Rating: PG
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 06/16/1998
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: 1/5.1
Run Time: 108 min
Distributor/Studio: Universal Studios
Robert Redford plays
Waldo Pepper, a former World War I pilot who exaggerates his accomplishments in order to impress the rabble. After a brief rivalry with air-show entrepreneur
Axel Olsson (
Bo Svenson),
Pepper teams with
Axel to barnstorm all over the Midwest; later, after a series of unexpected (and calamitous) events,
Pepper gets a job as a movie stunt pilot. On the set, he meets the film's technical advisor: former German ace
Ernst Kessler (
Bo Brundin), a man whom
Pepper has been claiming falsely to have fought during the war, thereby advancing his own reputation. He is as disillusioned with civilian life as
Pepper is, and ignoring the entreaties of the film's director, stages a genuine dogfight (sans live ammo) with his old "opponent."
The Great Waldo Pepper represented the third filmic collaboration between star
Robert Redford and director
George Roy Hill.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide