The first winner for the Best Picture Oscar holds up really well today - it's hard to imagine them ever doing more exciting yet realistic World War One dog fight footage, since this had the benefit of plenty of war veterans on the crew and cast, 1927 OH & S and a big budget. It's very well directed by William Wellman full of tracking shots and interesting quirks, with a feeling of authenticity: the camaraderie amongst soldiers, the delights of leave, the drudgery of service, the randomness of death.
This was pre-Code and is surprisingly explicit - we see men shot and blood dribble from their mouth, Clara Bow shows some side boob and a bare back, backs are broken, two lesbians have a drink together at the Follies Berges, naked dudes get checked out for medical, tanks run over soldiers.
Richard Arlen and Buddy Rogers are perfectly serviceable as the lead duo, two guys in love with the same girl (the wet Jobyna Ralston, in a very small role, and very uninteresting) - Rogers seems like a nice guy and Arlen was a pilot meaning he could take part in the flying sequences (I remember his head of hair being swept back by wind all the time).
However we see the real meaning of charisma when both are a scene with Gary Cooper - it's just one scene, Cooper goes off to die in an accident straight away, but you can tell that Cooper's just plain got magnetism whereas the others don't (and I don't think I'm being wise in hindsight here because I couldn't stand Cooper... besides, the fate of each actor's careers back me up).
Also providing star quality is Clara Bow, who's very good, full of life and spirit as the girl in love with Rogers - she never had a rep as a great actor, dear Clara, but watch how she conveys every emotion with her face... at every moment you know exactly what she's thinking. And I totally believed her as the sort of girl who would enlist as an ambulance driver, even if she does seem a little old in her girl next door outfits (she seems younger in her sexy Parisian number), and it felt like a cop out she resigned before the end of the war (there was no real reason for this story wise, either).
Good, solid story with a great melodramatic finale - Rogers chasing after Arlen thinking he's a German. At times the two lead actors did get a little lost in the story underneath their goggles.
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