THE PLOT THUS FAR
The life story of legendary flying pioneer and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, Jimmy Doolittle. Famed flyer Charles Lindberg, considered Doolittle the greatest flyer that ever climbed into an airplane. Winston Churchill called Doolittle’s life unparalleled in recorded history. General George Patton said Jim Doolittle was the only true warrior he had ever known. They were all right!
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Wings of a Warrior” is a very low budget project. However, the honest effort of love shows what works well for this kind of story. Some might say that Gardner Doolittle is biased being a relative, but he provides proper historical context for his war hero relative. We get to see how a man defined in his early years by missed success, takes chances to become a legendary war hero. Much attention is paid to the Tokyo raid, as it should. Honestly, it did just as much as the atomic blasts to break the Japanese war effort.
The use of archival footage was a necessity. However, I felt like a Doolittle relative should have had access to more momentos. Plus, what’s with the hyper focus on Doolittle’s kid killing himself in the 1950s? It feels like a tacked-on moment that takes focus away from the war years. Oh well, I still loved it.
The DVD comes with a bonus interview. It’s nice to have that bit of historical perspective from one of Doolittle’s surviving relatives. It’s a solid documentary, but I would’ve loved to have had a commentary. The A/V Quality is on par with past standard definition documentaries. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: 12/03/2013