John Wayne has made some turkeys in his long and illustrious career, but this one tops them all. As for the air footage, it's great stuff. Especially for those who love the history of the American jet fighters.

But, if you love good acting and demand the movie has a plot, you can skip this one.

Janet Leigh does an excellent job of displaying her curvaceous wares, a la Howard Hughes. (His signature is all over this one)!

Great flying scenes do make this movie an aviation classic. But....That's as far as it goes. Duke, ya gotta be kidding-what the heck were you thinking! The acting and plot is way too predictable. It was really hard to enjoy tihs movie-definitley not one of the Dukes best acting jobs. Again, the flying scenes are great, and probably worth the price, but skip the rest of the movie.

Tight sweaters and provacative scenes are what this movie is about. Poor acting and a stupid script are there just to fill time. However, the flying footage is great. If you aren't into vintage aircraft, don't waste your time or money.

Ok, it pretty hokey & is one of John Wayne lesser efforts. But the aerial shots are superior. Janet Leigh is a luscious Ruskie spy. John Wayne is a leering Air Force pilot. She gets naked for him, but you'll have to use your imagination.
Dumb plot. Apparently the word "sex" hadn't been invented in 1950. It's Howard Hughes week & this is his movie. Great pilot & once again the shots of the F-86's in the air are excellent. A great movie maker? Not.

As noted by others, the wonderful aerial scenes, including a sequence with actual flying footage of the Bell X-1, plus all the shots of Korean War-vintage aircraft, make this movie more than worthwhile for aviation buffs (especially knowing that Chuck Yeager participated in the flying). Most of this is original footage shot for 'Jet Pilot' -- with the cooperation of the USAF; no grainy stock shots, minimal fake process shots. If one can overcome the ludicrous story and dramatics, its jaw-dropping badness can become entertaining (consider the 'atomic-powered' fighter jets which can fly all over the northern hemisphere without refueling!).

Of interest to military buffs in this 1950 movie (having a delayed 1957 theatrical release) is the mix of brown and blue uniforms for Air Force personnel, the brown uniforms being a hold-over from AAF days. As an independent service the Air Force probably was less than three years old when 'Jet Pilot' was filmed.

For cinema/home theatre buffs, note that because 'Jet Pilot' was made in 1950, it was NOT filmed NOR framed for widescreen, so for its 1957 release it would have been illegitimately cropped at the top and bottom to achieve a widescreen effect during theatrical projection. The DVD letterbox bands simulate this effect, but the authentic video framing should be 1.33:1, which corresponds to the full 1.37:1 Academy frame used in production.

Paul Frees has an amazingly energetic bit part.

Five stars for aerial sequences, four stars for historical interest, zero stars for cinema/dramatics, three stars for entertainment value.