The vast majority of war movies are inspired or influenced by true events, but very few have taken an approach quite as unique as that of writer and director Todd Robinson’s The Last Full Measure.
Based on the very real story of William H. Pitsenbarger, an Air Force rescue pilot who saved countless lives in Vietnam by flying in to aid his fellow soldiers on the battlefield, our entry point into the story is Sebastian Stan’s Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman, who is an entirely fictional creation used to drive the film.
Pitsenbarger was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross after being killed in battle, but it would take a full 34 years before he was upgraded to full Medal of Honor status, with The Last Full Measure following Huffman’s attempts to have the decorated war hero bestowed with the accolades he deserved for his valor both on the ground and in the sky.
A 61 percent Rotten Tomatoes score is barely above the Fresh threshold, but it’s the 96 percent user rating that’s worth paying attention to. Jumping between the past and present, the cast is absolutely loaded with talent, with Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, Jeremy Irvine, Diane Ladd, and Bradley Whitford just some of the names to appear.
The Last Full Measure never scored much of a theatrical release, cobbling together a shade over $3 million at the box office on a $28 million budget. However, the underrated and unsung true-life tale has finally found the audience it deserves on streaming, with FlixPatrol revealing it as a new entrant on the platform’s worldwide viewership ranks.
