543:: "If you like McCall's work, you may like certain scenes in 'Sky Bandits.' If not, you won't. The design of the airplanes in this movie is its single, lonely, redeeming facet. Everything else is surprisingly boring, given the fact that the movie cost a reported $ 17 million to make. The plot involves aerial battles in World War I, but the dialogue rolls along at about the level and intensity of a couple of fraternity kids making plans for the weekend."
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squadron's base has been destroyed by the airship, along with all of the squadron's planes. Defying orders once again he recovers the Gunbus and flies off, secretly landing near the hangar. Finding Luke is being held captive inside a bank, he uses his previous familiarity with blowing open bank vaults to break Luke free, before the two of them attempt to destroy the airship.
320:(known as a "Gunbus"). They succeed in flying the plane, getting lost and briefly glimpsing a huge experimental German airship hidden in the clouds. Landing by coincidence at an RFC squadron base, their sighting of the airship proves enough to persuade the squadron's commander to offer them a place in his unit.
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Back in the Old West, Barney and Luke blow another bank up before racing off on horseback as they had before the war. As a posse hunt them down they are surprised however to see the pair disappear only to reappear flying over their heads in a Gunbus. As the credits roll, Barney and Luke continue to
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What gives the film its isolated moments of distinction are the fanciful flying machines conceived by Tony
Woollard, the movie's production designer. They include what appear to be a Model-T Ford with wings, a six-engine bomber and a fearsome dirigible a half-mile long with the armament of a World
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was meant to direct. However a few weeks before filming was to start Hutton pulled out. Herland said, "He wasn't prepared to bet with us unless the money was on the table. And since we didn't have the money from the City
Institutions to make the movie until a week before filming you can see there
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Still seeking a way out of the conflict, Barney and Luke use their newfound position to steal two planes at gunpoint, intending to fly to
Switzerland. On their route they accidentally find themselves at the airship's hangar, where Luke is shot down and captured. Barney turns back to find his
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with a $ 3.5 million ad campaign but the film was a financial failure. It opened on Friday, October 31, 1986, in 1,335 theatres in the United States, the only wide release that weekend, and grossed $ 1,468,500 for the weekend, finishing in eighth place. Its total gross was $ 2,295,500.
514:) and loaded with lush period production values. But this is probably what you get when you hire a special effects technician to direct your film, even if the special effects technician is as talented as Zoran Perisic, the man who devised the flying sequences for the
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The film claimed to be the biggest wholly independent movie made in
Britain in 1985, with a reported budget of £13 million. The film took eight years and three million dollars to get into production. It was produced by American
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The airship takes off, and Barney and Luke pursue in the Gunbus. In the air they are joined by the rest of the squadron, who are flying an array of improvised novelty planes designed by the squadron's crazy engineer Fritz
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described the film as "a charmless comedy", stated that "the screenplay, the direction and the performances are terrible", and observed that McGinnis' and
Osterhage's characters "are intended to recall (but don't)
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In the maelstrom of the frontlines, Barney and Luke use their gunslinging skills to shoot the pilot of a low-flying German bomber. Using the chaos to abscond from their unit, they impersonate two
British
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said the film "has a few inspired comic touches which might work well with younger audiences, but its heroes are so hokey and its plot so pokey that it never zooms into high gear."
332:). The squadron engages in an aerial battle with the airship as Barney and Luke land on top and use their six-shooters and dynamite to force the airship's captain to surrender.
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is tritely conceived and flatly filmed. That is a shame, because it's otherwise a very handsome movie, photographed in dark, contrasty color by the great David Watkin (
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was a problem. Zoran had been on the film for so long and always wanted to direct, it just seemed perfectly logical then to let him do so."
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officers to sneak into an officer's mess, whereupon after a night of drinking they are challenged to prove themselves by piloting a
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The 12th Annual
Grosses Gloss Thompson, Anne. Film Comment; New York Vol. 23, Iss. 2, (Mar 1987): 62-64,66-69.
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argue with each other over whether to fly to Mexico – itself deep in the midst of
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713:"Sky Bandits movie review & film summary (1986) | Roger Ebert"
561:." He did, however, have a positive opinion on its production design:
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Perisic learned how to speak
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Perisic came on board the project in 1982 to work on its effects.
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and later said "I suppose you could say the
Western scene in
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negatively compared the film to the drawings of airplanes
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observed: "Everything that touches the human element in
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technique he had developed for the flying sequences on
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Goldstein, Patrick. Los
Angeles Times 1 Nov 1986: G5.
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War II battleship. Mr. Woollard's designs look like
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444:is kind of a Western hommage to Huddersfield".
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685:Late lift-off The Guardian 29 Aug 1985: 11.
613:Kehr, Dave. Chicago Tribune 31 Oct 1986: J.
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611:BRITISH 'SKY BANDITS' HANDSOME BUT UNEVEN
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481:The film was released in the US as
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695:"Weekend Film Boxoffice Reports".
559:Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
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537:had been known to publish in the
251:, drafted to the battlefields of
626:'SKY BANDITS' DOESN'T QUITE SOAR
270:and made extensive use of the
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701:. 5 November 1986. p. 4.
408:Bill Reimbold as Bank Manager
847:1980s English-language films
405:John Cassady as Deputy Rezin
827:British war adventure films
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837:World War I aviation films
391:as Commander Von Schlussel
822:1980s war adventure films
423:The film was directed by
266:The film was directed by
166:31 October 1986
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349:Scott McGinnis as Barney
728:"Screen: 'Sky Bandits'"
399:Ten Maynard as Big Jake
832:British aviation films
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452:, whose previous film
402:Bill Bailey as Sheriff
177:10 July 1987
842:Films shot in Almería
469:The film was shot at
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140:J&M Entertainment
174: (United States)
852:1980s British films
732:The New York Times
549:The New York Times
371:Nicholas Lyndhurst
257:Royal Flying Corps
93:Nicholas Lyndhurst
584:Los Angeles Times
579:Patrick Goldstein
526:Chicago Sun-Times
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222:$ 18 million
194:Running time
142:London Front
126:Alfi Kabiljo
116:Peter Tanner
106:David Watkin
83:Ronald Lacey
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797:Sky Bandits
780:Sky Bandits
772:Sky Bandits
761:Sky Bandits
750:Sky Bandits
662:15 December
568:Jules Verne
531:Roger Ebert
500:Sky Bandits
483:Sky Pirates
455:Steppenwolf
414:as Waitress
377:Ingrid Held
338:its own war
238:Sky Bandits
230:$ 2,295,500
198:105 minutes
58:Produced by
38:Directed by
24:Sky Bandits
817:1986 films
811:Categories
591:References
419:Production
367:as Bannock
292:, Barney (
227:Box office
181:1987-07-10
170:1986-10-31
133:Production
52:Thom Keyes
48:Written by
520:movies."
490:Dave Kehr
477:Reception
385:as Yvette
379:as Mitsou
373:as Chalky
249:Wild West
135:companies
112:Edited by
517:Superman
430:Superman
361:as Fritz
290:Old West
277:Superman
261:gunbuses
211:Language
122:Music by
68:Starring
698:Variety
581:of the
523:In the
492:of the
355:as Luke
214:English
203:Country
179: (
168: (
790:Review
775:at BFI
442:Gunbus
302:France
272:Zoptic
244:Gunbus
219:Budget
802:TCMDB
755:IMDb
664:2019
505:Help
344:Cast
284:Plot
800:at
783:at
764:at
753:at
546:In
314:RFC
253:WWI
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
