Warbirds

What may have been more interesting than the actual experience of watching Warbirds would be to see the expression on the faces of various film financiers during pitch meetings when they realized that someone honestly intended to make a killer flying dinosaur movie involving WWII, female fighter pilots and the atom bomb. Clearly someone, whether intoxicated or just inappropriately amused by the idea, decided that this story was worthy of telling, which is genuinely perplexing, as there is absolutely no way that anyone could have read this script at any stage without a raised eyebrow. While the notion of making a film like this for comedic reasons has some appeal, the unfortunate reality is that Warbirds attempts to be a pseudo-feminist drama with political undertones, which in its own cynical way is even more amusing. Unsurprisingly, the film is a complete mess, with ludicrous expositional dialogue and the occasional laboured speech about honour and living each day, along with some desultory point-and-shoot direction, depressing visual effects and a despondent Brian Krause in the middle of it all in an ill-fitting, mismatched WWII military uniform, overacting like only Leo the whitelighter can. Krause plays Colonel Jack Toller, a hot-headed military man who enlists the help of four WASPs (Women's Air force Service Pilots) to deliver some mysterious cargo to a U.S. Air Force base in the middle of the Pacific during WWII. Inevitably, a storm and some unidentified flying objects interfere with the mission, forcing Toller and the women onto an island inhabited by killer dinosaurs and a handful of Japanese military men led by Ozu (Tohuru Masamune). Despite having little respect for women, Toller must learn to work with Maxine West (Jamie Mann) and her crew to help fend off the dinosaurs and the Japanese while figuring out a way off the island. It really is as bad as it sounds. The DVD includes no special features, which is a shame, as a "making of" would not only have been welcome but greeted with enthusiasm.