The Shepherd

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It is Christmas Eve, 1957, and there are cozier places to be than the cockpit of a de Havilland Vampire fighter plane. But for Freddy, the Royal Air Force pilot who has just taken off from West Germany, this single-seat jet is the only way to make it back to England for Christmas morning. His flight plan is simple; the fuel tank is full. In sixty-six minutes, he will be back in Blighty. But then the plane begins to fail. First the compass goes haywire, then the radio dies. Lost and alone above the icy North Sea, the pilot is searching for a landing strip when the East Anglican fog closes in, signaling certain death. He has given up hope when a second shadow appears-a Mosquito fighter-bomber of World War II vintage. The plane is a "shepherd," guiding the Vampire to a safe landing, and its appearance is a gift from fate, a miracle out of time-but for one lonely pilot, the mystery has just begun. I've read the short story by Frederick Forsyth every Christmas for the last thirty years. This thirty-nine minute 'short' produced by John Travolta is a Winner. The Shepherd is a gripping, heartwarming tale for a cold winter's night. The reviewers finding this 'short' as boring have played too many video games and short-circuited a few synapses.

Good way to kill 40 minutes, it's a heartwarming story and is a good nod to the real Shepards, as acknowledged at the end. Few goofs spoilt it for me a little, but only because I served. We never salute when not wearing headgear, and Canadians salute the same as the Brit's in wwII. Beards were only allowed in the Royal Navy. Also there's a shot during the landing sequence that jumps to a USN F-14 Tomcat landing in smoke, which is not the correct country nor aircraft. Other than that, well worth a watch, great to see British aircraft in movies rather than the usual yeehaw American love fest. Recommend!

Sticking closely to the source, resisting any urge to 'flesh out' Frederick Forsyth's lovely little Christmas ghost story this film is all the better for it. I'm sure it was done this way because Travolta had his own near death experience thanks to a total electrical failure in 1992, so he felt no need to explain to the hard of learning. An RAF pilot, having already phoned his mother to say that he won't be able to get home in time, unexpectedly gets the chance to fly home from Germany to England on Christmas Eve in 1957, heading out into the night sky just before the station shuts down for the night. As he crosses the Dutch coast his compass, and then all of his electrical systems, fail and he has no idea where he is and is unable to raise anyone on his radio. He begins flying a triangular pattern in the hope of being detected, but gradually comes to accept that he is lost and will have to ditch in the North Sea with absolutely no guarantee of being found and with nobody expecting him. He composes a note to his girlfriend and prepares to meet his fate. And then below him he sees, scudding along the cloud tops, a WWII era RAF Mosquito... To clear up a couple of misconceptions: * The Vampire had only been retired from front line fighter service by 1957 - and you can see its successor in the role, a Hawker Hunter, in the background as the Vampire is pushing back. Vampires were still in use as trainers; * But anyway a Vampire is what Frederick Forsyth flew in the RAF (you did notice that the pilot was called Freddie, yes?); * It's a ghost story - the wrong call signs are a *clue* that something is abnormal - Freddie was using NATO standard; * The "bad CGI" is nothing of the kind - all of the flying visuals are references to Chris Foss's illustrations of the original novella, which are beautiful and somewhat impressionistic; * He couldn't just turn back, he was over the sea and had lost his compass. Night flying over the sea is incredibly dangerous if a pilot loses situational awareness. Also, he would risk flying into East German airspace and being shot down (Cold War, innit?). So he followed established emergency procedure and flew triangles...which is also how his fuel was used up; * Oh yes, and a backup magnetic compass is no use if you don't know your position. Blimey, some people don't deserve nice stuff.

Worst ever Disney production . Budget CGI , lighting totally wrong for night flight, terrible acting, plot so obvious from beginning. Is this for 4 year olds? Obviously piece for Travolta who fancies himself the hero. How many stars does one need in a night sky. Seen more convincing video games in the eighties. . I wanted to like this film. How can you go wrong with night flights and ww2 heroes? Apparently quite a lot. This has been made by children who don't get that 100% on the colour stick isn't better. Please add your comments as this is not the way for films to go. I love films, especially about that era, but this is a travesty done by airhead.

Sticking closely to the source, resisting any urge to 'flesh out' Frederick Forsyth's lovely little Christmas ghost story this film is all the better for it. I'm sure it was done this way because Travolta had his own near death experience thanks to a total electrical failure in 1992, so he felt no need to explain to the hard of learning. An RAF pilot, having already phoned his mother to say that he won't be able to get home in time, unexpectedly gets the chance to fly home from Germany to England on Christmas Eve in 1957, heading out into the night sky just before the station shuts down for the night. As he crosses the Dutch coast his compass, and then all of his electrical systems, fail and he has no idea where he is and is unable to raise anyone on his radio. He begins flying a triangular pattern in the hope of being detected, but gradually comes to accept that he is lost and will have to ditch in the North Sea with absolutely no guarantee of being found and with nobody expecting him. He composes a note to his girlfriend and prepares to meet his fate. And then below him he sees, scudding along the cloud tops, a WWII era RAF Mosquito... To clear up a couple of misconceptions: * The Vampire had only been retired from front line fighter service by 1957 - and you can see its successor in the role, a Hawker Hunter, in the background as the Vampire is pushing back. Vampires were still in use as trainers; * But anyway a Vampire is what Frederick Forsyth flew in the RAF (you did notice that the pilot was called Freddie, yes?); * It's a ghost story - the wrong call signs are a *clue* that something is abnormal - Freddie was using NATO standard; * The "bad CGI" is nothing of the kind - all of the flying visuals are references to Chris Foss's illustrations of the original novella, which are beautiful and somewhat impressionistic; * He couldn't just turn back, he was over the sea and had lost his compass. Night flying over the sea is incredibly dangerous if a pilot loses situational awareness. Also, he would risk flying into East German airspace and being shot down (Cold War, innit?). So he followed established emergency procedure and flew triangles...which is also how his fuel was used up; * Oh yes, and a backup magnetic compass is no use of you don't know your position. Blimey, some people don't deserve nice stuff.

Fredrick Forsyth is a fantastic writer, so perhaps the book is worth a read. Pros: Getting to see a de Havilland Comet. It mercifully ended after 40 minutes. Cons: Everything else: Much of the film was a closeup of the pilot in the cockpit. The casting was atrocious. Ben Radcliffe is wholly unbelievable as an RAF pilot. His character goes from happy-go-lucky to lost, defeated puppy dog in the blink of an eye. The acting was truly awful. I'm still trying to figure out which emotions Radcliffe was trying to convey. There was no tension whatsoever. The audio was horrid. The conversation between Radcliffe and his superior was inaudible. There we're so many aspects that were completely unbelievable: For example: The scheduled pilot injures his arm in a snowball fight? A snowball fight?!? Please avoid this film.