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Watch This: Test Footage from Dog Fighting Movie War Birds

by Alex Billington
December 8, 2009
Source: Official Website

I'm surprised this isn't directed by Michael Bay! I just stumbled across a 2-minute video of test footage for the movie War Birds. We just wrote about War Birds yesterday, as they've received the go ahead from TMU Pictures to head into production. It's about the underground culture of illegal, real-life aerial combat using "old school" dogfighting planes. I was expecting it to look cool, but this video (found on the official website) is hands down awesome - it gets pretty badass at about 40 seconds. I can't wait to see this turned in to a feature-length film. Watch this footage with the volume up and I guarantee you'll have a frickin' blast!

Watch this test footage for Michael Chait's War Birds:

The story follows an Air Force veteran-turned-reckless airshow re-enactment pilot who gets pulled into the world of illegal aerial combat. Shooting is scheduled for next summer in Michigan using real airplanes and aerial sequences. War Birds will be directed by first-time filmmaker Michael Chait. The script was originally written by Josh Staman and Bryan Binder, but writers J. Todd Harris (Bottle Shock) and Richard Jefferies (Tron Legacy) will be polishing the final draft. Oscar winning Titanic cinematographer Russell Carpenter (of 21 and The Ugly Truth recently) will serve as a visual consultant as well. Expect this in theaters by 2011.

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Six Three

That was amazing!! I can't wait to see this movie. It's going to ROCK!
Six Three

Plus, I'm glad that plane with the goofey yellow wings got its ass blown up!
samuel j

YES!
FRank

I'm confused......so these guys battle it out in vintage air planes and then shoot the crap out of guys playing army on the ground? Hummm..........I think I'll play guns in the air plane. I recognize this is a test video but I've seen better action sequences from the history channel.
The movie guy

This looks terrible! What is with the cheesy slow motion and the song is fucking awful! Wow how could they manage to fuck up such a great concept??? These guys have really bad taste Booooooooo
http://www.myspace.com/telltaletwins Telltale Twin

Really? That footage made no sense....it's like that South Park episode when the civil war reenactment goes too far...
blester01

Wow, that was horrible. 100% cheese. I bet Lucas's WW2 movie is better than this.
http://www.examiner.com/x-22337-Ft-Lauderdale-Movie-Examiner Reub

Terrible
boh

One of the worst trailer I've ever seen, and I think that it represent well the movie...
Eric B

Well that wasn't confusing or anything... underground dog fighting during an underground war reenactment. What?!?!?!?!?!?!
John H.

Haha, who picks the music for these kind of things. I mean, seriously. I know it's a test, but it looks horrible.
Dan W

Corny song kind of ruined it for me
...(le sigh)

What the hell did I just watch? who do i call to get those 2 min back...
Brad

I don't get why there would be jets fighting W.W.II planes. It doesn't seem like a fair fight to me. I think they should just stick to the old propeller driven planes and forget about the jets. I'm still a bit confused about this whole concept. So it's like W.W.II reenactment with real bullets?
Robbie

Aweful music. Trailer looks cool, but it tries too hard.
Shelby

Is it just me or does this trailer remind you of the opening scene of tropic thunder?
FancyMonocle

Retarded choice of soundtrack. Whose decision was that?
Meadow Soprano

I think this is actually the director, Michael B. Chait. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1024094/
http://www.firstshowing.net Ethan Anderton

People, people, That's why it's TEST FOOTAGE. Not a trailer, not a clip, and none of this will ever be in the actual film itself.This is where they test out special effiects, seeing how the cameras pick up the plane movement, trying lots of different things (even unnecessary slow motion) to see how easy/difficult it is to shoot what they want, and how it will look on screen. Of course there's no story, and of course it doesn't make sense, and who the hell cares about the music in the video? Get over yourselves, all of you.
Sharkman

Very simple, yet stupid concept: Reinactment tards all shooting blanks at each other in the air and on the ground (and apparently nobody took the time to paint one of the prop planes with German insignia, leading to the ridiculous visual of an American P-51 Mustang fighter shooting down an American T-6 Texan trainer), then BOOM! Out of nowhere comes a black Hawker Typhoon, and KILLS the P-51 Mustang, FOR REAL, deader than dog-shit. To everyone's shock and let's be honest based on that trailer, joy. What a piece of shit.
Roundhouse

That looks so lame. Watch 'Der rote Baron (2008)' instead, good film with amazing bi-plane dogfights!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJghJNAjc1k
Hedgehog

Nobody gets it Ethan.. They just wanna yell and whine about the "trailer". Promising footage if you would look at it as a camera test point of view. Great movement, always felt like they were fighting. I didn't see any static footage at all. This test is a good look at what kind of speed we will see. Hopefully they muck it up some with grittyness in the real thing. Give it some style. Forget the music. They prolly let one of their 16yr olds pick it out.
Spider

I liked it! I get the concept. I understand that in these days of "Modern Warfare", many people believe in kinetic, hardcore, military action...not theatrics. But, this works. The rock song is by Linkin Park from the "Transformers 2" soundtrack! Not my song of choice, but like Alex indicated, it's not a trailer by any means. WE must UNDERSTAND that this is TEST FOOTAGE. Nothing has been fully rendered to specifics nor appropriately edited to resemble a coherent plot. This is just an amalgam of military scenarios that could make the final cut...EVENTUALLY. I thought it's a good concept and with some tweaking it could ROCK!!!
http://storyfanatic.com Jim

LOL - I'm the only one who thinks the idea of illegal aerial combat is awesome (and I like Linkin Park as well so sue me).
dom

Why are there ww2 soldiers fighting with more modern planes? This is confusing!
craig

was waitin for the planes to transform! haha
shadow

ITS TEST FOOTAGE YOU FUCKING MORONS. STOP TREATING IT LIKE A TRAILER.
Ariel

Let them go guys. There is no talking to them. They're stuck in "Bitch Mode". Great test footage. Can't wait for the real thing.
Cineprog

i agree with 6# this footage makes no sense to me the music from Transformers Revenge of the Fallen it looks like Renactment footage, means nothing to me.
Jack n Jill

That was hella lame!! Stupid Germans, go back and live in your igloos
Mister Durp

To #16... you watched Tropic Thunder?!?! Hahahahahaha!!! Durrrrrrp!!
Mister Durp

Hahaha!!! Durrrrp!!
RoadHouse

Expect the unexpected. Be polite. Pain don't hurt. #16 watched Tropic Thunder?!? Hahahaha... Durrrrp!!!
Josue

To Hedgehog I disagree. (sorry to be so plain) The footage, I think, wasn't "fast" enough. It didn't look as if the planes were really fighting. I think their best shot to get good test footage would be to get two pro stunt pilots, and retro fit the planes with paintballs, instead of transposing the shots in post. you just can't recreate that tension with "imagine you are being shot"
Elroy

Oh boy, War Porn.
Hedgehog

@ Josue That would be so much fun to see them firing paint balls at each other. "I GOT YOU YOUR DEAD!!" "Nu uh! You missed!" "CHEATER! I hit you right there! YOUR DEAD!" "Nope, I dont see anything." Now that I watch it again, I can see where it could be quicker. They didn't do much to get close shots of fly bys and the such. I still enjoy the footage. But it needs some shaky cam or some Bourne Identity shots to get that feel of constant movement. Like I said, needs some grittyness to the action.
Peter

Why was there a fucking Jet in this? Am I missing something? And also, stop using goddamn rock music in WWII. IT IS NOT COOL.
PinkSushi

looks terrible . lmao ..........
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2408/blackbabyjesus.gif Crapola

I was pounding on the old joystick til my legs went for a walk after watching this. Wow, apart from my eyes bleeding brain matter, I loved this, if Lucas could put in some cgi gophers it would make it perfecto, then some hamsters coming in on parachutes playing the banjo and listening to 'Born to Be Wild', it'd be heaven. I thought the model plane explosions were quite funny. But I don't even know what the rest was about.
Scotty97

Hey Sharkman, #20: same thing I said to someone yesterday, if you're going to be a dick, try to at least know your stuff. That black plane was in no way a Hawker Typhoon. What it was, I don't know. A Hawker Typhoon is a British RAF fighter from the 40's. Prop driven. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Typhoon Learn your shit before you start trying to call people out. And again like so many have said: READ the article-it's TEST FOOTAGE. It doesn't concern the plot or actors, or even necessarily the planes or vehicles that will be in the final film. This is how the cinematographers put together their notes for lighting, special effects, explosions, etc... This clip is just supposed to be a neat little clip of warbirds flying around for the film and plane nerds to enjoy;an insight into the movie-making process. If you don't like it, go watch another trailer for Avatar and shut up.
klaus_komix

@34 Clearly, you are missing something. Read the description before watching morons. If someone gave me money to test footage of Airplanes why wouldn't I blow up people while I was at it. And why wouldn't I have a jet come in at the end and blow up the old airplane. There just testing stuff people and why does everybody care about the music THIS IS NOT A TRAILER PEOPLE!!!
Pff

As test footage this is pretty great, but what the heck is going on in it?
Scotty97

Hey 43, stop trying to be so ironic/hispanic rock star. Just tell us YOUR opinion, and then piss off. Take your own advice. 'Tard.
Will Dearborn

I kept waiting for it to get "badass."
Dgeet

what they need to do is add more Grain to the film so it makes it look more intense and stop with the close ups and they need to have more quicker cuts and change the song and title
Vic

This looks TERRIBLE. Er, USAF jets fighting Navy jets? WTF... Normally war reenactment freaks are patriotic... Also, is it set in modern day or back in WWII? Either way it makes absolutely no sense. What a waste of money. They could have made a cool WWII dogfight movie using the same stuff they used for this crap.
Said

Seems like this guy is trying to be like Micheal Bay too much... with all the explosions Micheal Bay does it Perfectly!
Scotty97

46, I'm going to disregard the 'jets' comment for being too obvious. However, please point out where you see USAF 'planes' fighting Navy 'planes'. The planes shown are 2-3 different USAF P-51 Mustangs, A USAF T-6 Texan trainer, A British RAF Spitfire and an unknown jet, possibly Asian.
Chris H

That was pretty confusing. If it was all about pilots using vintage planes that's fine but the soldiers on the ground made no sense in that context, and neither was shooting at them. If this is a contemporary story the guys on the ground don't belong. If this is a period story during WWII, the pilots need to lose the modern pilot helmets and get the leather hoods on. Thank goodness that was just test footage.
Xerxex

Why linkin park? there are so many better songs that would hve fit perfectly, they should have used Explosions in the Sky. The film story reminds me of the Great Waldo Pepper.
pipo

It has to be a joke...
zedzero

That was the single worst trailer I've ever seen. Bar none. Awful.
Dgeet

number 50 explosions of the sky wouldve made this seem a bit better but i think the director wanted to make it a complete piece of shit
Jake P

You sir are an idiot. Bad shit is bad.
hey buddy

Hey Scotty97, #43, do you realize you just bitched yourself out and called yourself a 'Tard, you 'Tard!!??
D

It would be nice to see a movie done with live action air fights and not all done with CGI, so sick of every director relying on CGI for everything
"David Webb"

What is this, The Fast and the Furious with planes? The Top Gun-era model plane explosions topped off a completely lame video (and worse choice of music). A Billington Fail.
Scotty97

Hey #55, that's because the real 'Tard's comment was erased by the admin, and mine moved up one. Try thinking before speaking.
germs

Some of you are missing the point of this footage, but whatever. As long as they have a cool story, I'm down to check it out.
Mike

This looks really good, although it has Michael Bay/John Woo written all over it. It looks like two different films, the Dogfights in the air, which make no sense on how that fits in with the rest of the film. I loved the slow-mo bullet time war sequence in the ground battle footage, there hasn't been a decent WWII movie in a while. Looking forward to this
Marty Martin

Uh, this looks like a bunch of random crap.
DoomCanoe

AUTO BOTS ROLL OUT!
CHACKSTER

Love the fact some morons on here are flaming the content of the thing without actually paying any attention to the fact its test footage. Liked it, if the story is tight and they get this right who knows.
Will

Nice footage, shit trailer.
Ezza

Very amateurish to say the least. It looks like video from an air-show.
Tom Dearsley

Best part of the trailer was undoubtedly the Wilhelm scream
coyo

lame
Steve Kidd

Here's the direct link to the Quicktime version of the test footage! Enjoy! http://www.kyleheller.com/warbirdstest.mov
ultramanj

The song takes away from the footage and makes it look like a slow boring video. The concept alone sounds lame and then set to this silly test footage... who cares.
Sharkman

Hey, Scotty97 #40: I know it's test footage, jerkoff (or should I call you "Self-Appointed Adjudicator of Other People's Comments"?). Who gives a damn? They put more effort into the test footage than most directors put into the final cuts of the movie. It's still a lame concept, IN MY OPINION, even if it was a final cut. Isn't it more likely that someone you're showing the test footage to (like a potential financier, who is also someone who might be interested in seeing test footage, in addition to the lighting and sound guys), might actually be able to tell what's going on in a rational story, rather than having to ignore all the stupid shit just to look at the flashy colors and hear the cool booms? And you're right, the jet wasn't a Hawker Typhoon. So what? YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT PLANE THE JET WAS, EITHER, YOU FUCKING DOUCHEBAG, so maybe YOU should know your stuff before you "call someone out." Since I didn't call anyone out, but was just rendering an OPINION, perhaps it's okay if I do that and not worry about some jackass policing my comment. Now go get me a juice box, bitch.
Josveta

Some people are such BITCHES JESUS This is test footage, probably done way before any story was locked down. It's obviously made to show people that are unaware of the story idea (old planes vs new planes i guess?) what the film will be about. The twist comes in at the end when the JET appears, hence making people say "wait that was a fighter jet...wtf?" If this gets people talking and thinking about the possibilities of having it set in present day and all that, then it worked! When this is made into a feature I wonder if all you BITCHES will still be saying it's shit when the first trailer hits.
Frank

Pretty sure I will be. Lets wait for it though so the anticipation builds.
kenji

no idea wtf is going on here but it looks like it's trying too hard. and that soundtrack really killed it for me. garbage. at least the ending was funny where the 'winner' got a missile up its ass! technology wins again. and then the 50 explosions going off
Derek

Wow, it's a good thing they don't post more test footage or you ppl would be ripping on EVRYTHING... Jesus Christ ppl it's not a trailer, and that song will prob not have anything to do with the movie... i thought it seemed like an interesting concept, and visually appealing. don't really know why they would ever need ppl on the ground, but i guess a real trailer might explain in the future.
http://www.elte.com/ Lighting Toronto

Well I think its safe to say we can rule out any chance of this being based on a true story.. =P Well the ground based combat at least. I mean come on, being being shot at with live ammo for fun? The aerial combat might have enough glamor to it to attract crazy people. But they would have to be crazy, and rich.
Aero Pirate

Looks like Iron Eagle revisited. What a waste.
Flying V

Hey all, I found a Facebook fan page for warbirds: http://www.facebook.com/pages/War-Birds/261593624957?ref=mf Appears that we were all stooped onto what this may be about. Gives a little more insight to the story! Can't wait for more, I'am definitely following them now... I have a feeling it's going to be tight!
Proshot19

whats the name of the song and that looks awesome cant wait