MovieChat Forums > The Blue Max (1966) Discussion > Did someone sabotage Stachel's machine g...

Did someone sabotage Stachel's machine guns?

posted 12 years ago by mike-848
8 replies | jump to latest

I never read the book so this question is for those who have. It would seem to me that sabotaging his plane would be a great way to get rid of him and he made lots of enemies.

[–] joscco 12 years ago

No, although Hauptmann Heidemann had the tail of the biplane assigned to newcomers rigged to be tail-heavy so that its pilots would feel a little bewildered and he could "read them" under pressure.

"I told you it was off." The Jackal

[–] mike-848 12 years ago

Thanks!

[–] stevekaczynski 9 years ago

The kind of tampering that might result in an accident for an inexperienced pilot. I doubt whether he interfered with Stachel's guns, though.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

[–] standrkm 12 years ago

yeah I was thinking that in the scene where he takes credit that he was going to accuse his commander of jamming his guns, but that didn't happen and in a way I wish it had because it would have made the film more interesing

"the day I tried to live, I learned that I was alive"

[–] joscco 12 years ago

Had the screenplay followed Jack D. Hunter's novel, we'd have seen Stachel deliberately fly his aircraft in front Von Klugermann forcing Willi to crash into the tower.

If you enjoyed the film at all, you ought to check out the book. It's a good read.

"I told you it was off." The Jackal

[–] Ghenghy 11 years ago

Thanks much, I'll check it out.

This is one of my favorite movies, I don't get the poor rating or the ridiculous list of "goofs." Seriously, who cares?

[–] jimbo97-1 9 years ago

No. That would make Heidemann a villain. Stachel is the only real bastard in the cast. As many times as I've watched this movie, I never considered his guns had been sabotaged. Jams happen, even today.

[–] stevekaczynski 9 years ago

I am not sure Stachel is the only ruthless operator. Heidemann rigging novices' planes could get them killed in aid of his little psychological experiment - a lot of them arrived at the squadrons barely knowing how to fly anyway and monkeying with the tailplane could result in a fatal crash.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."