The Burning SkyMovie
The film was produced during Second Sino-Japanese War, before the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941. The film mainly concerns the training of newly-recruited pilots and their daily life, then their subsequent fighting experiences in China. Army supported the production, providing all the authentic airplanes, training and actual actions. They even provided the older biplanes disguised as Chinese fighter planes. Obinata plays the trainer-turned-combat-leader, who is passionate and cool at the same time. All his boys love him, of course. The film is not as intense, full of sugar-coated camaraderie, until young pilots are killed in action one by one. Last twenty minutes are fairly grim, as the message of self-sacrifice is heard loud and clear.
About The Burning Sky
The Burning Sky is a 1940 war movie directed by Yutaka Abe.
The production information lists a runtime of 1h 41m, production credits from Japan, an original language code of JA.
The credited cast includes Susumu Fujita, Taizō Fukami, Katsuhiko Haida, Seishiro Hara. The synopsis above summarizes the central premise without adding details beyond the available title information.
