Only Old Men are going into Battle. 1973 Soviet Film.

I just watched the 1973 Soviet movie "Only Old Men Are Going into Battle" on Amazon Prime. The dialog is in Russian, but you can enable English subtitles. The movie is set in Ukraine in 1943 and follows a unit of the Soviet Air Forces flying YAK-1 fighters.

The film, directed by Leonid Bykov, portrays the experiences of a squadron of fighter pilots in the USSR during the Battle of the Dnieper in 1943.

The film's title is inspired by two scenes in which the squadron engages in intense dogfights with German fighter planes. Only the seasoned veterans, who are known as the "old men," are sent up to engage in aerial combat, while the fresh recruits wait on the ground with the mechanics. The film beautifully combines war drama with an amateur musical group led by the squadron commander during their rest time. So, while the skies were filled with combat, the Yak-1s carried these brave pilots into battle, showcasing their courage and resilience against the odds.

There are some good flying scenes. There are obviously some old war correspondent films, but this movie having been produced in the days before CGI, there were some actual YAKs flying.

This movie somewhat reminds the viewer of the 2013 Russian series, The Attackers, but shows a much different perspective.



ETA: A FB friend tells me these were probably not YAK-1s, but more likely LA-5s.