Warbirds (2008)
Nomination Year: 2014
SYNOPSIS: In 1945, a group of female aviators are ferrying a newly-built bomber from the U.S. mainland to the front. During a stopover in Hawaii, they are ordered to pick up a particularly stupid Colonel, a squad of redshirts, and a top secret cargo. At this point, you will immediately figure out what the cargo is and how the movie is going to end. But it will be a long slog to get there.
Colonel Idiot forces the pilots to fly through a thunderstorm, which they might have gotten away from if it wasn't for the pterodactyls. Unfortunately, the combination of storm and dinosaur attack proves too much, and them bomber goes down on a remote island which is home to an abandoned Japanese airbase, a trio of Japanese survivors, and a LOT of pterodactyls. Fortunately, the radio on the bomber still works. Unfortunately, the Colonel won't let them use it to call for help in case the Japanese hear and get there first, endangering the cargo. Fortunately, the bomber can be repaired with the equipment in the Japanese base. Unfortunately, it will take a week to fix it and the Colonel says they don't have that long. Fortunately, there are a bunch of abandoned, but functional, Japanese Zeros at the base. Unfortunately, Zeros turn out to be extraordinarily vulnerable to pterodactyls.
The only viable option is to repair the bomber, after all. During the week that takes, the pterodactyls pick off the redshirts; the Japanese try to sneak onto the bomber and find out what the cargo is and get picked off by the Americans; and the pilots try to badger the Colonel into telling them what the cargo is and, unfortunately, don't get picked off by anyone. Finally, it's time for the big set-piece battle where the bomber and its Zero escort fight a desperate battle vs. a bunch of slow, unarmed DINOSAURS. It ends just the way you knew it would.
Greg Pearson
"Cutting Butter With A Chainsaw"
