This is an outstanding documentary about the Blues and formation flying. It contains a lot of excellent footage from inside/outside the pit along with the radio chatter and pilot commentary and great narration, music is a little dated but I think it gives it a cool feel.
It was filmed during their '69-'71 season. I love the Phantom and it really looks awesome in that blue paint.
Trailer I put together,
http://www.vimeo.com/6602383
I've about worn out my dads old VHS copy. I first saw it when I was a kid and just keep popping it back in every once in a while, never gets old.
If you want to buy the DVD.
http://www.thresholdtheblueangelsexperience.com/
I really like the quote at the end,
"There is a state of mental and physical awareness, in which I and my airplane are one. There is no separation between us - my will is its will, my movements are reflected by its movements and my thoughts are only of it. When I am in this special place - there is no room for the luxury of fatigue or fear. There is no moment, there is no movement, that does not demand total concentration."
Some info about the pilots:
Harley Hall #1 was shot down in a Phantom on the last day of hostilities in Vietnam, he was the last tailhook pilot to go down and last American to be classified as a POW in the war. No one really knows what ever happened to him - some think he lived several years as a POW after the war was over - pretty sad.
http://www.tailhook.org/HallSu99.htm
Interesting to read the posts by the guys that knew him/flew with him or tried to rescue him
http://www.virtualwall.org/dh/HallHH01a.htm
"For over 30 years, the actions of January 27, 1973 at the DMZ have never left my mind. I was there when Harley and Al got shot down and saw them eject and also heard them on Military Air Distress frequency (243.0). I was approximately 4400 yards away under fire from enemy guns aboard the USS TURNER JOY (DD-951). The first I knew about them being in trouble was a call by CDR Hall over 243.0 saying "Oh shit, Mayday, Mayday" and I cut a direction finding bearing on his position in CIC of the TURNER JOY and then ran outside and saw the two of them eject. We watched them dangling in their chutes under fire and immediately starting fixing their position. From our viewpoint we thought they landed on an island in the Cua Viet River and later events proved this to be correct. We then started working on getting our five inch guns into action, laying down cover fire in an attempt to get the now swarming NVA off of them. Listening on 243.0, we heard that CDR Hall had just been captured and he also reported that his RIO had just been killed by the NVA. Apparently Al had just been knocked out and there had been a burst of AK-47 fire in his direction (the last transmission was from Harley, "They just executed my RIO").
We saw the rescue helo trying to get in there to get these guys out (on the last day of the war), but he was under so much heavy ground fire, he apparently could not make it. I can still see that helo trying to get in there. It is still vivid in my mind. I wondered how he could stay in the air with that much ground fire. We did our best to provide more covering fire. Fast Forward! About 23 years later I was home one day in Vancouver, Washington and on the tube they showed CDR Harley Hall, a native of Vancouver, WA and I immediately was flooded with emotions. I was about to retire from the Navy, but all of a sudden these suppressed memories had overwhelmed me and I got in touch with the TV station about Harley and they put me in touch with his sister whom I spoke to for over an hour.
I told her about all the efforts to save the crew, but the fighting was the heaviest of the Vietnam War and it was nearly impossible to retrieve them, but that a major effort had been made. I was glad to get that off my mind. The last day of the war was some of the heaviest combat I had seen and it has never left my mind.
I have visited the Wall in Washington DC and cried at not being able to do more. When the POW's were flown out, the TURNER JOY was one of the covering force ships nearby and I shall never forget that either. For us who lived this ordeal, all I can say that a bunch of good Americans did their best to the very end in fighting the Vietnam War and Harley Hall and his RIO were two of them. I am sorry to hear Al has passed away. Back in 1996 I did speak to Al and the helo pilot that tried to get in there. It helped me piece the puzzle together about the events of that day.
Apparently the TURNER JOY fired the last round that impacted at the precise time of the cease fire, which was 0800. At 0759 on January 28th, combat was hot and heavy and one minute and about 10 seconds later, it all stopped. The silence was deafening. I shall never forget that. I hope this helps some families out there heal from their loss.
Jim Chester
LCDR US Navy (Ret)"
http://virtualwall.org/dh//HallHH01a.htm
Skip Umstead #6 was killed in a low altitude mid-air flying for the Blue's as team leader in '73.
http://www.umstead.org/marvinskip.html
also ran across this, thought it was interesting.
http://www.airshowbuzz.com/forums/index ... c=565&st=0
In the film, at the end, as the narrator's talking about the moment when you cross the threshold and realize "you've gone too far", there's a quick still shot of #4, gear up, nose high, just a few feet above the ground. I always wondered what the story was behind that, I figured he either mushed it into the ground, or just geared it up, luckily it was the latter. Ernie Christensen (#4 pilot) found that thread somehow and posted a few replies.
I've got a bad habit of making really long posts, kind of like LD does,
Threshold: The Blue Angels Experience
I think THRESHOLD is probably my all-time favorite too! 2nd would be RFTS and then "A Year In the Life".
Maybe it's just me, but I think one of the reasons I like "THRESHOLD" so much is that it almost feels kind of like a "dream"... not like "RFTS" or "AYINTL"... it's more "artistic" in its presentation and when you're in the cockpit with them, it really feels like you're with them! Maybe it's because they do those very long shots where you're facing a pilot in the diamond and watching him keep his eyes on the Boss... but yet you're also watching the manueuver outside reflected in his visor.
I dunno... I just like the mystique in how it was filmed! And I think my favorite shot in the whole video is when they're lined up for takeoff... the camera is facing them dead on... and they do the run-up and you see all that smoke and dust billowing up behind them... and then when they go to burners, all that debris behind them gets blown around! You can just FEEL the power of those J-79's!
I agree with you about Harley Hall... it was a shame what happened to him in the war. He really looked the part of a fighter jock, though!
Wow... now I think I'm gonna have to watch it tonight! LOL!
Maybe it's just me, but I think one of the reasons I like "THRESHOLD" so much is that it almost feels kind of like a "dream"... not like "RFTS" or "AYINTL"... it's more "artistic" in its presentation and when you're in the cockpit with them, it really feels like you're with them! Maybe it's because they do those very long shots where you're facing a pilot in the diamond and watching him keep his eyes on the Boss... but yet you're also watching the manueuver outside reflected in his visor.
I dunno... I just like the mystique in how it was filmed! And I think my favorite shot in the whole video is when they're lined up for takeoff... the camera is facing them dead on... and they do the run-up and you see all that smoke and dust billowing up behind them... and then when they go to burners, all that debris behind them gets blown around! You can just FEEL the power of those J-79's!
I agree with you about Harley Hall... it was a shame what happened to him in the war. He really looked the part of a fighter jock, though!
Wow... now I think I'm gonna have to watch it tonight! LOL!
Haha yea it's a great movie - like you say it just has that captivating/immersive feel.
That shot is also one of my favorites as well, "Burners on now".
I really like Harley's calls.
I get a kick out of Steve's dirty loop and the commentary.
"Steve's vertical!" Boss: "Alright he shouldn't have any problem then."
Steve: "That was very interesting boss I just got down to 40 knots on the top of that son of a bitch". Boss: "Are ya still alive?" -"Yea but I was scared."
Also at the end, the scene of Skip inverted over the desert and the narrator talking about how he graduated '76 in his HS class of 206 "that was in 1960, since then, he has learned to concentrate".
That shot is also one of my favorites as well, "Burners on now".
I really like Harley's calls.
I get a kick out of Steve's dirty loop and the commentary.
"Steve's vertical!" Boss: "Alright he shouldn't have any problem then."
Steve: "That was very interesting boss I just got down to 40 knots on the top of that son of a bitch". Boss: "Are ya still alive?" -"Yea but I was scared."
Also at the end, the scene of Skip inverted over the desert and the narrator talking about how he graduated '76 in his HS class of 206 "that was in 1960, since then, he has learned to concentrate".
Heheh... yeah that was priceless...Ray wrote:Haha yea it's a great movie - like you say it just has that captivating/immersive feel.
That shot is also one of my favorites as well, "Burners on now".
I really like Harley's calls.
I get a kick out of Steve's dirty loop and the commentary.
"Steve's vertical!" Boss: "Alright he shouldn't have any problem then."
Steve: "That was very interesting boss I just got down to 40 knots on the top of that son of a bitch". Boss: "Are ya still alive?" -"Yea but I was scared."
Also at the end, the scene of Skip inverted over the desert and the narrator talking about how he graduated '76 in his HS class of 206 "that was in 1960, since then, he has learned to concentrate".
I also liked the practice session when the newbie got a little too close and traded some paint in the diamond, and then they all gather around to look at the wing after they land!
Maybe it's just the intimidating size of the Phantom, but they just looked so much tighter in the diamond back then! Can you imagine what an F-4 would have been like with FBW? All that power with a computer behind it...
