As per the letter to the editor, “Filmmakers need to get it right,” (March 11 issue), I’m one aviation buff (I presume this goes for many others too) who also has been disappointed by the special effects that have been produced lately. I haven’t seen “The Aviator,” or the other two films he mentioned yet, but Christian Holtz’s note about the erroneous flight characteristics takes me right to some of the sequences in “Pearl Harbor.” Too many times the Japanese planes, as well as the P-40s, “moved” in flight paths that are physically impossible. I’ve seen better work done with models in older aviation films. The unrealistic scene of a P-40 weaving past tall buildings of Honolulu, I presume, while being pursued by Zeros took me to an X-wing and Tie fighter chase scene in “Star Wars” where they dodged the asteroids.
I know these are stories by Hollywood and are fiction, but fiction is supposed to be believable. For many of us who like to see at least some basic scientific and historical realities in our entertainment, some special effects done today can be a turn-off. It’s too bad, because I thought with today’s technology, I was going to be able to count on their ability to present realism in the digital world we have. But, as of yet, the technical teams are coming up short too often.
I’m still planning to catch “The Aviator,” and I’ll enjoy it as other aviation/history buffs will and have. I’ll just have to suspend my disbelief when the questionable scenes are on, and continue hoping for the time when special effects crews can REALLY present reality.
Huck Krueger
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