The Arrow (1997) User Reviews

A real feel good Canadian movie.

[Cassius-4 · 8/10 · 2 October 1998]

The Arrow is a very dramatized version of the happenings around the Avro project.

The Arrow is a real feel good movie for us Canadians. Though Dan Aykroyd has had better days, it's important that he was included in the Canadian cast, bringing a familiar face to a long forgotten subject.

Just recently an original Avro Arrow model airplane was found in Lake Ontario.

Engrossing film

[djvogt · 7/10 · 2 January 2006]

I don't know any of the actual history, so can't comment on that but I was completely hooked after the first few minutes of this movie. This is one of the few movies I've seen that made me interested enough in the subject matter to want to learn more about the real Arrow. This is a very serious movie with lots of technical information but is fascinating. It is also interesting because the development of the Arrow is completely unknown to most people, even people interested in planes and aerospace. Even though it focuses on technology, the movie is a character study in how the individuals developing the plane are affected by political and management decisions they have no part of. Note to Ackroyd comedy fans, this is not a comedy and although this may be some of the best acting Ackroyd has done this is definitely not his most sympathetic character.

Entertaining, but *not* accurate history

[Canvoodoo · 6/10 · 3 February 2005]

For those that don't know the history, the Avro Arrow project was a Canadian interceptor project from the late 1950s. It was cancelled due to excessive cost, and to a perception that interceptor aircraft were obsolete in the wake of Sputnik and the development of ICBMs. Subsequently, the Arrow program has become the basis of a Canadian cottage industry of book publishing and conspiracy theory about why the cancellation occurred, the involvement of the *dastardly Americans*, the downfall of the Canadian aircraft industry, etc.

This program is interesting in many respects -- most particularly the use of CGI to show what a flying Arrow would have looked like, and the use of a near-full scale mock up of an Arrow as set dressing in many scenes. (The Arrow was a *very* large aircraft, and building a mock up was a major proposition). Genuine archive footage of the original Arrow is also used. The set design does a good job of setting the scene for the story.

Where the program falls down is in the story itself. Some posters here have suggested that history needs to be mythologized a bit to make it palatable/interesting. I don't agree with this as a general rule, and certainly not in this case, as the story is every bit as interesting just as it occurred. I understand the need to compress characters and keep a story simple enough to fit in a reasonable duration, but there's no need to generate a whole pile of total fiction to fill out the story. The important issue is that many people who watch this program will think that it's 100% historically accurate -- An impression that the program doesn't try very hard to correct. The story is very heavily fictionalized, and diverges significantly from the established history.

The one good part of all this is that one of the extras on the DVD release of "The Arrow" is the one hour CBC documentary "Dateline -- There Never was an Arrow" from 1980. This is probably the most informative and balanced examination of the Arrow program, and was unavailable for many years. If you want some light entertainment, watch "The Arrow" -- It's not bad, just don't take the story seriously. If you want to know the true history, see the "Dateline" documentary, or the Avro Arrow book by Ron Page et. al. from Boston Mills Press.

Worth searching for ...

[agp2176 · 19 April 2002]

It's a shame that most people in the USA aren't aware of this great film, or this chapter of history, as this TV mini-series produced by the CBC (like most Canadian programming) never made it to our screens. Seeing Dan Aykroyd in this dramatic role shows how good an actor he really is, and that is more than his Saturday Night Live persona.

The DVD is chock-a-block with the 3 hour film, the documentaries 'There Never was an Arrow', 'The Legend of the Arrow', 'The Plane Truth', a Dan Aykroyd interview, photo and magazine gallery, and the pilot training manual!

My advise to other Americans: search for this gem and buy it!

Incredible drama

[skoehler · 10/10 · 17 July 2001]

Few movies are made of the aviation industry. Of course, the most popular, Top Gun was a fictional movie about the glory of flying. This movie, based on a true story, was amazing. First viewed it on CBC in December of 1997. I bought the movie direct from CBC I was so impressed. Dan Akroyd plays an executive with the "right stuff" to make Canada's Avro corporation a success. Character development was fabulous as you see how his professional and personal life affect each other. A few fictitious characters are introduced to help add depth. For example, one of the lead engineers is a female developed in this movie to represent all females who contributed to the Arrow's success. It is a true representation of the actual events. Political influence from the government in Canada's business sector. Governmental influence of the United States and Europe on Canada. The fight for political power within Canada. And the struggle for air superiority in the 1950's. It also is a very real portrayal of the challenges of producing an aircraft. The engineering team includes all facets of design. The unrealistic expectations and design specifications. But most importantly the dedication of the employees to make Canada a great country and respected in the political and economical arenas. This movie is a long, detailed drama that starts slow and keeps rolling down hill. I recommend that those with any interest in the aforementioned items, it is worth the time for your viewing pleasure and historical knowledge.

One of the best

[alan949 · 10/10 · 13 August 2005]

I love anything Dan Ackroyd does so I watched it for his part. I was to be surprised by a really good plot and real people. Then you find out that this is indeed a true story! The movie follows the history of a Canadian Aircraft Company and it's president. The story concerns itself about an experimental plane that the Government wants for a fighter/bomber. The incredible team of workers instead create a plane capable of things that they can not even test at their facilities. This plane is many years ahead of the world! Then politics get into the picture and well you will need to watch it and see what happens. Watch it you'll love it also. It will also make you very angry in parts. I bought two copies just to loan out. Two thumbs up. Alan

Flawed, but basically good

[Jim A · 7/10 · 6 June 2007]

This is a laudable attempt to portray the destruction of the Canadian aerospace industry by a scheming President Eisenhower and a clueless Prime Minister Diefenbaker. Unfortunately, that part isn't at all true. The Arrow was killed by cost overruns and the near-impossibility of developing a new plane, a new engine and a new radar system all at the same time. The geeky engineer character kind of annoyed me, too. The writers had him inventing about three things that were utterly crucial engineering and aerodynamics breakthroughs all by himself. Sorry, nobody's that good, not even the people who did that work in the first place. A lot of the people in the film are historical characters, some are composites. All in all, I really enjoyed this film, but the aviation geek in me gets irritated by factual errors.

Fascinating docudrama with a few flaws

[doxtorray · 8/10 · 20 March 2005]

The Arrow is a compelling story of inventive and persistent people who strive to make an "impossible" airplane. Overcoming setback after setback, a team of Canadian engineers, managers and workers create one of the fastest and most capable fighter-interceptors in the world.

This somewhat fictionalized miniseries effectively pulls the viewer into their struggles, much as "From The Earth To The Moon" created a feeling for the efforts behind the U.S. Apollo program. Indeed, the parallels between the American Apollo program and the Canadian Arrow program are subtly drawn several times in the film (many of the engineers who worked on the Arrow went stateside to work on the Saturn V and the Lunar Module). About halfway through the 3-hour film, it becomes apparent that the true challenges to the Arrow project are not engineering or practical problems, but political realities. Unlike the journey to the moon, the goal of building the world's greatest airplane cannot survive the conflicts of personalities, vagaries of public opinion, and budget overruns that plague any huge engineering project.

The film effectively depicts the drama of the project. However, even if one overlooks the factual discrepancies, the film suffers from a few flaws: 1) The film is a bit slow in some places, and certainly feels as if it were padded to fill the time for a two-part miniseries. If it had been paced differently, or edited down by 30 minutes or so, it certainly would have flowed better. 2) While most of the characters are based on real people, and indeed seem fleshed-out rather well, the film also includes a composite character, representing all the female workers on the Arrow project. This character seems artificial and out of place; much like the Charlton Heston character in the movie Midway, she seems to be everywhere doing everything, and thus comes across as a caricature. This is not helped by the performance of Sara Botsford, who seems to be playing the role as if she is thinking, "my character is 50% of the population, dammit." 3) Some of the other casting seems odd. For example, Michael Moriarty is a fine actor, but he is singularly unconvincing as Ike.

Despite its flaws, this is an entertaining and inspiring film if you enjoy stories of people who strive to achieve.

Good if you're interested in invention or Canadian history.

[bdavis-5 · 7/10 · 3 January 2002]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** 7/10. I loved The Arrow, but I have to admit its shortcomings. This film has a lot of faults, but the film producers, like the plane manufacturer itself, had an uphill battle just trying to get this four-hour mini-series made. It looks like Dan Ackroyd is ideal for playing Avro president Crawford Gordon, and I understand that Ackroyd as a child actually met Gordon. The rest of the cast play sympathetic characters well, although I don't know how true to life they are. However, Robert Haley and Michael Moriarty do bad impressions of John Diefenbaker and Dwight Eisenhower, which is a shame given Dief's real-life colour. The political bias shown against the Conservative Party and for the Liberal Party is a little shocking. Much dramatic license is taken with the actual story. *** Spoilers Follow *** Computerized piloting was not really included in the final prototype planes. The real design called for the planes to be fitted with nuclear missiles, but that detail is conveniently omitted from the story. There were actually no key leaders at Avro who were female, so the charming Sara Botsford is inserted for gender balance and romantic interest as a key, single-mother engineer. However, I found out about these dramatizations because the show impressed me so much that I read the non-fiction book that it was based on. Therefore, I have to admit that the show works for me. If you like invention stories, then you should like The Arrow. If you are a Canadian who has some patriotism, then know that this is one of those rare specimens that appeal to Canadian patriotism. After the catastrophic way in which the Arrow project ended, I found nothing so poignant and bittersweet as the long list shown before the closing credits of Avro talent that left Canada to help lead the development of Apollo, Concorde, and the Space Shuttle.

A very interesting film.

[pfcole · 9/10 · 7 February 2006]

"Spoilers ahead!" I just saw this movie on Cable for the 1st time today. I was stunned. I had never heard of the "Avro Arrow". And I consider myself somewhat of a history buff.To think that they designed and built not only the Plane, but also the engine and a defense system is amazing. I saw at the end of the movie that it had done things that not even our F-18 could do today! The worst part was they were all destroyed. What a shame. Another case of a stupid moron politician getting in the way of progress. Anyway, just a terrific film. Strongly recommend. I wonder what happened to the one they flew off in. We may never find out. I'm glad I saw this film. Dan Akroyd is a very underrated actor.

Very Accurate, Very Historical

[rpickett · 7/10 · 11 July 2004]

In 1959 Canada cancelled the production of the Arrow. It was an Airplane 20 years ahead of it's time. The 7 flyable Arrows were cut up for scrap. Dan Ackroyd does a terrific job portraying the man behind the design and construction of the "plane that never was". The movie tracks the team that designed the Arrow and delves into the many personalities from designers to production workers who worked on this project. The movie also gives historical film clips of the actual test flights of the aircraft as it was being tested. These in themselves are worth the price of the movie. Everyone should see this movie, not only for the quality production but also for it's historical significance. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

The Arrow is a great legend and movie

[ThePlatteRiverKid · 8/10 · 6 March 2005]

This could be one of the saddest movies I have ever seen because what happens but I won't give that away although it is pretty historically documented already.

The Arrow is a nicely done TV movie that describes one of Canada's most magnificent contributions to aviation history as well as the Cold War, had it gone into production.

The movie does make the prime minister kind of evil (although historically it wasn't totally his fault) but as far as I've researched looked to be quite on the nose. It is hard to believe that our neighbors to the north developed such an advanced jet back then (for any country) and the movie explains so very well. It also describes the financial portions of the program very well with both pluses (the sell of the Oreinda engines to France) and the drawbacks in a cold economy.

It was truly a docu-drama as they threw in parts focusing in on the workers, principally Crawford Gordon but in all was an excellent portrayal of a tragic program (from a technological point-of-view).

Canadian Fantasy

[dkn008 · 4/10 · 22 June 2007]

I found this movie interesting not so much for the story, but for the unique look at the Canadian inferiority complex laid bare. Every country has it's myths but rarely is a country so invested in a fantasy surrounding obsolete hardware. That said, the movie is chock-full of inaccuracies that feed this strange need to proclaim the Avro Arrow the most amazing machine ever conceived by humanity. Anybody could make a machine, destroy it, blame his neighbor for making him destroy it and then go into a 40 year rage about how it was the best invention since the beginning of time and they were robbed...but people would think he's a fool. This movie makes Canada look foolish. Message to my Northern neighbors: CANADA IS A GREAT COUNTRY! ANY country would pale next to the US at this point in history. We're bigger than Rome at their height for glory. Take heart! What goes up must come down, we won't be this way forever. My suggestion would be to just sit back and enjoy the ride, incredible market access and free defense.

Great story of engineering success and political failure

[cinemabitch · 23 April 2004]

I really enjoyed the movie! Given, I am a sucker for films about aviation, space, and engineering. About an all-Canadian interceptor/fighter built in the late '50's, that was years (if not decades) ahead of its time. The true story shows the development of The Arrow, a plane capable of Mach 2, but also the politics that ultimately doom the project. I am glad that it was not ALL "blame the Americans" as it showed Canadian internal politics, personality conflicts, personal flaws..... and ........ yes....... The Americans (who didn't want the competition in aviation from North of the border).

This ranks right up there with space and aviation films like THE RIGHT STUFF, and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON. It is also a great story of concepts ahead of their time getting squashed, like the film TUCKER: A Man and His Dream. A similar story might be (though not yet on film to my knowledge) about Jack Northrop and his flying wing which had a similar development and fate in the US. Of course, Northrop's concept was validated with the B-2...... But, I digress........

Though the budget was low (a Canadian Mini-series, after all), they did the most with what they had. The choice of R/C models for most of the flying scenes was a good choice! It gave the look of the film an organic feel, as opposed to the CG effects, which were so-so. I hope they donated the full-size mock-ups to a museum!

If you love stories about aviation, space, engineering, or cold war history, this is one to find on tape or DVD, or search for on cable! A must see!

Very good, except where dishonestly co-opted by feminists.

[jfvr · 9/10 · 25 September 2004]

Very good acting. But I do have a criticism.

We are told in the credits that Kate O'Hara (Sarah Botsford) is a compound character created to represent all the women involved in the Arrow program. OK, so explain to me why she's inserted into the very top echelons of the company and the Canadian Government? C'mon.

We are often only permitted to witness crucial scenes at a distance because the director feels it more important to feature Kate's face in the foreground.

It sure looks like some ardent feminist with clout in the CBC lock-stepped director Don McBrearty into twisting a great movie.

The Great Mystery

[bnpahunt-26948 · 10/10 · 3 March 2015]

After living in the U.S.A. now for 30 years I still delight in explaining the origin of Black Friday for Canadians not a big shopping day like it is here. After showing the movie to many friends including U.S.A.F. personnel I finally came across someone who knew all about the Arrow. In response to the final scenes that suggest the fueled-and- ready-to-go was flown out over the lake he said that the plane still exists and is housed in a hanger near Area "51". This ex-pilot says he had not seen the plane but knew of it's existence through an uncle involved with Air Force experiments of all kinds. Wherever the truth lies it is still a wonderful movie and the mystique of that plane still out there somewhere keeps me coming back.

An Overlooked Cold War Classic

[jfdvet · 9/10 · 19 September 2021]

I don't often say this about a motion picture, but this is an unsung classic. It tells the story of the Avro Arrow, the most advanced fighter aircraft of its day, designed, built, and produced in Canada. And about the politics that eventually destroyed it. The performances are good, and feature Dan Aykroyd in a surprisingly effective dramatic role. What I like most about this movie is it really works at giving one a sense of the tenor of the late 1950s, when the most amazing breakthroughs in aviation technology occurred, and engineers thought anything was possible. This movies' special effects are also first rate, well integrating stock footage with effects shots. It should be noted that radio-controlled models were used in the flying sequences instead of CGI. And it actually works in giving these scenes a more realistic flavor.

I will add that the film's opening is truly awe inspiring.

my review for this film

[liamwuthrich · 10/10 · 8 December 2013]

i think this was a good film because it was a true story in history and there was a lot of cutting corner's but they built a great aircraft that could break the sound barrier also great acting because it was a event in the 50's era for a Canadian aircraft design for a film also was this a two part film or did they pull this film from store's the same time they pulled it from TV. i watched the show on TV when it was daubed on TV also there were other film on at this time but this film was a different film type and you had to no something about air-plane and studying the event in history in school along with other event's Studied in school's in Canada and the state's and around the world in the different university offering history class's.

good film and it was based on a true story up to the end of the end of project arrow. i still believe if the plane is in a museum there is a real plane 1 or more hidden in our planet somewhere were every they could have landed a complete aircraft with the fuel payload design and spec for this aircraft if not collecting dust some-were in a hanger or air-force base or area 51.

ugghhhh

[chuck-white · 5/10 · 31 December 2000]

too many artistic liberties were taken with the real history of the arrow in order to make it more palatable for tv audiences, which resulted in what should have been a fine movie being nothing more than tv garbage

An Excellent Mini

[william_t · 22 March 2000]

This is one of the best mini-series I have ever watched. It's portrayal of Crawford Gordon as a man who, as the Arrow project descends into chaos, becomes a heavy drinker, is amazing. Dan Aykroyd plays this part brilliantly.

It is the most accurate picture of the 1950's political climate and shows how much sway the President of the United States had over Canada at the time.

If you have the chance, you should watch this series, because it will change your view of the Cold War.

Yet more fiction from deluded Canadians.

[murray-b-647-995040 · 1/10 · 28 January 2010]

Almost nothing about this story agrees with the facts.

The most pertinent of those are public knowledge and the cabinet minutes are posted at

http://www.international.gc.ca/ department/history-histoire/dcer/ details-en.asp?intRefid=8169

Diefenbaker's government was told the cost of the aircraft would be nearly $10 million each,"The R.C.A.F. now had nine all-weather squadrons and the present programme called for their re-equipment with the CF-105, requiring a production order of 169 in number. These, together with aircraft recovered from the development and pre-production order for 37, would provide sufficient aircraft for nine squadrons. The total cost would be $2 billion spread from 1959-60 to 1963-64." (This compared to $2 million for a Voodoo or $3.75 million for a Delta Dart.)

The military recommended cancelling the program,"Finally, the cost of the CF-105 programme as a whole was now of such a magnitude that the Chiefs of Staff felt that, to meet the modest requirement of manned aircraft presently considered advisable, it would be more economical to procure a fully developed interceptor of comparable performance in the U.S." Note that the government was told the Arrow was "comparable" to other aircraft and not that it could fly higher, faster, or further than anything else.

The film is a little piece of political propaganda and deserves a negative score for being less than useless but the choices are limited to positive values. It actually deserves something closer to -7 out of 10.

Very interesting, entertaining and educational

[Sam-285 · 3 August 2003]

This movie is quite a surprise. It tells a story I had no idea existed. It seems quite amazing it is a true story. It is as dramatic as a fictional story written to be dramatic. I missed the beginning of the movie but based on the description of the DVD I will buy a copy when I get the chance.

An interesting (not perfect) story

[Dreamer1 · 6 July 2003]

Having seen the mini-series when it initially aired and seen again since, I think that what "The Arrow" tries to do (and accomplishes pretty well, I'd say) is to do what few Canadian films do: that is, it tries to introduce a little bit of mythology into a Canadian story. Certainly, as far as Canadian events go, the story of the Arrow is one that still resonates in the Canadian psyche as an opportunity thrown away by the politicians of the day. Having the Arrow fly off to parts unknown at the end plays into that wish to be able to correct the mistakes of the past.

That said, it was an enjoyable mini-series and didn't play any faster or more loosely with the facts than most of what passes for "historical" narrative. The casting was well-done and it did a good job showing the social impact of the Arrow project

A good film about building something

[actnfla · 26 May 2002]

I saw this film one sat. afternoon on a Orlando TV station Its too bad that more films are made that show people building something that others say its impossable! Good job CBC!

Very loose historical representation

[airodyssey · 8 June 2000]

Many people will disagree with the vision of the filmmakers of "The Arrow" and how they portray the political figures involved, including Diefenbaker and Eisenhower. This movie makes it sound like Diefenbaker was a heavy responsible for this aviation fiasco, while many will agree that is not totally true. Remember that "true story" movies are not always 100% true.

Leaving that behind, I think this was a nice movie, and the real historical sequences inserted were neat. It is visually brilliant and shows it had quite a big budget. And it really makes you feel sorry for the Arrow, wishing it would have really been put in service.