelve O'Clock High, but it's a very involving picture that deserves to be considered a worthwhile entry to the sub-genre of psychological war films. 7/10