The Starfighters is a 1964 American Cold War film written, produced and directed by Will Zens, and starring Bob Dornan, Richard Jordahl and Richard Masters. In an unusual twist based on the storyline of a pilot and his congressman father, pilot and actor Dornan would seek and win election as a U.S.congressman in California.
Witkowski's congressman father (Carl Rogers), a famed World War II bomber pilot, frequently calls him, concerned about the safety of fighter aircraft. The congressman wants his son to be transferred to a Convair B-58 Hustler or Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber squadron in the Strategic Air Command. Witkowski also finds romance with Mary Davidson (Shirley Olmstead), an Iowa girl.
During training, Major Stevens (Richard Jordahl) sends Witkowski, York and Lieutenant Lyons (Robert Winston) on a cross-country mission. The three trainees are forced to separate as they encounter a storm. Lyons' aircraft goes down in the mountains, while Witkowski is feared lost. Later, they learn that Lyons parachuted safely, and Witkowski has landed safely at an alternate base. Witkowski, who has impressed senior officers and won his father's admiration, is among those selected to be transferred to a unit in Europe and bids a temporary good-bye to Mary.
The catchline: "The blazing adventure of the men and planes who rocket to the very edge of space" and the poster showing a character with a full-face visor helmet similar to an astronaut belies the film's very evident "infomercial" look. The majority of The Starfighters deals with the training of F-104 pilots during the period when the aircraft was being introduced in the United States Air Force, and consists predominantly of stock footage. The footage was of the F-104s of the 831st Air Division (479th Tactical Fighter Wing), stationed at George AFB from October 1958.[2]
The Starfighters was not given wide release and was soon relegated to drive-in theaters and second run showings. Although it was not critically reviewed, audience reaction since has continually placed it in the category of one of the "worst films" ever.[3]
Appearance on MST3Kedit
The Starfighters was featured in episode #612 of Mystery Science Theater 3000.[4] The cast and crew (and later fans) of Mystery Science Theater 3000 were the film's most prominent critics. Tom Servo summed it up thus: "So basically, according to themselves, the Air Force is a bunch of leather-faced, not-so-bright, heavy drinking, dull-witted speed freaks who poop in their pants and can't make it with women, right?" The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide complained "nothing happens in it."[5] It provided several running gags that were repeated throughout the series: humming the jazzy music whenever an aircraft is seen flying, mentions of the "poopie suit" (an Air Force survival suit designed to help contain body heat in the event of a bailout over water), and the use of the word "refueling" as a synonym for any long, dull scene.[5]
Home mediaedit
The MST3K version of the film is included in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 12 DVD set from Rhino Entertainment[6] and later Shout Factory.[7]
Referencesedit
Notesedit
^Vorel, Jim. "The 10 Most Unwatchable Films Featured on MST3K." Paste, November 15, 2013. Retrieved: November 26, 2015.
^ abSantoir, Christian. "Starfighters (The)" aeromovies.fr, December 12, 2012. Retrieved: November 22, 2015.
^"Lowest Rated Movies." IMDb Charts. Retrieved: 22 November 2015.
starfighters, this, article, about, 1964, film, other, uses, starfighter, disambiguation, 1964, american, cold, film, written, produced, directed, will, zens, starring, dornan, richard, jordahl, richard, masters, unusual, twist, based, storyline, pilot, congre. This article is about the 1964 film For other uses see Starfighter disambiguation The Starfighters is a 1964 American Cold War film written produced and directed by Will Zens and starring Bob Dornan Richard Jordahl and Richard Masters In an unusual twist based on the storyline of a pilot and his congressman father pilot and actor Dornan would seek and win election as a U S congressman in California The StarfightersTheatrical release posterDirected byWill ZensWritten byWill ZensProduced byWill ZensStarringRobert DornanRichard JordahlRichard MastersCinematographyLeif RiseEdited byMichael DavidMusic byStephen PaulProductioncompanyRiviera ProductionsDistributed byParade Releasing OrganizationRelease dateMarch 25 1964 1964 03 25 U S Running time84 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishThe Starfighters did not go into wide release It was the subject of episode 612 of Comedy Central s Mystery Science Theater 3000 and was labeled one of their 10 most unwatchable films viewed by Paste magazine 1 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception and legacy 4 1 Appearance on MST3K 5 Home media 6 References 6 1 Notes 6 2 Bibliography 7 External linksPlot editLieutenant John Junior Witkowski Bob Dornan and his buddy Lieutenant York Steve Early arrive at George Air Force Base Tactical Air Command in Southern California to train to fly the Lockheed F 104 Starfighter with special emphasis on the complicated mid air refueling maneuver Witkowski s congressman father Carl Rogers a famed World War II bomber pilot frequently calls him concerned about the safety of fighter aircraft The congressman wants his son to be transferred to a Convair B 58 Hustler or Boeing B 52 Stratofortress bomber squadron in the Strategic Air Command Witkowski also finds romance with Mary Davidson Shirley Olmstead an Iowa girl During training Major Stevens Richard Jordahl sends Witkowski York and Lieutenant Lyons Robert Winston on a cross country mission The three trainees are forced to separate as they encounter a storm Lyons aircraft goes down in the mountains while Witkowski is feared lost Later they learn that Lyons parachuted safely and Witkowski has landed safely at an alternate base Witkowski who has impressed senior officers and won his father s admiration is among those selected to be transferred to a unit in Europe and bids a temporary good bye to Mary Cast editRobert Dornan as Lieutenant John Witkowski Jr Richard Jordahl as Major Madge Stevens Shirley Olmstead as Mary Davidson Richard Masters as Colonel Hunt Steve Early as Lieutenant York Robert Winston as Lieutenant Lyons Carl Rogers as Congressman John Witkowski Ralph Thomas as Captain O Brien Joan Lougee as Betty LyonProduction editThe catchline The blazing adventure of the men and planes who rocket to the very edge of space and the poster showing a character with a full face visor helmet similar to an astronaut belies the film s very evident infomercial look The majority of The Starfighters deals with the training of F 104 pilots during the period when the aircraft was being introduced in the United States Air Force and consists predominantly of stock footage The footage was of the F 104s of the 831st Air Division 479th Tactical Fighter Wing stationed at George AFB from October 1958 2 The aircraft featured in The Starfighters included F 104A and C variants the Boeing KC 135 Stratotanker the Lockheed T 33 and the Kaman H 43B Huskie 2 Reception and legacy editThe Starfighters was not given wide release and was soon relegated to drive in theaters and second run showings Although it was not critically reviewed audience reaction since has continually placed it in the category of one of the worst films ever 3 Appearance on MST3K edit The Starfighters was featured in episode 612 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 4 The cast and crew and later fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 were the film s most prominent critics Tom Servo summed it up thus So basically according to themselves the Air Force is a bunch of leather faced not so bright heavy drinking dull witted speed freaks who poop in their pants and can t make it with women right The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide complained nothing happens in it 5 It provided several running gags that were repeated throughout the series humming the jazzy music whenever an aircraft is seen flying mentions of the poopie suit an Air Force survival suit designed to help contain body heat in the event of a bailout over water and the use of the word refueling as a synonym for any long dull scene 5 Home media editThe MST3K version of the film is included in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 12 DVD set from Rhino Entertainment 6 and later Shout Factory 7 References editNotes edit Vorel Jim The 10 Most Unwatchable Films Featured on MST3K Paste November 15 2013 Retrieved November 26 2015 a b Santoir Christian Starfighters The aeromovies fr December 12 2012 Retrieved November 22 2015 Lowest Rated Movies IMDb Charts Retrieved 22 November 2015 MST3K episode on IMDb a b Beaulieu Chaplin et al 1996 p 102 Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume 12 PopMatters MST3K Volume XII DVD Shout Factory Bibliography edit Beaulieu Trace Paul Chaplin et al The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide New York Bantam 1996 ISBN 978 0 5533 7783 5 External links editThe Starfighters at the TCM Movie Database The Starfighters at IMDb nbsp AllMovie Entry at The Internet Movie Plane Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Starfighters amp oldid 1195490076, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
