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Renamed per TRS. Also, indentation and other bits of cleaning up
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* BannedInChina: Not to the full extent, but the Soviet film officials had little love for the film, as they deemed the screenplay "unheroic". Only thrugh the support of WWII veterans, including the very influential ones, such as the famous [[TheAce Alexander Pokryshkin]] and UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev himself, the film had seen the screens.
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* TheDanza: Titarenko's [[GentleGiant mechanic Makarych]] is played by a veteran Soviet character actor and Bykov's close friend Creator/AlexeySmirnov, whose {{patronymic}} ''is'' Makarovich.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The film was shot in black and white. A colorized version was released in 2009.
** Actually, the film was originally shot in b/w because of the dearth of color film in the USSR and the ease of matching the old newsreel footage with the newly shot scenes, but Bykov liked it so much that decided against any change. The colorized variant, ordered by the studio, was actually challenged in courts by his daughter.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The film was shot in black and white. A colorized version was released in 2009.
** Actually, the film was originally shot in b/w because of the dearth of color film in the USSR and the ease of matching the old newsreel footage with the newly shot scenes, but Bykov liked it so much that decided against any change. The colorized variant, ordered by the studio, was actually challenged in courts by his daughter.
to:
** Actually, the film was originally shot in b/w because of the dearth of color film in the USSR and the ease of matching the old newsreel footage with the newly shot scenes, but Bykov liked it so much that decided against any change. The colorized variant, ordered by the studio, was actually challenged in courts by his daughter.
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* NewMeat: Darkie, Romeo, and Grasshopper, who arrive at the 2nd squadron as wet-behind-the-ears graduates from flight school (Grasshopper is actually too young to fly, as he lied about his age) and become veterans.
** Ironically, Bykov himself did the same in 1943, being 14 at the time (the lower bracket was 16), but was rejected anyway as too short (he wasn't very tall even as a grown man, and [[TeensAreShort he was even shorter as a teen]]).
** Ironically, Bykov himself did the same in 1943, being 14 at the time (the lower bracket was 16), but was rejected anyway as too short (he wasn't very tall even as a grown man, and [[TeensAreShort he was even shorter as a teen]]).
to:
* NewMeat: NewMeat:
** Darkie, Romeo, and Grasshopper, who arrive at the 2nd squadron as wet-behind-the-ears graduates from flight school (Grasshopper is actually too young to fly, as he lied about his age) and become veterans.
** Ironically, Bykov himself did the same in 1943, being 14 at the time (the lower bracket was 16), but was rejected anyway as too short (he wasn't very tall even as a grown man, and[[TeensAreShort [[ShortTeensTallAdults he was even shorter as a teen]]).
** Darkie, Romeo, and Grasshopper, who arrive at the 2nd squadron as wet-behind-the-ears graduates from flight school (Grasshopper is actually too young to fly, as he lied about his age) and become veterans.
** Ironically, Bykov himself did the same in 1943, being 14 at the time (the lower bracket was 16), but was rejected anyway as too short (he wasn't very tall even as a grown man, and
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* ShellShockedVeteran: Skvortzov is having to deal with this. On two consecutive missions, he freezes up while in the air and breaks off from combat with the Germans. After returing to base, he admits that he doesn't even remember turning away.
** Turns out he was traumatized by a near-collision with an enemy plane in the previous campaign that year.
** Turns out he was traumatized by a near-collision with an enemy plane in the previous campaign that year.
to:
* ShellShockedVeteran: Skvortzov is having to deal with this. On two consecutive missions, he freezes up while in the air and breaks off from combat with the Germans. After returing to base, he admits that he doesn't even remember turning away. \n** Turns out he was traumatized by a near-collision with an enemy plane in the previous campaign that year.
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* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Loosely inspired by RealLife fighter pilot Vitaly Popkov who had a "singing squadron" that played concerts when not in the air. And the lady bomber pilots are obviously inspired by the RealLife "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches Night Witches]]", an all-female Soviet bomber squadron.
** However the [[KilledByTheAdaptation prototypes of Romeo and Masha survived the war]] and were HappilyMarried afterwards.
** However the [[KilledByTheAdaptation prototypes of Romeo and Masha survived the war]] and were HappilyMarried afterwards.
to:
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Loosely inspired by RealLife fighter pilot Vitaly Popkov who had a "singing squadron" that played concerts when not in the air. And the lady bomber pilots are obviously inspired by the RealLife "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches Night Witches]]", an all-female Soviet bomber squadron.
** However the [[KilledByTheAdaptation prototypes of Romeo and Masha survived the war]] and were HappilyMarried afterwards.squadron.
** However the [[KilledByTheAdaptation prototypes of Romeo and Masha survived the war]] and were HappilyMarried afterwards.
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* BannedInChina: Not to the full extent, but the Soviet film officials had little love for the film, as they deemed the screenplay "unheroic". Only thrugh the support of WWII veterans, including the very influential ones, such as the famous [[TheAce Alexander Pokryshkin]] and UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev himself, the film had seen the screens.
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* JustPlaneWrong: Instead of the La-5 and La-7 fighters Popkov's "Singing Squadron" used in RealLife, Titarenko's men are flying Yak-18 sports planes, only loosely similar to the real ones. By the 70es there were almost none flying Lavochkins in the USSR, so the filmmakers were lucky to get what they've got, mainly through the support of the famous WWII ace Alexander Pokryshkin, who at the time was a commandant of DOSAAF, the Soviet sportng and military support organisation, and was able to procure a bunch of sports planes for them to use.
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** Turnt ut he was traumatized by a near-collision with an enemy plane in the previous campaign that year.
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** Turnt ut Turns out he was traumatized by a near-collision with an enemy plane in the previous campaign that year.
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Changed line(s) 16 (click to see context) from:
* BittersweetEnding: Many key characters are killed during one dogfight or another. Capt. Titarenko actually survives. Also, the film ends on a hopeful note, as the Germans have been nearly pushed out of Soviet territory. Skvortzov regains his youthful vigor... only to get shot down during the next battle. Romeo lands his damaged fighter but dying from injuries. As Titarenko is preparing to deliver the news to Romeo's LoveInterest Masha, he receives news that Masha's bomber was shot down as well.
to:
* BittersweetEnding: Many key characters are killed during one dogfight or another. Capt. Titarenko actually survives. Also, the film ends on a hopeful note, as the Germans have been nearly pushed out of Soviet territory. Skvortzov regains his youthful vigor... only to get shot down during the next battle. Romeo lands his damaged fighter but dying dies from his injuries. As Titarenko is preparing to deliver the news to Romeo's LoveInterest Masha, he receives news that Masha's bomber was shot down as well.
* TheDanza: Titarenko's [[GentleGiant mechanic Makarych]] is played by a veteran Soviet character actor and Bykov's close friend Creator/AlexeySmirnov, whose {{patronymic}} ''is'' Makarovich.
** Actually, the film was originally shot in b/w because of the dearth of color film in the USSR and the ease of matching the old newsreel footage with the newly shot scenes, but Bykov liked it so much that decided against any change. The colorized variant, ordered by the studio, was actually challenged in courts by his daughter.
** Ironically, Bykov himself did the same in 1943, being 14 at the time (the lower bracket was 16), but was rejected anyway as too short (he wasn't very tall even as a grown man, and [[TeensAreShort he was even shorter as a teen]]).
** Turnt ut he was traumatized by a near-collision with an enemy plane in the previous campaign that year.
Changed line(s) 28 (click to see context) from:
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Loosely inspired by RealLife fighter pilot Vitaly Popkov who had a "singing squadron" that played concerts when not in the air. And the lady bomber pilots are obviously inspired by the RealLife "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches Night Witches]]", an all-female Soviet bomber squadron.
to:
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Loosely inspired by RealLife fighter pilot Vitaly Popkov who had a "singing squadron" that played concerts when not in the air. And the lady bomber pilots are obviously inspired by the RealLife "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches Night Witches]]", an all-female Soviet bomber squadron.squadron.
** However the [[KilledByTheAdaptation prototypes of Romeo and Masha survived the war]] and were HappilyMarried afterwards.
** However the [[KilledByTheAdaptation prototypes of Romeo and Masha survived the war]] and were HappilyMarried afterwards.
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The phrase "old man" in Russian has the colloquial meaning of "experienced person", and in this case refers to the veteran pilots, who call themselves this to distinguish themselves from the newly arrived flight school graduates.
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The phrase (or rather word) "old man" in Russian has the colloquial meaning of "experienced person", and in this case refers to the veteran pilots, who call themselves this to distinguish themselves from the newly arrived flight school graduates.
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* OldSchoolDogfight: TheMovie, as this is the squadron's job.
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Badass is no longer a trope.
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* {{Badass}}: How badass is Capt. Titarenko? After getting shot down behind German lines, he steals a German fighter plane and flies back to base, briefly scaring the crap out of his comrades in the process. Later, he takes his stolen Messerschmitt on reconaissance missions over German lines.
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jvduvblana4ustkk93mr_w_article.jpg]]
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Compare ''Film/TheDawnPatrol'', a 1930 American film about British fighter pilots in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI that deals with many of the same themes.
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''Only Old Men Are Going to Battle'' is a 1973 film from the Soviet Union, shot in UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}.
It was directed by Leonid Bykov, who also stars as Captain "Maestro" Titarenko, the leader of a Red Army squadron of fighter planes [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII doing battle against the Germans]] in Ukraine in 1943. His motley crew includes Sergei Skvortzov, his second-in-command who is suffering from battle stress, and newbie arrivals to the squadron Vitya "Darkie" Shchedronov (named for a song he sings about a dusky Moldovan woman), "Romeo" Sagdullayev (pretty-boy handsome, charms the ladies), and "Grasshopper" Aleksandrov, a serious young man who lied about his age to get into flight school, but still likes to catch grasshoppers. Capt. Titarenko is a devoted fan of music, and his squadron moonlights as a band of musicians when they aren't fighting Germans.
The phrase "old man" in Russian has the colloquial meaning of "experienced person", and in this case refers to the veteran pilots, who call themselves this to distinguish themselves from the newly arrived flight school graduates.
-----
!!Tropes:
* AmazonBrigade: A bomber squadron that is piloted excusively by women, and is based near Titarenko's 2nd squadron. Romeo falls in love with Masha, a pretty bomber pilot.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Romeo is nervous enough that he has to gasp out "I love you, Masha" in his native language of Uzbek before telling her again in Russian.
* {{Badass}}: How badass is Capt. Titarenko? After getting shot down behind German lines, he steals a German fighter plane and flies back to base, briefly scaring the crap out of his comrades in the process. Later, he takes his stolen Messerschmitt on reconaissance missions over German lines.
* BittersweetEnding: Many key characters are killed during one dogfight or another. Capt. Titarenko actually survives. Also, the film ends on a hopeful note, as the Germans have been nearly pushed out of Soviet territory. Skvortzov regains his youthful vigor... only to get shot down during the next battle. Romeo lands his damaged fighter but dying from injuries. As Titarenko is preparing to deliver the news to Romeo's LoveInterest Masha, he receives news that Masha's bomber was shot down as well.
* BookEnds: At the beginning, Titarenko and Skvortzov greet the new recruits. When the alarm is raised they tell the newbies to wait, saying "Only old men are going to battle" and "Don't worry boys, you'll get our share of fighting." Towards the end of the movie, Titarenko and the now-veteran Grasshopper and Romeo greet more newbie recruits, and they tell the newbies to wait again when the Germans arrive.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The film was shot in black and white. A colorized version was released in 2009.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Grasshopper is trying to give a RousingSpeech, but he keeps getting distracted by the lady bomber pilots, who are changing out of their flight uniforms behind a translucent curtain.
* MatchCut: From an angry swipe of Titarenko's arm as the squad mourns a fallen comrade, to a Soviet plane swooping down on Germans.
* MoodWhiplash: The opening credits play over a series of stills of Capt. Titarenko's band, as cheerful Russian folk music plays over the soundtrack. Then the film cuts to live action, showing the squadron in aerial combat against the Luftwaffe.
* NewMeat: Darkie, Romeo, and Grasshopper, who arrive at the 2nd squadron as wet-behind-the-ears graduates from flight school (Grasshopper is actually too young to fly, as he lied about his age) and become veterans.
* NoseArt: Capt. Titarenko's plane is decorated by a drawing of a bar of sheet music.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Skvortzov is having to deal with this. On two consecutive missions, he freezes up while in the air and breaks off from combat with the Germans. After returing to base, he admits that he doesn't even remember turning away.
* StaggeredZoom: While the squadron is playing music and relaxing in the mess hall, there's a cut to a fighter plane being serviced, then a staggered zoom away from the plane, emphasizing the deadly danger that awaits them even as they're relaxing.
* StockFootage: The film is liberally dosed with stock footage of both aerial and ground combat on the Eastern Front.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Loosely inspired by RealLife fighter pilot Vitaly Popkov who had a "singing squadron" that played concerts when not in the air. And the lady bomber pilots are obviously inspired by the RealLife "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches Night Witches]]", an all-female Soviet bomber squadron.
It was directed by Leonid Bykov, who also stars as Captain "Maestro" Titarenko, the leader of a Red Army squadron of fighter planes [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII doing battle against the Germans]] in Ukraine in 1943. His motley crew includes Sergei Skvortzov, his second-in-command who is suffering from battle stress, and newbie arrivals to the squadron Vitya "Darkie" Shchedronov (named for a song he sings about a dusky Moldovan woman), "Romeo" Sagdullayev (pretty-boy handsome, charms the ladies), and "Grasshopper" Aleksandrov, a serious young man who lied about his age to get into flight school, but still likes to catch grasshoppers. Capt. Titarenko is a devoted fan of music, and his squadron moonlights as a band of musicians when they aren't fighting Germans.
The phrase "old man" in Russian has the colloquial meaning of "experienced person", and in this case refers to the veteran pilots, who call themselves this to distinguish themselves from the newly arrived flight school graduates.
-----
!!Tropes:
* AmazonBrigade: A bomber squadron that is piloted excusively by women, and is based near Titarenko's 2nd squadron. Romeo falls in love with Masha, a pretty bomber pilot.
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Romeo is nervous enough that he has to gasp out "I love you, Masha" in his native language of Uzbek before telling her again in Russian.
* {{Badass}}: How badass is Capt. Titarenko? After getting shot down behind German lines, he steals a German fighter plane and flies back to base, briefly scaring the crap out of his comrades in the process. Later, he takes his stolen Messerschmitt on reconaissance missions over German lines.
* BittersweetEnding: Many key characters are killed during one dogfight or another. Capt. Titarenko actually survives. Also, the film ends on a hopeful note, as the Germans have been nearly pushed out of Soviet territory. Skvortzov regains his youthful vigor... only to get shot down during the next battle. Romeo lands his damaged fighter but dying from injuries. As Titarenko is preparing to deliver the news to Romeo's LoveInterest Masha, he receives news that Masha's bomber was shot down as well.
* BookEnds: At the beginning, Titarenko and Skvortzov greet the new recruits. When the alarm is raised they tell the newbies to wait, saying "Only old men are going to battle" and "Don't worry boys, you'll get our share of fighting." Towards the end of the movie, Titarenko and the now-veteran Grasshopper and Romeo greet more newbie recruits, and they tell the newbies to wait again when the Germans arrive.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The film was shot in black and white. A colorized version was released in 2009.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Grasshopper is trying to give a RousingSpeech, but he keeps getting distracted by the lady bomber pilots, who are changing out of their flight uniforms behind a translucent curtain.
* MatchCut: From an angry swipe of Titarenko's arm as the squad mourns a fallen comrade, to a Soviet plane swooping down on Germans.
* MoodWhiplash: The opening credits play over a series of stills of Capt. Titarenko's band, as cheerful Russian folk music plays over the soundtrack. Then the film cuts to live action, showing the squadron in aerial combat against the Luftwaffe.
* NewMeat: Darkie, Romeo, and Grasshopper, who arrive at the 2nd squadron as wet-behind-the-ears graduates from flight school (Grasshopper is actually too young to fly, as he lied about his age) and become veterans.
* NoseArt: Capt. Titarenko's plane is decorated by a drawing of a bar of sheet music.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Skvortzov is having to deal with this. On two consecutive missions, he freezes up while in the air and breaks off from combat with the Germans. After returing to base, he admits that he doesn't even remember turning away.
* StaggeredZoom: While the squadron is playing music and relaxing in the mess hall, there's a cut to a fighter plane being serviced, then a staggered zoom away from the plane, emphasizing the deadly danger that awaits them even as they're relaxing.
* StockFootage: The film is liberally dosed with stock footage of both aerial and ground combat on the Eastern Front.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Loosely inspired by RealLife fighter pilot Vitaly Popkov who had a "singing squadron" that played concerts when not in the air. And the lady bomber pilots are obviously inspired by the RealLife "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches Night Witches]]", an all-female Soviet bomber squadron.
