Aces High (Blu-ray)

The fighter pilots of the First World War were glamorized as dashing, devil-may-care aces, but Gresham (Malcom McDowell, A Clockwork Orange), commanding officer of the squadron, lives with the reality and knows that it is very different. Young, brave and a true patriot, but exhausted and old before his time, he meets each batch of eager recruits with quiet despair, knowing their families are unlikely to see them again. When the latest arrival turns out to be young Croft (Peter Firth, Equus), fresh from his old school, the strain threatens to become intolerable. Based on the acclaimed play Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff, Aces High tells a moving story of comradeship and courage, loneliness and fear, directed by Jack Gold (The Tenth Man) and produced by Benjamin Fisz (Battle of Britain), and containing some of the most magnificent aerial battles ever staged. The stacked cast also features Christopher Plummer, Simon Ward, David Wood, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Richard Johnson and Ray Milland.