This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I have read reviews blindly marking this movie as a propaganda or nationalistic trash. I cannot say so. This movie is from the point of view of Israel but any adult and educated person is easily capable to filter this out. I am not historian so I do not dare to say anything regarding historic accuracy. Movie is a celebration of bravery of the men and women fighting for their (and also others) country. The defeated opponents are kind of humiliated in the movie while Israel's victory is praised. Sad think is that it is a celebration of war. There is no victor in a war, only suffering. The movie uses a lot of interviews and historical facts spiced by "action" scenes. Some basic animations and rather primitive effects are clearly out-dated, but considering the budget agreeable. However it does not diminish value of the movie. On the other hand it moved the movie from dry documentary to more juicy and enjoyable experience. I can recommend this movie to all people interested in the middle- east history if You can (or are allowed to :) think on Your own.

The story's background surely contained a big promise waiting to be taken into the big screen. Volunteering foreign pilots with relatively low experience smuggling their way out risking their own citizenship and/or jail time, to help a newborn state with nothing to count as an Air Force, this looks interesting enough, particularly as we see the outcome of the war which Israel won against five Arab states invading from all sides. The thing is that this movie lacks is that it relied too heavily on the interviews and not giving itself more weight on the dramatization. Maybe the stock of archival footage or photographs will be very hard to find, but at least it can emphasize on reenactments. There's just to many moments when the movie would literally freeze as it shows photographs for a moment just too long with inadequate background sounds or sorts.

What is life? If you have no soul are you then a machine? These Americans knew the hopelessness and the tenacity of the Israelis. They did what they felt must be done. The Arabs outnumbered the Israelis but this was going to be our last stop. Thank G-D for the Americans that helped. Much more can be done with we as opposed to I. Is living doing what you believe in? A heard about this movie through a temple that I usually go to. I saw this film in Westchester, only one movie theater was screening it at the time, it should have been everywhere. I recommend Above and Beyond to anyone who is interested in history and documentaries.This is one of my favorite movies of all time, go see it!

"I believe that peace with the Palestinians is most urgent - urgent than ever before. It is necessary. It is crucial. It is possible. A delay may worsen its chances. Israel and the Palestinians are, in my judgment, ripe today to restart the peace process." Shimon Peres For all the fictional heroes Hollywood cranks out, nothing can compare with Above and Beyond, a documentary about the origin of the Israeli Air Force in 1948 and the Jewish perspective about the splitting of Palestine. Regardless of where your sympathies lie, Arab or Jew, after watching this fascinating documentary, you'll have to agree the 600,000 Jews fighting millions of Arabs is pretty heroic stuff.The conflict begins with the United Nations' resolution to split Palestine and the British decision to vacate. The Jewish people are aware they're vulnerable as Arabs prepare to take over the precious land. Enter mostly volunteer Jewish-American former WWII pilots ready to fly whatever planes they can muster to help the Jews ward off the imminent Arabic takeover.While this may sound like a set up for the usual ego-talking-head doc, Above and Beyond (a title that works well for sacrifices and heroism) is a sincere testimonial from actual Jewish and other pilots who risked their lives for underdogs. Archival footage of the Jewish planes (four at the beginning, woefully inadequate and impotent), lend the authenticity, while the comments from the pilots give the doc the humanity it needs to show the war a conflict that won't easily be settled by any number of warplanes and ammo.The first-person commentary by the pilots and others like Shimon Peres makes the Jewish bias (e.g., Palestinian refugees are barely noticed) palatable by displaying a sincere love of nation as opposed to violent chauvinism. The nights spent carousing before battle are sweet rather than crass, just boys and girls having a good time before death takes over. In other words, this doc splendidly displays the best of mankind regardless of nationalism or base ambition.If you're put off by the obvious biases of documentarians like Michael Moore, then see Above and Beyond because the bias is benign. While I'm thinking of it, Steven Spielberg's sister, Nancy, is a producer—the provenance of this film is solid. If nothing else, you'll understand why Arabs and Israelis fight even today for the land they struggled for over 60 years ago.