Airlift Review  

Airlift Review  

Airlift Review  

Airlift Review  

At the end of each year, audiences have been subjected to a crude and bizarre concoction of…  

At the end of each year, audiences have been subjected to a crude and bizarre concoction of preposterous ideas that are formulated in Rohit Shetty's head and somehow, the masses just cannot get enough of it. But silently, as though compensating for such frivolous cinema, there has been one annual film starring Akshay Kumar that has some realism, patriotism, focused storyline and some solid performances. With 'Special 26', 'Holiday', 'Baby' and now with 'Airlift', Akshay Kumar proves his caliber as a hero that one can relate to and not the over-the-top nonsense portrayed in a vast majority of action films these days. Directed by Raja Krishna Menon, Airlift relives the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 that threatened 170,000 Indian residents who left their homeland for better opportunities but were then stuck in a land without much of an identity. Now, it is up to one man to let go of his selfish motives and guarantee the security of his fellow countrymen in trying times as the Iraqi forces become more unpredictable. A brief intro and a song later, we are directly in the middle of the Iraqi forces storming into Kuwait city. While the locals get brutally executed by Saddam's fanatic army, the sub-continent population faces uncertainty and is constantly threatened even though they may not be identified as Kuwaitis. Realizing that his property, assets and family are at stake all of a sudden, businessman Ranjit Katyal (Akshay Kumar) decides to find a refuge for his company's workers while pleading for protection from a fickle Iraqi General. In no time, the office space is crowded with not just his workers but also their friends and family. With supplies running low, he desperately seeks to arrange for food and shelter for a few thousand and soon enough, the bigger refuge area now camps over 150,000 Indians due to Katyal's tireless efforts. While this arrangement provides some temporary relief, everybody is on the edge because of the anarchy outside their doors. In the absence and negligence of the local government, Katyal reaches out to officials in New Delhi to enable a rescue from the war zone but the bureaucracy and nonchalance from the babus left their fates hanging in the hands of a dangerous regime. There was but one last hope for Ranjit; to lead them all to Amman, Jordan through an arduous journey and uncertainty of border crossings, while an official in New Delhi sought to mobilize alliances and volunteers to aid a rescue operation. Airlift contains some pretty powerful moments that depict the trauma and stress during the invasion. The intensity of the first encounter between Iraqi soldiers and Ranjit, the traumatic drive through streets filled with military executing Kuwaitis outside their homes, the erratic behaviour of Iraqi soldiers as they raid the camp and the border crossing through Iraq were effective in portraying the emotional turmoil of the numerous individuals who faced those dangers. There are light shades of patriotism that don't follow the #nationalism falseness that is rampant in current times. There are moments of heroism defined by one's actions towards a common good, through selfless deeds that make Ranjit's character even more likable. Akshay Kumar delivers a powerful yet subdued performance, just like he does every year in that one exceptional film. This time however, his acting is much more composed and thoughtful. With a sound understanding of the character and situations, he is able to deliver one of his career best acts. Nimrat Kaur has one stellar scene where she defends her husband's deeds of bravado that get misunderstood by an idiot in their company. The lashing she verbally delivers is far more potent than any other form of rebuttal. Purab Kohli is excellent too in his supporting role as he fights his tragedies in the face of danger that threatens the thousands around him. Soch na sake is a typical Arijit Singh melody, dil cheez tujhe dedi is ofcourse inspired by Khaled's didi from yesteryears while tu bhoola jise is deeply inspiring with its patriotic theme and is beautifully sung by Amaal Malik and KK. Raja Krishna Menon has not only achieved box office success for an honest film but also some well deserved acclaim for portraying true events with the right intention of reflecting upon the sacrifices made and hardships faced by thousands of Indians. Ranjit Katyal is a fictionalized version of the true heroes who stood up back then to save several who lost their identities in times of war. He brought them back home in troubled times, thus reflecting a powerful characteristic of human nature and Akshay Kumar, makes it all the more real. - 9.002 on a scale of 1-10.  

Airlift is based on true events and worlds largest human evacuation ever. Airlift is an seat edge…  

Airlift is based on true events and worlds largest human evacuation ever. Airlift is an seat edge entertaining thriller, based on Gulf War when saddam invaded Kuwait. The story is about Indians how they survive and successfully evacuate from Kuwait. Story is about wealthy person Ranjit Katiyal who help to evacuate 170000 Indians from Kuwait and bring back safely to India. If we talk about performances Akshay is excellent as always but here I want to add, He has given one of the best top class performance of his career. He is superb in role of Ranjit Katyal. Nimrat Kaur is good. Kumud Mishra has done fantastic job in role of Sanjeev Kohli. Background Score of the movie and Screenplay is really outstanding. Overall, Airlift is an entertaining Classic movie based on true events and real life incidents. Must go for it. 

The idea of making a miniseries about the Berlin airlift seemed to me as one of the more…  

The idea of making a miniseries about the Berlin airlift seemed to me as one of the more interesting German (post)war movies. It is a theme that has not been explored much as yet. However, the makers of this series stuffed it with clichés. It starts already with the DVD cover of the movie, which is a direct copy of the cover of 'Pearl Harbor'. Luise Kielberg (Bettina Zimmermann) gets to hear that her husband, who is a doctor, (Ulrich Noethen) has died in Russia and after the war she's struggling to survive. She finds a job at the American base, gets to work for the coolest and highest ranking officer (Heino Ferch) in town, falls in love with 'm, gets pregnant, and all of a sudden her husband turns up again. Come on!!! We've seen this once too often. Heino Ferch and Ulrich Noethen play their role quite well; Bettina Zimmermann however never really seems to convince. For some reason it always seems she's somewhat too late in giving the right emotional reaction to the scenes. It just didn't work for me. The action scenes with the planes and the air lift, we're sometimes exciting, more often not. Nasty things always seemed to happen to the same pilot. Unless you're a big fan of WWII movies, I suggest you spend your money on something else: chocolate ice-cream brings a lot more satisfaction! 

When you keep in mind that this was not documentary you can give this film a chance. The second…  

When you keep in mind that this was not documentary you can give this film a chance. The second part was much better than the first part of it. Heino Ferch has been much better in other films, maybe in all his other films. But the second part was saved by Ulrich Noehten and his really great acting. And whatever was allowed or not allowed during the air-lift, who was involved and who was not involved, if the kitchen in Dr. Kielbergs home was much too huge or not: It was a wonderful love story shown in part 2 and that was the love story between Luise and Alexander Kielberg. The conflict of the man coming back trying to find his way in his job, his family, his country where nothing is like before was really very good. Many other parts of the film where not. I think Bettina Zimmermann was not very convincing in her part but compared to her Katharina Wackernagel was. Even after a while you remember Ulrich Tukur in his part which is still very present. I do not know anything about the "real" Clay but as I already said I do not see this film as documentary. 

A few weeks ago the German broadcaster "SAT1" advertised this movie as the "TV-Event of the year" -…  

A few weeks ago the German broadcaster "SAT1" advertised this movie as the "TV-Event of the year" - sorry, but I've seen better things on TV this year. I didn't thought much of the movie but I soon reminisced about two other horrible movies when I watched the commercial - namely Titanic and Pearl Harbor because the picture looked so familiar: The "heroine" (if I can really call her that) in the middle and her two "loved-ones" next to her - Pearl Harbor, anyone? In fact the love-story is a poor man's version of the one in Pearl Harbor and that one was already poor! But as I like watching movies and analyzing their patterns I eventually decided to watch that rubbish. The movie begins with a doctor leaving his family for the military strike against Russia near the end of the Third Reich promising his wife that he will return. Now fast forward to Spring 1948: Germany lost the war and the allies  

The film on SAT-1 was followed by a discussion and newsreel. In the newsreel Ernst Reuter calls…  

The film on SAT-1 was followed by a discussion and newsreel. In the newsreel Ernst Reuter calls upon the people of "America, England, Italy, France" - in the film "England" is omitted from Reuter's Address outside the burned-out Reichstag building. Why is the contribution of the RAF and the fact that a British passenger aircraft was shot down by the Russians ignored ? Further, I thought the character played by Heino Ferch was called Lieut-Gen William H. Tunner not Turner as in the film. I did not understand why no RAF planes were shown, no Canadian or Australian or South African pilots. I had not realised that the Airlift was simply a US effort and the French took part but the British had nothing to do with it - considering 50% British GDP in 1947 was Marshall Aid it was a sacrifice for British people to have bread rationed to feed Berlin. Short Sunderland flying boats carried salt since they did not corrode. Just watched Part 2 and I wonder how a German doctor returning after years in a Soviet Gulag was so aware of the latest US drug Streptomycin first mentioned in a scientific paper 1944. It was also strange that distribution of the drug was handled by his schoolboy son - seemingly Berlin was a family business in 1948. What is clear is that in trying to seize Germany Stalin precipitated The Cold War - cold in Berlin, hot in Korea. There was a non-fraternisation policy - would a General really have breached it ? 

What a fantastic premise: A movie about the Berlin Airlift. It should have it all. Tragedy.…  

What a fantastic premise: A movie about the Berlin Airlift. It should have it all. Tragedy. Suspense. Comradeship. Rivals. Berliner Frauleins and tough US pilots. love and Tears. What we've got, is a film with none of the above. Heino Ferch tries to impersonate John Wayne or so, but he fails miserably. He acts so wooden, that at any given moment he should crack. He tries to play the tough guy, instead of being a tough guy! Why would Bettina Zimmermann's character fall in love with him? Cause they were throwing stones in a lake? Cause he brings her coal bricks? The SFX are very, very well done. Too much though. The hundreds or so planes over Berlin, look like an attack-fighter-formation-squadron rather than an organised airlift – as it actually was. Interestingly enough, the White House, the Kremlin, and General Lucius D. Clays office seem all to be one and the same dark and dusty set. Notice the same drapes, hanging deep down the windows, as if a protective shield against nuclear fallout. Why is almost every scene INSIDE dark and dusty? By the way, GENERAL LUCIUS D. CLAY, comes across as a small time, insecure, looser General, who doest trust in his own noble idea the airlift. He was very much the opposite. So you combine all those individual blunders and the result is a film with that builds toward no passion, no suspense and no historic accuracy. Sad, it started out so promising… 

Akshay on a role by doing Class movies like Holiday, Baby and now Airlift.. Finest performance in…  

Akshay on a role by doing Class movies like Holiday, Baby and now Airlift.. Finest performance in his career.....A rescue thriller in par with Hollywood Standards... A fine mix of Heroism, Patriotism