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Sangi

"The Gypsy Moths"

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Outstanding skydiving scenes, (especially for the era), inexplicably interspersed with a monotonous soap opera.

While watching it, anytime the story leaves the airport, hit the fast-forward until it gets back to the airport.
"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

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Another one of those movies that set skydiving back ten years, at least WRT the public's perception of us.



I sorta disagree......

for it's time, (late 60s ) i think it excited people and reflected the thoughts of THAT era,, that skydivers WERE barnstormers and borderline weirdos.....;)
Which they WERE!!!!!
hahaha.....But it WAS exciting...
However, for technical effort and skydiving photography and for "introducing the world" to the sport.. i give it a B +...
I got a kick outta seeing Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr... re-enact the love scene in the surf,,,
Much the same as they did in From Here to Eternity....
NOW if you have to ask... What the hell is From Here to Eternity.... then you'd likely be a youngster....
If The Gypsy Moths were produced or marketed today , or even 25 years ago,, then i would agree.....it's about as Hoakey as it gets...!!:)still,,, a ' must see' for most skydivers....
only one should watch it with a certain expectation that it will be dated.....
4 pin containers. chest mounted reserves, Bell Motorcycle helmets, Para Commanders and cheapo Mains,,, Para Boots...Radial Engine Aircraft...etc etc..

jmy

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only one should watch it with a certain expectation that it will be dated.....
4 pin containers. chest mounted reserves, Bell Motorcycle helmets, Para Commanders and cheapo Mains,,, Para Boots...Radial Engine Aircraft...etc etc..



I'm surprised they even knew how to track :D
"Dream as you'll live forever, live as you'll die today." James Dean

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Theres more stuff on that movie on Skydivingmovies.com including a making of movie which is hilarious; wingsuit w/ metal rods, one bad landing and yur a shikobobee. Thank god for those french guys inventing the ram air canopy.



French? Domina Jalbert was born in Canada and moved to the USA as a teenager.
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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Certainly from French descent, the Jalbert family name is in the records as one of the first families coming to French Canada...
As a young boy, Domina Jalbert moved to USA with his family, however, he came back to Québec for his studies. ( grade 6 ) . Later, the family returned to America, looking for work ; half a million French Canadians did the same. The family was poor, his mother made him kites, toys were too expensive !

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Yes, there were crazies back then, even more than now, but they weren't the norm. Most skydivers then, as now, were regular folks who wanted a little more excitement in their lives. If most jumpers had been like those in Gypsy Moths, the sport would never have survived the sixties.

Now on the technical side, yeah, it was definitely well done for the time, so kudos to the camera jumpers and all. I just hate the overall premise, that we're all suicidal lunatics. It's like the Apocalypse Now premise that there was something so evil about the U.S. involvement in Vietnam that every American who went there came back insane or dead.

One of these days I'd like to see a movie that portrays skydiving fairly. I had hoped that Breakaway would do that; after all it was written and directed by a skydiver, but no: just more Hollywood crap. It's a hell of a thing when the most accurate media portrayal of skydiving comes from a Weather Channel segment on how the weather affects certain sports!

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." - Carl Sagan

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You can get it on DVD from eBay

Its a classic. Plus you get to see Deborah Kerr's boobs.
:)


Hi doc,
The Sherri North (Strip club dancer that Hackman picks up) boobs are the real thing but I've heard that the Deborah Kerr boobs are a stand in or should I say "lay in??"
SCR-2034, SCS-680

III%,
Deli-out

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