The Bridges at Toko-Ri – 1955 (WINNER)
This movie had a lot of special effects on display. There were a number of stunts and some impressive precision flying, and it has been a while since we’ve had a Best Special Effects nominee that made use of that. Then there were a few crash landings that looked pretty difficult, one on the surface of the ocean, another on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and a third that was a forced landing in an open field.
The water landing was pretty cool. Lieutenant Brubaker, played by William Holden, has to ditch his jet fighter, but he is then stranded in the freezing water. When the rescue helicopter, piloted by CPO Mike Forney, played by Mickey Rooney, shows up to air-lift him to safety, we get to see the real thing! There were no scale models used here. All the helicopters, the fighter jets, and the aircraft carriers were all the real deal. Whenever the fighter jets landed on the carrier runway, it looked pretty dangerous. Hats off to the skilled pilots who made it look easy!
It is important to mention that this was the first visual effects nominated film that dealt with the Korean war. Now, while it is true that jet fighter planes were first used in the last two years of WWII, this is the first film I have seen which made use of them. In fact, the movie starts off with a special thanks to the United States Navy, and the men of the Naval Air and Surface Forces of the Pacific Fleet, for making the film possible.
As far as the special effects went, the film really had two climaxes, and it was the first of them that was the movie’s real money sequence. Our fearless fighter pilots are sent on a near-suicidal mission to destroy three bridges. The area is heavily guarded and the jets have to speed through a canyon while avoiding the massive barrage of enemy fire. There are smoking rockets, bullets, and anti-aircraft projectiles being launched at the twelve jets from every side. The sheer chaos of the sequence was very well choreographed. And then there were the fantastic destructions of the bridges. It was an exciting sequence to watch!
The movie’s second climax was a scene in which most of the characters we have spent the last hour and a half getting to know and like are killed off. Lieutenant Brubaker crash lands in enemy controlled territory. The remaining jets stay as long as they are able to protect him from the approaching enemy soldiers. Then a rescue helicopter arrives, but it is shot down. The co-pilot is quickly riddled with enemy bullets. Brubaker and Forney get pinned down in a ditch, and are eventually overrun and killed by Korean soldiers.
It was a pretty exciting and tragic end to the movie, and the special effects team really gave us some great visuals to watch. And cheers to the film’s director, Mark Robson, for putting it all together in such an exciting way.