Wings of Courage | |
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Directed by | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Robert Fraisse |
Edited by | Louise Rubacky |
Music by | Gabriel Yared |
Production company | Iwerks Entertainment |
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
Release dates |
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Running time | 40 minutes (United States) 50 minutes (France) |
Countries |
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Language | English |
Budget | $20 million [1] |
Box office | $15,054,636 [2] |
Wings of Courage is a 1995 American-French drama film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Craig Sheffer, Val Kilmer, Elizabeth McGovern and Tom Hulce. The 40-minute film was written by Annaud with Alain Godard. It was the first dramatic film shot in the IMAX format.
Wings of Courage is an account of the real-life story of early airmail operations in South America. [3]
In 1930 South America, a small group of French pilots led by aviation pioneer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ( Tom Hulce) struggle to prove they can offer a reliable airmail service over the Andes. When one of the young airmail pilots, Henri Guillaumet ( Craig Sheffer), crashes on such a flight in the Andes, a search is started. Henri has to try and get back to civilization on foot. Back home, his wife Noelle ( Elizabeth McGovern) and colleagues start to fear the worst.
Wings of Courage was the first IMAX 3-D short film created to be projected on the world's largest screens, with a process that uses a wider film gauge, more intense light and a brighter screen (covered with five coats of silver). The 3-D glasses were also a new type, liquid crystal lenses that are controlled by radio waves with each lens blinking 48 times a second, in sync with the projected image. [4] The film was shot on location over 50 days in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada with an additional 10 days of photography in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. [5]
For Roger Ebert', Wings of Courage is "... a technical, rather than an artistic achievement." [4] In the review in The New York Times, Caryn James had a similar evaluation: "'Wings of Courage' is a swooping, old-fashioned adventure tale that uses flashy newfangled technology. The first fiction movie made for IMAX 3-D (the format that makes everyone wear oversized, goofy-looking goggles), this 40-minute film plays to the strengths of its 3-D technique. It's a winning ploy. [3] Film critic Leonard Maltin considered Wings of Courage, "Beautiful scenery aside, this is a lumbering, boring true-life adventure ... Dramatically speaking, it's about as lively as a 1930s Monogram programmer. [6]