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Wings (1927)

tomatometer

97

Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 29
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 1

Subsequent war epics may have borrowed heavily from the original Best Picture winner, but they've all lacked Clara Bow's luminous screen presence and William Wellman's deft direction.

80

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

Subsequent war epics may have borrowed heavily from the original Best Picture winner, but they've all lacked Clara Bow's luminous screen presence and William Wellman's deft direction.

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 2,671

My Rating

Movie Info

Wings, the first feature film to win an Academy Award, tends to disappoint a little when seen today. Too much time is afforded the wheezy old plotline about two World War I aviators (Buddy Rogers, Richard Arlen) in love with the same woman (Jobyna Ralston), while the comedy relief of El Brendel is decidedly not to everyone's taste. But during the aerial "dogfight" sequences, the film is something else again: a grand-scale spectacular, the likes of which has never been duplicated, not even by

Unrated, 2 hr. 19 min.

Classics, Action & Adventure

Jan 24, 2012

Unknown

Cast

All Critics (29) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (31) | Rotten (1) | DVD (6)

The audience gulped down the plot as conventional but reliable stuff, watched with waning interest while spinning, swerving, dodging planes grew into confused monotony against a background of unpicturesque ether.

February 17, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There not being so much of Clara Bow in the picture, or a straining for her to turn on that 'it' personality, she gives an all around corking performance.

February 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It won the first Academy Award for best picture back in 1927, establishing a tradition of silliness that hasn't been broken to this day, but there is some thrilling flying footage and impressively expensive spectacle.

December 12, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This feature gives one an unforgettable idea of the existence of these daring fighters.

May 12, 2001 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Admittedly, this movie has not aged as well as many of its contemporaries, but it's not hard to understand why it was accorded the Oscar (a term that, by the way, had not yet been coined).

August 12, 1927 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The main reason to see 'Wings' is some of the most jaw dropping areal footage ever shot. Keep in mind, these folks didn't have CGIs.

February 3, 2012 Full Review Source: KC Active | Comment

A good hand, played well. Given the likelihood of The Artist's forthcoming Oscar ascendancy, Paramount knew what they had, what to do with it, and when to do it.

January 25, 2012 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

It's exactly the kind of movie the Academy still loves today.

January 23, 2012 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com

its unadorned sense of realism sets Wings apart from so many special-effects-laden action movies today that exchange pixels for stuntmen and computer logarithms for physical reality

January 23, 2012 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | Comment
Q Network Film Desk

...viewed for its action, dogfights, and combat sequences alone, 'Wings' is a remarkable achievement. (Blu-ray edition)

January 16, 2012 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

...as big as they came in 1927, with a host of extras in the battle scenes and aerial footage that is often stunning.

January 16, 2012 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

The first Oscar winner for Best Picture was also the only silent film to win the Oscar.

February 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment (1)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Clara Bow is mesmerising in this ahead-of-its-time air force drama.

February 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

Rather predictable but still quite watchable.

December 12, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Above par effects (for the time) matched with decent performances make for a modestly entertaining picture.

October 5, 2006 Comment
Oscar Guy

Long touted as a classic by cinema historians, and justifying almost every adjectival extravagance.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Wings, the first Oscar winner, enjoyed the administration's support on the condition that it projects a positive image of the Air Force, thus emphasizing camaraderie and heroism.

August 27, 2005 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

The classic war epic-meets-buddy-movie from which most others since have been derived.

February 13, 2005 Comment
New Times

Nice. Not thrilling, but nice.

April 25, 2004 Comment
New Times
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Wings

For my first silent film ever, Wings more than met my standards, it blew me away. Winner of the very first Best Picture Academy Award, this film is one that every movie buff should see. It really is one of the gems of the silent-film era. I went into this this having never experienced a silent movie before and I

February 12, 2011
jamers2011
Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

I can't believe I forgot to rate this movie! I saw it a long time ago on TV, and I just loved it. I want to see it again, though, since I don't remember much of it.

June 13, 2011
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Wings (1927) (DE)
  • Wings (1927) (UK)
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