Review of "Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels," DVD

Review of

Howard Hughes’ Hell’s Angels, DVD


Five out of five stars

 Even though it was shot in 1930, the action can still amaze you. Only daring aviator and incredibly wealthy Howard Hughes could have made this very expensive movie at that time. The primary characters are two British brothers that are students at Oxford. A secondary but important character is a German man also attending Oxford. The two brothers could not be temperamentally different, one is brave and willing to cover for his brother while the other is a complete coward.

 When World War I begins, all three men join the air forces of their respective countries and the two brothers also express strong interest in the same woman, played by Jean Harlow. While the love interest adds something to the plot, the Harlow character is out for fun and adventure, willing to go to any man that may give her that. Her presence does not add a great deal to the movie, even though it is Harlow.

 The air action is amazing, although they are all biplanes, there are many of them engaged in the fight, I was not surprised to learn that some of the pilots were accidentally killed. Special effects were quite limited back then, so nearly all of the action is real. This is fundamentally a war movie, but underneath all of this it is a great story of two brothers, one of which always covers for the other’s weaknesses. Even when it is at the risk of his own life.