title: War film

text: In 1955, after the fighting, the successful South Korean action film "Piagol" about leftist guerrilla atrocities encouraged other film-makers. The 1960s military government punished pro-communist film-makers and gave Grand Bell Awards to films with the strongest anti-communist message. "The Taebaek Mountains" (1994) dealt with leftists from the south who fought for the communists, while "Silver Stallion" (1991) and "Spring in My Hometown" (1998) showed the destructive impact of American military presence on village life. The violent action films "Shiri" (1999) and "Joint Security Area" (2000) presented North Korea in a favourable light.


title: War film

text: Films in North Korea were made by government film studios and had clear political messages. The first was "My Home Village" (1949), on the liberation of Korea from the Japanese, presented as the work of Kim Il Sung without help from the Americans. Similarly, the country's films about the Korean War show victory without help from the Chinese. The film scholar Johannes Schönherr concludes that the purpose of these films is "to portray North Korea as a country under siege", and that since the U.S. and its "puppet" South Korea invaded the North once, they would do so again.


title: War film

text: Gillo Pontecorvo's dramatic "The Battle of Algiers" ((; ; ), 1966) portrayed events in the Algerian War (1954–1956). It was shot on location as an Italo-Algerian co-production. It had the black and white newsreel style of Italian neorealism, and even-handedly depicts violence on both sides. It won various awards including Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. It was attacked by French critics and was for five years banned in France as well as "Jamila, the Algerian" (1958).


title: War film

text: Few films before the late 1970s about the Vietnam War actually depicted combat; exceptions include "The Green Berets" (1968). Critics such as Basinger explain that Hollywood avoided the subject because of opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War, making the subject divisive; in addition, the film industry was in crisis, and the army did not wish to assist in making anti-war films.


title: War film

text: From the late 1970s, independently financed and produced films showed Hollywood that Vietnam could be treated in film. Successful but very different portrayals of the war in which America had been defeated included Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" (1978), and Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979). With the shift in American politics to the right in the 1980s, military success could again be shown in films such as Oliver Stone's "Platoon" (1986), Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" (1987) and John Irvin's "Hamburger Hill" (1987).


title: War film

text: The Vietnamese director 's "" ("Cánh đồng hoang", 1979) gives an "unnerving and compelling .. subjective-camera-eye-view" of life under helicopter fire in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. The film cuts to an (American) "helicopter-eye view", contrasting painfully with the human tenderness seen earlier.


title: War film

text: Dino Mustafić's "Remake" (2003), written by Zlatko Topčić, tells the parallel coming-of-age stories of a father living in Sarajevo during World War II and his son living through the Siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War. According to Topčić, the story is based on incidents from his own life.


title: War film

text: The Iraq War served as the background story of U.S. movies, like "The Hurt Locker" from 2008, "Green Zone" from 2010, and "American Sniper" from 2014.


title: War film

text: The War in Afghanistan since 2001 was depicted in various movies, among them "Restrepo" in 2010 and "Lone Survivor" from 2013.


title: War film

text: The first popular Allied war films made during the Second World War came from Britain and combined the functions of documentary and propaganda. Films such as "The Lion Has Wings" and "Target for Tonight" were made under the control of the Films Division of the Ministry of Information. The British film industry began to combine documentary techniques with fictional stories in films like Noël Coward and David Lean's "In Which We Serve" (1942)—"the most successful British film of the war years"—"Millions Like Us" (1943), and "The Way Ahead" (1944).


title: War film

text: In America, documentaries were produced in various ways: General Marshall commissioned the "Why We Fight" propaganda series from Frank Capra; the War Department's Information-Education Division started out making training films for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy; the Army made its own through the U.S. Signal Corps, including John Huston's "The Battle of San Pietro". Hollywood made films with propaganda messages about America's allies, such as "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), which portrayed a British family on the home front; "Edge of Darkness" (1943) showed Norwegian resistance fighters, and "The North Star" (1943) showed the Soviet Union and its Communist Party. Towards the end of the war popular books provided higher quality and more serious stories for films such as "Guadalcanal Diary" (1943), Mervyn LeRoy's "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944), and John Ford's "They Were Expendable" (1945).


title: War film

text: The Soviet Union, too, appreciated the propaganda value of film, to publicise both victories and German atrocities. Ilya Kopalin's documentary "Moscow Strikes Back" (, literally "The rout of the German troops near Moscow"), was made during the Battle of Moscow between October 1941 and January 1942. It depicted civilians helping to defend the city, the parade in Red Square and Stalin's speech rousing the Russian people to battle, actual fighting, Germans surrendering and dead, and atrocities including murdered children and hanged civilians. It won an Academy Award in 1943 for best documentary. Newsreel cameras were similarly rushed to Stalingrad early in 1943 to record "the spectacle which greeted the Russian soldiers"—the starvation of Russian prisoners of war in the Voropovono camp by the German Sixth Army, defeated in the Battle of Stalingrad.


title: War film

text: Feature films made in the west during the war were subject to censorship and were not always realistic in nature. One of the first to attempt to represent violence, and which was praised at the time for "gritty realism", was Tay Garnett's "Bataan" (1943). The depiction actually remained stylised. Jeanine Basinger gives as an example the "worst image for stark violence" when a Japanese soldier beheads an American: the victim shows pain and his lips freeze in a scream, yet no blood spurts and his head does not fall off. Basinger points out that while this is physically unrealistic, psychologically it may not have been. The wartime audience was, she points out, well aware of friends and relatives who had been killed or who had come home wounded.


title: War film

text: The Axis powers similarly made films during the Second World War, for propaganda and other purposes. In Germany, the army high command brought out "Sieg im Westen" ("Victory in the West", 1941). Other Nazi propaganda films had varied subjects, as with "Kolberg" (1945), which depicts stubborn Prussian resistance in the Siege of Kolberg (1807) to the invading French troops under Napoleon. The propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels chose the historical subject as suitable for the worsening situation facing Nazi Germany when it was filmed from October 1943 to August 1944. At over eight million marks, using thousands of soldiers as extras and 100 railway wagonloads of salt to simulate snow, it was the most costly German film made during the war. The actual siege ended with the surrender of the town; in the film, the French generals abandon the siege.


title: War film

text: For Japan, the war began with the undeclared war and invasion of China in 1937, which the Japanese authorities called "The China Incident". The government dispatched a "pen brigade" to write and film the action in China with "humanist values". Tomotaka Tasaka's "Mud and Soldiers" (1939) for instance, shot on location in China, Kōzaburō Yoshimura's "Legend of Tank Commander Nishizumi", and Sato Takeshi's "Chocolate and Soldiers" (1938) show the common Japanese soldier as an individual and as a family man, and even enemy Chinese soldiers are presented as individuals, sometimes fighting bravely. Once war with the United States was declared, the Japanese conflict became known as the Pacific War. Japanese film critics worried that even with Western film techniques, their film output failed to represent native Japanese values. The historian John Dower found that Japanese wartime films had been largely forgotten, as "losers do not get reruns", yet they were so subtle and skilful that Frank Capra thought "Chocolate and Soldiers" unbeatable. Heroes were typically low-ranking officers, not samurai, calmly devoted to his men and his country. These films did not personalise the enemy and therefore lacked hatred, though Great Britain could figure as the "cultural enemy". For Japanese film-makers, war was not a cause but more like a natural disaster, and "what mattered was not whom one fought but how well". Asian enemies, especially the Chinese, were often portrayed as redeemable and even possible marriage partners. Japanese wartime films do not glorify war, but present the Japanese state as one great family and the Japanese people as an "innocent, suffering, self-sacrificing people". Dower comments that the perversity of this image "is obvious: it is devoid of any recognition that, at every level, the Japanese also victimized others."


title: War film

text: According to Andrew Pulver of "The Guardian", the public fascination with war films became an "obsession", with over 200 war films produced in each decade of the 1950s and 1960s. War film production in the United Kingdom and United States reached its zenith in the mid-1950s. Its popularity in the United Kingdom was brought on by the critical and commercial success of Charles Frend's "The Cruel Sea" (1953). Like others of the period, "The Cruel Sea" was based on a bestselling novel, in this case the former naval commander Nicholas Monsarrat's story of the battle of the Atlantic. Others, like "The Dam Busters" (1954), with its exciting tale of the inventor Barnes Wallis's unorthodox bouncing bomb and its distinctive theme music, were true stories. "The Dam Busters" became the most popular film in Britain in 1955, and remained a favourite as of 2015 with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes, though, partly because it celebrated an "exclusively British [victory]", it failed in the American market. A large number of war films were made in the 1955–1958 period in particular. In 1957 alone, "Bitter Victory", "Count Five and Die", "The Enemy Below", "Ill Met by Moonlight", "Men in War", "The One That Got Away", and "Seven Thunders", and the highly successful, critically acclaimed pictures "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year) and "Paths of Glory" were released. Some, such as "Bitter Victory", focused more on the psychological battle between officers and egotism rather than events during the war. "The Bridge on the River Kwai" brought a new complexity to the war picture, with a sense of moral uncertainty surrounding war. By the end of the decade the "sense of shared achievement" which had been common in war films "began to evaporate", according to Pulver.


title: War film

text: Hollywood films in the 1950s and 1960s could display spectacular heroics or self-sacrifice, as in the popular "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) starring John Wayne. U.S. Marines considered "Sands of Iwo Jima" visually authentic, but found Lewis Milestone's "Battle Cry" (1955), with its attention to the lives of the men, the more realistic film. The formula for a successful war film consisted, according to Lawrence Suid, of a small group of ethnically diverse men; an unreasonable senior officer; cowards became heroic, or died. Jeanine Basinger suggests that a traditional war film should have a hero, a group, and an objective, and that the group should contain "an Italian, a Jew, a cynical complainer from Brooklyn, a sharpshooter from the mountains, a midwesterner (nicknamed by his state, 'Iowa' or 'Dakota'), and a character who must be initiated in some way". Films based on real commando missions, like "The Gift Horse" (1952) based on the St. Nazaire Raid, and "Ill Met by Moonlight" (1956) based on the capture of the German commander of Crete, inspired fictional adventure films such as "The Guns of Navarone" (1961), "The Train" (1964), and "Where Eagles Dare" (1968). These used the war as a backdrop for spectacular action.


title: War film

text: Darryl F. Zanuck produced the 178 minute documentary drama "The Longest Day" (1962), based on the first day of the D-Day landings, achieving commercial success and Oscars. It was followed by large-scale but thoughtful films like Andrei Tarkovsky's "Ivan's Childhood" (1962), and quasi-documentary all-star epics filmed in Europe such as "Battle of the Bulge" (1965), "Battle of Britain" (1969), "The Battle of Neretva" (1969), "Midway" (1976), and "A Bridge Too Far" (1977). In Lawrence Suid's view, "The Longest Day" "served as the model for all subsequent combat spectaculars". However, its cost also made it the last of the traditional war films, while the controversy around the help given by the U.S. Army and Zanuck's "disregard for Pentagon relations" changed the way that Hollywood and the Army collaborated.


title: War film

text: Zanuck, by then an executive at 20th Century Fox, set up an American–Japanese co-production for Richard Fleischer's "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970) to depict what "really happened on December 7, 1941" in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The film, panned by Roger Ebert and "The New York Times", was a major success in Japan. Its realistic-looking attack footage was reused in later films such as "Midway" (1976), "The Final Countdown" (1980), and "Australia" (2008). The story was revisited in "Pearl Harbor" (2001), described by "The New York Times" as a "noisy, expensive and very long new blockbuster", with the comment that "for all its epic pretensions (as if epic were a matter of running time, tumescent music and earnest voice-over pronouncements), the movie works best as a bang-and-boom action picture".


title: War film

text: Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) uses hand-held camera, sound design, staging, and increased audio-visual detail to defamiliarise viewers accustomed to conventional combat films, so as to create what film historian Stuart Bender calls "reported realism", whether or not the portrayal is genuinely more realistic. Jeanine Basinger notes that critics experienced it as "groundbreaking and anti-generic", with, in James Wolcott's words, a "desire to bury the cornball, recruiting poster legend of John Wayne: to get it right this time"; and that combat films have always been "grounded in the need to help an audience understand and accept war". Its success revived interest in World War II films. Others tried to portray the reality of the war, as in Joseph Vilsmaier's "Stalingrad" (1993), which "The New York Times" said "goes about as far as a movie can go in depicting modern warfare as a stomach-turning form of mass slaughter".


title: War film

text: Many war films have been produced with the cooperation of a nation's military forces. Since the Second World War, the United States Navy has provided ships and technical guidance for films such as "Top Gun". The U.S. Air Force assisted with "The Big Lift", "Strategic Air Command" and "A Gathering of Eagles", which were filmed on Air Force bases; Air Force personnel appeared in many roles. Critics have argued that the film "Pearl Harbor"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s US-biased portrayal of events is a compensation for technical assistance received from the US armed forces, noting that the premiere was held on board a U.S. Navy carrier. In another case, the U.S. Navy objected to elements of "Crimson Tide", especially mutiny on board an American naval vessel, so the film was produced without their assistance. The film historian Jonathan Rayner observes that such films "have also clearly been intended to serve vital propagandist, recruitment and public relations functions".


title: War film

text: The first Chinese war films were newsreels like "Battle of Wuhan" (1911) and "Battle of Shanghai" (1913). Still in films such as Xu Xinfu's "Battle Exploits" (1925), war featured mainly as background. Only with the Second Sino–Japanese War from 1937 onwards did war film become a serious genre in China, with nationalistic films such as Shi Dongshan's "Protect Our Land" (1938). The Chinese Civil War, too, attracted films such as Cheng Yin's "From Victory to Victory" (1952). A more humanistic film set in the same period is Xie Jin's The Cradle (1979), while more recent large-scale commercial films include Lu Chuan's "City of Life and Death" (2009). Chinese directors have repeatedly attempted to cover the atrocities committed by the Japanese during the Nanking massacre (1937–1938), with films such as the political melodrama "Massacre in Nanjing", Mou Tun Fei's docudrama "", and the "contrived Sino–Japanese romance" "Don't Cry, Nanking". Zhang Yimou's epic Chinese film "Flowers of War" (2011), based on Geling Yan's novel, portrays the violent events through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl.


title: War film

text: Many Indonesian films deal with the occupation of the archipelago by the Japanese during the Second World War. Teguh Karya's "Doea Tanda Mata" ("Mementos", literally "Two Eye Marks", 1985) covers the limited nationalist resistance to Dutch colonial rule in the 1930s. A third group of films such as "Enam Djam di Jogja" ("Six Hours in Yogyakarta", 1951) and "Serangan Fajar" ("Attack at Dawn", 1983) covers the Indonesian war of independence (1945–1949). Two other films about the same period portray the Indonesian equivalent of the Chinese Long March: Usmar Ismail's "Darah dan Doa" ("The Long March", literally "Blood and Prayer", 1950) and "Mereka Kembali" ("They Return", 1975). Each of these films interprets the past from the perspective of its own time.


title: War film

text: The more recent "Merdeka" (Freedom) trilogy (2009–2011), starting with "Merah Putih" ("Red and White", the colours of the flag of the new Indonesia), revisits the campaign for independence through the lives of a diverse group of cadets who become guerillas.


title: War film

text: Karya's "November 1828" (1979) looks at Indonesia's struggle for independence through historical drama about the Java or Diponegoro War (1825–1830), though the colonial enemy was the same, the Dutch. Deanne Schultz considered it "a valuable interpretation" of Indonesian history that "embodies the best of popular Indonesian cinema". It was the first Indonesian film to become well known internationally.


title: War film

text: War has been the Soviet Union's cinema's major genre, becoming known indeed as the "cinema front", and its war films ranged from grim portrayals of atrocities to sentimental and even quietly subversive accounts. Leonid Lukov's popular and "beautiful" "Two Warriors" (1943) depicted two stereotypical Soviet soldiers, a quiet Russian and an extrovert southerner from Odessa, singing in his dugout.


title: War film

text: The many Soviet films about the Second World War include both large-scale epics such as Yury Ozerov's "Battle of Moscow" (1985) and Mikhail Kalatozov's more psychological "The Cranes are Flying" (1957) on the cruel effects of war; it won the 1958 Palme d'Or at Cannes.


title: War film

text: Japanese directors have made popular films such as "Submarine I-57 Will Not Surrender" (1959), "Battle of Okinawa" (1971) and "Japan's Longest Day" (1967) from a Japanese perspective. These "generally fail to explain the cause of the war". In the decades immediately after the Second World War, Japanese films often focused on human tragedy rather than combat, such as "The Burmese Harp" (1956) and "Fires on the Plain" (1959). From the late 1990s, films started to take a positive view of the war and of Japanese actions. These nationalistic films, including "Pride" (1998), "Merdeka 17805" (2001), and "The Truth about Nanjing" (2007), have emphasized positive traits of the Japanese military and contended that the Japanese were victims of post-war vindictiveness and viciousness. Such films have, however, been subject to protest for revisionism. "The Eternal Zero" (2013) narrates the tale of a Zero fighter pilot who is considered a coward by his comrades, as he returns alive from his missions. It broke the record takings for a Japanese live action film, and won the Golden Mulberry at the Udine Far East Film Festival, but was criticised for its nationalistic sympathy with kamikaze pilots.


title: War film

text: The wartime authorities in both Britain and America produced a wide variety of documentary films. Their purposes included military training, advice to civilians, and encouragement to maintain security. Since these films often carried messages, they grade into propaganda. Similarly, commercially produced films often combined information, support for the war effort, and a degree of propaganda. Newsreels, ostensibly simply for information, were made in both Allied and Axis countries, and were often dramatised. More recently, in the Iran–Iraq War, Morteza Avini's "Ravayat-e Fath" (Chronicles of Victory) television series combined front-line footage with commentary.


title: War film

text: Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 historical drama "Alexander Nevsky" depicts Prince Alexander's defeat of the attempted invasion of the Russian city of Novgorod by the Teutonic Knights. By April 1939 the film had been seen by 23,000,000 people. In 1941 the director and three others were awarded the Stalin Prize for their contributions. The film features a musical score by the classical composer Sergei Prokofiev, considered by artists such as the composer André Previn the best ever written for cinema. Russell Merritt, writing in "Film Quarterly", describes it as a "war propaganda film". A 1978 Mondadori poll placed "Alexander Nevsky" among the world's 100 best motion pictures.


title: War film

text: During the Second World War, film propaganda was widely used. Kenneth Clark advised the British government that "If we renounced interest in entertainment as such, we might be deprived of a valuable weapon for getting across our propaganda"; he suggested using documentaries about the war and the war effort; celebrations of Britishness; and films about British life and character. Michael Powell and Clark agreed on a story about survivors of a U-boat crew, imbued with brutal Nazi ideology, travelling across Canada and meeting various kind, tolerant and intelligent Canadians, to encourage America into the war. The resulting film, "49th Parallel" (1941), became the top film at British offices that year. Entertaining films could carry messages about the need for vigilance, too, as in "Went the Day Well?" (1942) or the avoidance of "careless talk", as in "The Next of Kin" (1942).


title: War film

text: In America, Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" (1940) clearly satirised fascism. Michael Curtiz's "Casablanca" (1943) was not simply a romance between the characters played by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but vilified the Nazis and glorified resistance to them. Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series (1942–1945) won the 1942 Academy Award for best documentary, though it was designed to "influence opinion in the U.S. military".


title: War film

text: During the Cold War, "propaganda played as much of a role in the United States' struggle with the Soviet Union as did the billions of dollars spent on weaponry." "Face to Face with Communism" (1951) dramatised an imagined invasion of the United States; other films portrayed threats such as communist indoctrination.


title: War film

text: Submarine films have their own particular meanings and conventions, concerned specifically with giving the effect of submarine warfare. A distinctive element in this subgenre is the soundtrack, which attempts to bring home the emotional and dramatic nature of conflict under the sea. For example, in Wolfgang Petersen's 1981 "Das Boot", the sound design works together with the hours-long film format to depict lengthy pursuit with depth charges, the ping of sonar, and threatening sounds such as of the propellers of enemy destroyers and torpedoes. Classic films in the genre include "The Enemy Below" (1957) and "Run Silent, Run Deep" (1958), both based on novels by naval commanders. "Run Silent, Run Deep" is a movie full of tension, both with the enemy and between the contrasting personalities of the submarine Commander and his Lieutenant, played by Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster.


title: War film

text: A popular subgenre of war films in the 1950s and 1960s was the prisoner of war film. The genre was popularised in Britain with major films like Guy Hamilton's "The Colditz Story" (1955) and John Sturges's American film "The Great Escape" (1963). They told stories of real escapes from German prisoner of war camps such as Stalag Luft III in the Second World War. Despite episodes of danger and human tragedy, these films delight in a continual boyish game of escape and ingenuity, celebrating the courage and the defiant spirit of the prisoners of war, and treating war as fun. David Lean's "Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) was judged best picture at the Oscars; it took the genre from chilly German prisons to the heat of a camp in Thailand. It was the first, too, to use lush colour to bring out the British stiff upper lip of the colonel, played by Alec Guinness in an Oscar-winning performance. The "definitive" Oscar-winning prisoner of war film was Billy Wilder's "Stalag 17" (1953), while the brief but powerful prison camp scenes of "The Deer Hunter" (1978) lend an air of tragedy to the whole of that film.


title: War film

text: Charlie Chaplin's "Shoulder Arms" (1918) set a style for war films to come, and was the first comedy about war in film history.


title: War film

text: British cinema in the Second World War marked the evacuation of children from London with social comedies such as "Those Kids from Town" (1942) where the evacuees go to stay with an earl (a country nobleman), while in "Cottage to Let" (1941) and "Went the Day Well?" (1942) the English countryside is thick with spies. "Gasbags" (1941) offered "zany, irreverent, knockabout" comedy making fun of everything from barrage balloons to concentration camps. Abbott and Costello's "Buck Privates" (1941) was successful in America, leading to many further wartime comedies.


title: War film

text: Winsor McCay's "The Sinking of the Lusitania" (1918) was a silent First World War film. At 12 minutes long, it was the longest animated film made at that time. It was probably the first animated propaganda film to be made; it remains the earliest serious animated drama that has survived. Through World War II, animated propaganda shorts remained influential in American cinema. The Walt Disney Company, working with the American armed forces, produced 400,000 feet of war propaganda films between 1942 and 1945, including "Der Fuehrer's Face" (1943) and "Education for Death" (1943).


title: War film

text: Japanese anime films from the 1960s onwards addressed national memories of war. "Akira" (1988) moves from the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to apocalyptic visions of global conflict; "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988) is elegiac on the effect of war on children. "Barefoot Gen" (1983) portrays the bombing of Hiroshima through the eyes of a child, but reviewers consider it a less well made film than "Grave of the Fireflies" with "stomach-churning detail" bizarrely paired with crude artwork, giving it the look of a "Saturday morning Warner Brothers cartoon".


title: War film

text: The anti-war genre began with films about the First World War. Films in the genre are typically revisionist, reflecting on past events and often generically blended. Lewis Milestone's "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930) was unquestionably powerful, and an early anti-war film, portraying a German point of view; it was the first film (in any genre) to win two Oscars, best picture and best director. Andrew Kelly, analysing "All Quiet on the Western Front", defined the genre as showing: the brutality of war; the amount of human suffering; the betrayal of men's trust by incompetent officers. War and anti-war films often prove difficult to categorize as they contain many generic ambiguities. While many anti-war films criticize war directly through depictions of grisly combat in past wars, some films such as Penn's "Alice's Restaurant" criticized war obliquely by poking fun at such things as the draft board. The number of anti-war films produced in America dipped sharply during the 1950s because of McCarthyism and the Hollywood blacklist. The end of the blacklist and the introduction of the MPAA rating system marked a time of resurgence for films of all type including anti-war films in the States. Robert Eberwein names two films as anti-war classics. The first is Jean Renoir's prisoner of war masterpiece "La Grande Illusion" ("The Grand Illusion", 1937). Renoir's critique of contemporary politics and ideology celebrates the universal humanity that transcends national and racial boundaries and radical nationalism, suggesting that mankind's common experiences should prevail above political division, and its extension: war. The second is Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" (1957). The critic David Ehrenstein writes that "Paths of Glory" established Kubrick as the "leading commercial filmmaker of his generation" and a world-class talent. Ehrenstein describes the film as an "outwardly cool/inwardly passionate protest drama about a disastrous French army maneuver and the court-martial held in its wake", contrasting it with the "classic" "All Quiet on the Western Front"'s story of an innocent "unstrung by the horrors of war".


title: War film

text: Comedy gave scope for satire, and post-war film-makers merged comedy and anti-war sentiment in films as varied as "Stalag 17" (1953) and "Dr Strangelove" (1964). Black comedies like Mike Nichols's "Catch-22" (1970), based on Joseph Heller's satirical novel about the Second World War, and Robert Altman's "MASH" (1970), set in Korea, reflected the attitudes of an increasingly sceptical public during the Vietnam War.


title: War film

text: Other genres were combined in Franklin J. Schaffner's "Patton" (1970), about real life General George S. Patton, where combat scenes were interleaved with commentary about how he waged war, showing good and bad sides to a command. It and "MASH" became the two most profitable war/anti-war films made up to that time, and "Patton" won seven Academy Awards.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Antonio Deon Tarver (born November 21, 1968) is an American former professional boxer and boxing commentator. In boxing he competed from 1997 to 2015, and held multiple light heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Unified), WBC, IBF and "Ring" magazine titles, as well as the IBO light heavyweight and cruiserweight titles.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: As an amateur, Tarver represented the United States at the 1996 Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the light heavyweight division; he eventually lost to Vassiliy Jirov from Kazakhstan, whom he had previously defeated at the 1995 World Championships to win gold. Tarver also triumphed at the 1995 Pan American Games and 1995 U.S. National Championships, winning gold in both. He remains the only boxer in history to have won gold at the Pan Am Games, World Championships and U.S. Nationals all in the same year.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Outside of boxing, Tarver starred as Mason "The Line" Dixon, the heavyweight champion in the 2006 film "Rocky Balboa".


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Tarver made his professional debut at the age of 28 on February 18, 1997, with a second-round knockout of Joaquin Garcia at the legendary "Blue Horizon" in Philadelphia.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Tarver won his first 16 fights, 14 by knockout, before stepping up his level of competition. After taking most of his first 16 fights in either his native Florida or at the "Blue Horizon", for his 11th fight he met veteran Rocky Gannon in Chester, West Virginia, on August 30, 1998. Tarver knocked out Gannon in the second round.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: On February 29, 2000, Tarver scored a knockout against Ernest M-16 Mateen in Las Vegas. Later that year, Tarver suffered his first loss when he was knocked down in the 11th round by Eric Harding, en route to a unanimous decision on June 23 in Biloxi, Mississippi. This was an IBF title elimination bout, where the winner would face Roy Jones Jr.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: In 2002, Tarver defeated former two-weight world champion Reggie Johnson by split decision to win the NABF & USBA light-heavyweight titles, and a guaranteed title shot at Roy Jones. He then scored a fifth round stoppage over Harding in a rematch that was on the undercard of the rematch between Shane Mosely and Vernon Forrest. Tarver was trailing on the scorecards until the 4th round, when he sent Harding to the canvas with a barrage of unanswered power shots; Harding was also floored twice in the 5th round, leading to the stoppage.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: On April 26, 2003, Tarver received his first world title shot, when he faced former WBC champion Montel Griffin for the WBC & IBF light-heavyweight titles that had been vacated by Roy Jones Jr., who had gone on to defeat John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight title the previous month. After dropping Griffin in the first and last rounds, Tarver was crowned champion after winning a unanimous decision.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Next, rather than remain at heavyweight, Jones planned to return to light-heavyweight and regain his belts. Given little chance of winning, Tarver took a weight-drained Jones the distance and lost the fight and WBC title by a majority decision on November 8, 2003, in Las Vegas (Tarver had relinquished the IBF title a few days earlier in anticipation of being unable to make a mandatory defense.)


title: Antonio Tarver

text: In a rematch on May 15, 2004, in Las Vegas, Tarver upset the odds to regain the WBC title and win the WBA (Super) title by knocking Jones out in the second round. In fifty previous fights, Jones had only been sent to the floor once, leaving most observers shocked at the result.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Tarver became a mainstream celebrity after his rematch win over Jones, making appearances at late-night shows, appearing on the cover of both Ring and KO Magazine, being spotted by television cameras as a spectator at various boxing fights, and co-hosting ESPN's "Friday Night Fights" for one telecast.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Later in 2004, the WBC decided to strip Tarver of the world title after he decided against fighting their mandatory challenger, instead choosing to fight IBF title holder Glen Johnson December 18 in Temecula, California; Tarver had already been removed as Super Champion by the WBA in their July rankings. Johnson himself had been stripped of his IBF title before the bout with Tarver for not fighting his mandatory challenger. Both fighters were celebrated for their decision to fight each other rather than bow to the pressure from what has become known as "The Alphabet Soup" sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF).


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Tarver, considered a favorite to win the fight, suffered an upset loss to Johnson by way of a split decision in a fight that he did not appear to be in top shape for. Tarver avenged the loss six months later with a unanimous decision, out-boxing and out-working the aggressive Johnson at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee to regain The Ring championship.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: In their third fight, Tarver won a unanimous decision over Roy Jones Jr. on October 1, 2005, in Tampa, Florida, almost knocking Jones down in the 11th round but also finding himself in trouble at times during the fight.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: On June 10, 2006, Tarver faced former undisputed world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins for Tarver's "The Ring" title at The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hopkins, a 3-to-1 underdog, dominated the fight, outboxing Tarver to win a unanimous decision. The fight was scored 118–109 by all three judges. Tarver was knocked down in the 5th round. Tarver's record would now stand at 24 wins and 4 losses, with 18 wins coming by way of knockout.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Tarver returned to the ring nearly one year after his loss to Hopkins, defeating Albanian-fighter Elvir Muriqi on June 9, 2007, by way of a majority decision. In his next fight, held at Foxwoods Resort Casino on December 1, 2007, Tarver registered a win over Danny Santiago by way of a 4th round TKO.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: On October 11, 2008, Tarver faced rising star Chad Dawson for Tarver's IBF title. The fight took place at Palms Casino in Las Vegas. Tarver lost the fight via unanimous decision, with wide margins of 118–109 and 117–110 (twice). The outcome was not disputed.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: With the loss to Dawson, it was speculated that Tarver may choose to retire; however, he later announced that he and Dawson would meet in a rematch in March 2009.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: A rematch with Dawson, originally announced for March 14, 2009, had to be postponed due to an injury suffered by Dawson. Finally, on May 9, the two fighters met at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. Tarver, who came to the fight as a 5:1 underdog, again lost by unanimous decision.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Following the rematch loss to Dawson, Tarver took over a year off from the ring, before returning on 15 October 2010 to defeat Nagy Aguilera by 10 round unanimous decision in a bout that took place in the heavyweight division. For this fight Tarver officially weighed 221 lbs, some 46 lbs more than he had weighed for the Dawson rematch.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: On 20 July 2011, Tarver took on Australian IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in Tarver's debut in the 200 lb cruiserweight division.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Tarver dominated the fight, knocking Green down in the second round and controlling the majority of the action from there on in. After taking heavy punishment and being saved by the bell at the end of round 9, Green failed to come out for the start of round 10, allowing Tarver to take the victory and the title by TKO.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: On February 25, 2021, it was announced that Tarver would be returning to the ring for the first time since 2015. He was signed to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir in Mir's boxing debut on April 17 on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren. Tarver intended to represent mental health advocacy and has said he would dedicate the bout with Mir


title: Antonio Tarver

text: to all survivors or victims of mental health disorders. However, On March 23, it was announced that Tarver had withdrawn from the bout after not being cleared by the Georgia Athletic & Entertainment Commission. He was replaced by former IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Tarver starred as heavyweight champion Mason "The Line" Dixon in the 2006 film "Rocky Balboa". In the film the current, unpopular, champion Dixon fights former champion Rocky Balboa, who decides to come out of retirement. Dixon wins the match by split decision, and after breaking his hand in the second round of the bout but still managing to stand toe to toe with Rocky for the full 10 rounds, proves to doubters that he has the heart of a champion. The DVD of the movie offers an alternate ending, in which Rocky wins the split decision. Dixon's record before the fight is 33-0 (30 KO).


title: Antonio Tarver

text: Also on the DVD, the film's writer and director Sylvester Stallone wanted to cast a real boxer in the role of Dixon, as he thought it would be easier to teach a boxer how to act than to teach an actor how to box convincingly. Tarver is one of only three fighters to actually defeat "Rocky Balboa" in film.


title: Antonio Tarver

text: After his loss to Dawson in June 2009, Tarver served as a boxing analyst for Showtime Championship Boxing.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: Too Close for Comfort is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from November 11, 1980, to May 5, 1983, and in first-run syndication from April 7, 1984, to February 7, 1987. Its name was changed to The Ted Knight Show when the show was retooled in 1986 for what would turn out to be its final season, due to Ted Knight's death. The original concept of the series was based on the 1980s British sitcom "Keep It in the Family". Knight plays work-at-home cartoonist Henry Rush, whose two adult daughters live in the downstairs apartment of his San Francisco townhouse. The family moves to Marin County for the show's final season, where Rush becomes a co-owner of the local weekly newspaper.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: Henry and Muriel Rush are owners of a two-unit house at 171–173 Buena Vista Avenue East San Francisco, California. Henry is a conservative cartoonist who authors a comic strip called "Cosmic Cow" with a hand-puppet version of "Cosmic Cow." Muriel is a freelance photographer. They have two adult daughters, Jackie and Sara.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: Additional characters include Sara's friend, Monroe Ficus, and Henry's boss, Arthur Wainwright, who was head of Wainwright Publishing. The character of Monroe was originally intended to be used for only a single episode but producers added the character to the series.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: During its second season, the series' principal stories were focused around Muriel's pregnancy. Henry's niece April comes from Delaware to live with the Rush family. The season concluded with Muriel giving birth to a son, Andrew (later played regularly by twins William and Michael Cannon from 1983 to 1984).


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: The character of Henry Rush became famous for wearing sweatshirts from various American colleges and universities. Fans would send in sweatshirts from universities around the country hoping they would be used during taping.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: In the fall of 1982, ABC moved the series to Thursday nights, which proved to be disastrous and the show saw its ratings fall drastically. The network canceled the series at the conclusion of the season, after falling from #6 for the 1981–82 season, down to #38 for the 1982–83 season.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: During the early 1980s, TV station owner Metromedia was expanding its portfolio of original syndicated programming through its production subsidiary, Metromedia Producers Corporation. When "Too Close for Comfort" was canceled by ABC, Metromedia Producers Corporation elected to pick up the series and began producing all-new episodes to run on various stations throughout the country. Starting in April 1984, a total of 23 new episodes were broadcast for the show's fourth season, featuring the same cast as seen on the ABC episodes. The show's ratings improved in syndication and Metromedia ordered an additional 30 episodes, airing through November 1985. When the fifth season began, a single child actor, Joshua Goodwin, took over the role of Andrew Rush.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: In late 1985, several changes were made before production started for season six. The largest changes were to the show's title, which was changed to "The Ted Knight Show" (not to be confused with the short-lived 1978 CBS show of the same name), and to the premise and setting. Henry had retired from drawing Cosmic Cow and, along with Muriel and Andrew, moved to Marin County where Henry bought a share of a local newspaper and became its editor. Monroe followed the Rushes to Marin County and eventually got a job with Henry's paper as a reporter. Veteran actress Pat Carroll joined the cast as Hope Stinson, who owned the majority share of the newspaper and who served as a foil for Henry. In addition, the writers gave the Rushes a live-in nanny for Andrew and brought in Lisa Antille to play the role. Deborah Van Valkenburgh and Lydia Cornell were dropped from the series, as was Audrey Meadows.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: First-run episodes of "The Ted Knight Show" were broadcast starting in April 1986. Twenty-two episodes were produced prior to the summer of 1986 and 12 had aired by mid-July. The revamped show was scheduled to resume production until the death of star Ted Knight, who had been battling colon cancer since 1985. The 10 remaining first-run episodes were broadcast from September 1986 to February 1987, after which those episodes were added to the "Too Close for Comfort" syndicated rerun package and reverted to the original show title.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: The show entered daily broadcast syndication in the fall of 1986, which continued until 2003. The syndication rights for "Too Close for Comfort" are held by DLT Entertainment, a production and distribution company owned by show producer D.L. Taffner.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: , the full series is available through the on-demand section of ViacomCBS's streaming service Pluto TV.


title: Too Close for Comfort

text: Rhino Entertainment Company (under its "Rhino Retrovision" classic TV entertainment brand) released the first two seasons of "Too Close for Comfort" on DVD in Region 1 in 2004/2005. However, Rhino did not obtain the original, uncut versions of the episodes for the Season 1 release and instead used the versions edited for syndication (like those seen on Nickelodeon's sister networks, Nick at Nite and TV Land), which are missing several minutes of footage, including the final scene of each episode before the closing credits. (The episodes are also dubbed to replace references to Oakland with "Oldtown", mostly in a running gag where Henry reacts to the city's name with horror; the joke was perceived as a slur, as Oakland had a much larger Black population than San Francisco.)


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The Mexican Air Force (FAM; ) is the primary aerial warfare service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and depends on the National Defense Secretariat (SEDENA). The objective of the FAM is to defend the integrity, independence, and sovereignty of Mexico. Its auxiliary tasks include internal security, assisting with public works, and natural disaster management. Since December 2017, its commander is Miguel Enrique Vallín Osuna.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The official predecessor of the Air Force was the Army's Auxiliary Aerial Militia Squadron (), created during the Mexican Revolution in April 1913 by the Secretary of War and Navy General Manuel Mondragón, who authorized pilots Miguel Lebrija and Juan Guillermo Villasana to bomb targets on Campo de Balbuena, in Mexico City.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: On February 5, 1915, the leader of the Constitutionalist Army, Venustiano Carranza, founded the Military Aviation Arm (), which would become the current air force. Its first commander was Lt. Alberto Salinas Carranza.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: When WWI Ace U.S. Colonel Ralph O'Neill was hired to head the restructuring of the Mexican Air Force in 1920, he reported to General Plutarco Elías Calles that most of the aircraft available had to be replaced. Until August 1920, the entire fleet consisted of 13 national made prototypes of mixed engine design. These were functional yet ill-equipped for battle, 4 being scout monoplanes. 5 others were in repair and over 20 more at the TNCA were obsolete or wrecked beyond repair. The branch initially consisted of 27 pilots, 17 of which were cadets. In anticipation of the new "Chief", a purchase was made of 13 French Farman F.50 night bombers. Commander O'Neill soon acquired 35 British made Avro 504K and Avro 504J airplanes, which later would be made in Mexico under the name . O'Neill was the first to introduce the term "Fuerza Aérea Mexicana" (FAM) naming the organization as such. The next step was the formation of classified fighter, bombing, observation and reconnaissance squadrons, as well as the decentralization of Air Force units throughout the country at strategic bases. O'Neill then set to work with his co-instructors German Fritz Bieler and Frenchman Joe Ben Lievre, using the first intercom known as the "Gosport System", invented by Robert Smith-Barry, in order to give in-air commands. O'Neill not only implemented new combat strategy, but also flew many decisive missions.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: From 1923 to 1929, Mexico was immersed in a wave of violent territorial, religious and military armed rebellions, which required the new Air Force to quickly deploy support wherever the federal army requested them. These conflicts were resolved mostly by the assertive use of air superiority alone.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: On December 7, 1923, former President Adolfo de la Huerta launched a military coup (delahuertista rebellion) against the government of President Álvaro Obregón. The situation was extremely critical, because along with de la Huerta, about 60% of the army revolted, including various high-ranking generals across the country. The power tilted back in favor of the federal forces when the United States agreed to furnish the Mexican government with a fleet of new de Havilland DH-4B aircraft equipped with the Liberty motor, armed with Lewis and Vickers machine guns and able to carry bombs. The military coup was suffocated by February 1924.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In 1925, due to the shortage of airplanes caused by World War I, Mexico set up the National Aviation Workshops (TNCA) to design and build its own airplanes and aeroengines.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: A territorial war was that of the Sonora Yaqui Indians who demanded by force that previous territorial treaties were implemented. The conflict lasted from 1926 to 1927, and it came to an end when a new treaty was implemented.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: When President Plutarco Elías Calles pushed for the creation of the 'Mexican Apostolic Catholic Church', independent of Rome, it unleashed a widespread religious war known as the Cristero War. This long civil war lasted from 1926 to 1929.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In May 1927, while General Obregón seemed keen to impose the presidency to General Calles, General Arnulfo R. Gómez launched a military coup against both Obregón and Calles. His command posts were located in the cities of Puebla and Veracruz, where he led approximately 200 federal deserters, ammunition and weapons. The air force played a key role in their defeat.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Then, on March 3, 1929, a serious military coup took place, led by General José Gonzalo Escobar and heeded by various other generals. In these days, the air force's remaining airplanes consisted of worn and shot Bristol F.2 Fighter, Bristol Boarhound, de Havilland DH-4B and Douglas O-2C, a force that was not suitable to defeat Escobar's power. In this context, the Mexican government convinced the U.S. government to promote the peace south of its border and quickly make available twelve new OU-2M Corsair with the 400 hp Wasp engine, nine Douglas O-2M, four "Stearman C3B" and six Waco Taper Wings. Only two weeks after making the request, the U.S. government agreed, and several Mexican pilots travelled to Brownsville, Texas, and New York to pick up the new aircraft. The key victory was decided in late March 1929 at the Battle of Jiménez, Chihuahua, where after several days of air raids, Escobar was defeated by General Calles, taking about 6000 prisoners. This rebellion was quite serious, since a third of the officials and nearly 30,000 soldiers rebelled; in two months, more than 2000 men had been killed.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In May 1938, the Governor of San Luis Potosí, General Saturnino Cedillo, declared himself in rebellion and President Lázaro Cárdenas travelled there to personally mount the campaign against the revolt. The Air Force organized a mixed fleet of 17 aircraft that included some new V-99M Corsair, engaging the enemy assertively when spotted. Cedillo quickly realized he had no chance in open fields against the air force and ran to the Huasteca Hills, where his men dispersed, abandoning him.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: With the imminent collapse of the Spanish Republic in 1939, the Mexican government took delivery of military aircraft destined for the Republic, strengthening its arsenal.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The Escuadrón 201, a P-47D fighter squadron of the Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana (Mexican Expeditionary Air Force), served in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan during World War II. It consisted of 25 aircraft and had 300 airmen and supporting staff. The 201st Squadron, completed 96 combat missions over the Philippines (Battle of Luzon) and Formosa (Taiwan). It is the only unit of the Mexican armed forces ever to see overseas combat.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The first jet aircraft operated by the Mexican Air Force was the subsonic de Havilland Vampire Mk.I. Mexico received 17 Vampires during late 1960 and early 1961. This jet was nicknamed "The Flying Avocado" by Mexican flight crews due to the ovoid shape of its fuselage and the dark green night camouflage adopted by its first units. The Vampires were not popular with Mexican fighter pilots because of its lack of ejection seats. The FAM finally retired them in 1970.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The Mexican Vampires were initially complemented by 15 Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star subsonic fighter aircraft received also in late 1961. Because of its more modern design, an ejection seat system and several other attributes, the T-33 was well liked by most FAM pilots and became a huge success as a patrol and interceptor aircraft. During the seventies and early eighties an additional 20 or more T-33s were procured by the FAM to replace aircraft lost in accidents and to increase the size of the fleet after the retirement of the Vampires.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In 1982, the FAM received 12 Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II jets (10 F-5Es and 2 F-5Fs). The F-5 gave Mexico its first supersonic platform and saw the formation of Air Squadron 401. Since the 1980s the F-5 became the main Mexican fighter jet while the remaining operational T-33s were used for subsonic support and light attack roles.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In 1983 one F-5E was lost in an accident that occurred during a target practice exercise in the state of Chihuahua.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: On January 1, 1994, the day the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect, hundreds of guerrillas from the previously unknown Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) occupied several towns and cities in the southern state of Chiapas.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The FAM was mobilized to support Army units, sending almost every available helicopter to the territory of operations. Units involved included the recently formed 214th and 215th Special Operations Squadrons, equipped with a mix of Bell 212 assault- and MD.530F scout helicopters. Up to 40 helicopters were deployed to support an initial deployment of 10,000 ground troops.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Bell 212s were armed in two configurations: for fire support with twin MAG 7.62-mm gun pods and cabin-mounted GPMGs; or as gunship, with LAU-32 70-mm rocket launchers, a twin MAG gun-pod and cabin mounted MAG GPMGs.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Pumas, Bell 205s, 206s and 212s from the 209th were also deployed, however, FAM's helicopter assets were scarce and the Mexican Army had to rely on almost every other government agency's helicopters for general support tasks. Almost any flyable aircraft from the National Attorney's Office (PGR) was also deployed, including Bell 206s and 212s, as well as the Navy's recently acquired Mi-8MTV-1s. Eventually the Army deployed some 70,000 ground troops and air support proved to be insufficient; hence the decision was taken to considerably expand the FAM's helicopter fleet.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: By December 1994, FAM had bought additional 12 armed MD.530MG 'Defender' and four UH-60L Blackhawk helicopters, which it grouped into the 216th Special Operations Squadron. This unit was the spearhead of operation "Arco Iris" (Rainbow) to re-take several towns that had fallen under rebel control in January 1994. The new militarized Defenders came armed with M2AC machine-guns and LAU-68A 70-mm rocket launchers. Three additional units were ordered in 1996 and delivered as attrition replacements in March 1998. Black


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Although the FAM received 18 surplus Bell 206s from the Attorney General's office (PGR) in the mid-1990s, the main need identified by the FAM High Command was for a new fleet of transport helicopters that would allow it to support the Army with an adequate airlift capability.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: On September 16, 1995, after more than 30 yearly military parade flights without incidents, an F-5E collided in mid-air with three Lockheed T-33s during the parade for the Independence of Mexico. All aircraft were lost and a total of 10 deaths occurred. Since then, for safety reasons, military parade flyovers in Mexico have been smaller in participation.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In 2007, after more than 45 years in service, the last operational T-33s were retired. In 2012, the F-5 fighter jets had their 30th anniversary in Mexican Air Force service. Due to high operating costs, lack of parts, and the extreme age of the aircraft, the Mexican Air Force retired their 3 remaining F-5s in late 2017. In early 2019, the Mexican Air Force received repaired engines for their F-5 fighters, as part of an effort to return a handful of the aircraft to operational status.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Because of the ongoing Mexican Drug War, increasing importance has been placed on acquiring airborne surveillance platforms, UAVs, light attack aircraft, helicopters and rapid troop transports.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: On 21 February 2021, a Learjet 45XR operated by the Mexican Air Force crashed while taking off from El Lencero Airport in Veracruz, killing all six people on board.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: A national commander under the orders of the Secretary of National Defense is in charge of the Mexican Air Force. The second-in-command is the Air Force Chief of Staff, who supervises a Deputy Chief of Operations and a Deputy Chief of Management. The Air Force divides the country's territory into four regions: Northwestern (Mexicali, Baja California), Northeastern (Chihuahua, Chihuahua), Central (Mexico City) and Southeastern (Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas); each region is commanded by a general. The regional headquarters are in charge of 18 air bases across the country:


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The FAM offers higher education, middle education, technical training, tactical training and specialized technical training in its various campuses:


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Since the National School of Aviation was opened in 1915, it took different names over the years until finally, in 1959 it joined the military school of meteorology, mechanics and aviation specialists, forming the leading campus in military aviation education: 'El Colegio del Aire' (Air Force Academy), which since September 9, 1959, has guided the formation of Air Force officers. The Air Force Academy is an all academic institution of the Mexican Air Force and comprises four schools: 'Military Aviation School', 'Maintenance and Supply Military School', 'Air Force Military Specialist School', and the 'Military Troops' Air Force Speciaslist School'.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Admission to the Air Force is through the mechanism of military recruitment that takes place every year at The Ministry of Defense. The FAM currently offers tertiary level studies – highlighting that of Military Pilot, which spans 4 years at the facilities of the Air Force Academy located on the Military Air Base No. 5 in Zapopan, Jalisco.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: The subjects taught in pilot training include: tactics of the branches of aviation, general aviation tactics, meteorology, air navigation, air traffic control, radio communications and culture in general, along with approximately 250 hours of flight. During the first year, the training is theoretical. During the second year, Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft are used for flight instruction. During the third the cadets are trained Aermacchi SF260EU for aerobatics, and later on Pilatus PC-7 for advanced flight tactics, including combat. Within each of these stages, the cadets are trained in aerial acrobatics, stage tactical instrument flight, visual flying rules (VFR), radio operations, among others, which increase in complexity as the cadets' training progresses. The first female aviator to graduate as a pilot in the history of FAM, Andrea Cruz, became a cadet at the Military Aviation School in 2007.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: Military School of Air Force Specialist offers a comprehensive scholarship lasting three years for officer training meteorologists and flight control, obtaining at the graduate level of lieutenant. His duties are to provide meteorological information and control of military or civil aircraft.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In this school, officers are trained as aviation maintenance specialists, aviation electronics specialists, weapons and air supply lines.


title: Mexican Air Force

text: To enter any of the campuses of the Air Force, SEDENA convenes a competitive entrance examination which is held each year. The requirements are:


title: Mexican Air Force

text: In order to be admitted to any school of the Mexican Air Force Academy mentioned above, the applicant should also perform the following tests: physical, medical, cultural, and aviation psychology. In some cases, the psychological aeromedical 2nd level examination may also be required.


title: Temple Run

text: Temple Run is a 3D endless running video game developed and published by Imangi Studios. The player controls an explorer who has obtained an ancient relic and runs from demonic monkey-like creatures chasing him. The game was initially released for iOS devices on August 4, 2011, and later ported to Android systems and Windows Phone 8.


title: Temple Run

text: The game was a commercial success with positive reviews from critics. The success of the game led to a sequel, "Temple Run 2". Collaborations with Disney/Pixar led to "Temple Run: Brave" and "Temple Run: Oz", and a third spin-off in development by Scopely titled, "Temple Run: Treasure Hunters" as a match-three video game. Temple Run also received activity books and a board game, with Warner Bros. Studios talking with Imangi Studios of a possible film adaptation. The success of the game also inspired multiple games that copy "Temple Run"s gameplay and branding.


title: Temple Run

text: In "Temple Run", the player controls either Guy Dangerous, an average explorer, Scarlett Fox, an escape artist, Barry Bones, a city cop, Karma Lee, the fastest runner in the Far East, Montana Smith, the "second greatest explorer ever" (referring to Indiana Jones being the greatest explorer), Francisco Montoya, a Spanish conquistador, or Zack Wonder, a football star. The character chosen will embark on an adventure to seek an ancient and valuable golden idol from an Aztec temple. They will not realize that the temple is inhabited by a family of demonic monkeys who wants to devour them. As the game is an endless running game, there is no end to the temple; the player plays until the character collides into a large obstacle, falls into the water, or is overtaken by the demon monkeys.


title: Temple Run

text: While the character is running, the player can tilt their device left or right to move the character to either side of the screen to collect coins and/or avoid obstacles. There are three types of coins to be found while the character is running: gold, red, and blue. A gold coin will only add one coin to the player's total number of coins. Red coins are worth two coins, while blue coins are worth three. The coins can be used to buy and then upgrade power-ups and/or other characters. Coins can also be bought by the player through in-app purchases with payments of actual money. If the player wishes to turn left or right, the touchscreen can be swiped in the corresponding direction. If the player wishes to jump over an object, the screen can be swiped upwards and if they wish to slide under an object, the screen can be swiped downwards.


title: Temple Run

text: "Temple Run" was designed, programmed, and produced by husband-and-wife team Keith Shepherd and Natalia Luckyanova with art by Kiril Tchangov. The game took a total of four months to develop. Development began after the financial failure of Imangi Studio's previous game, "Max Adventure" and used that game to prototype Temple Run's controls. Imangi Studios wanted to make a quick game with simpler controls in contrast to "Max Adventure"'s dual analog controls.


title: Temple Run

text: Keith started the prototype by making a game where the character is always running and can be controlled by rotating the environment from a top-down perspective. This idea was scrapped due to causing extreme dizziness during testing. To fix the problem, constraints were added so that players can only make 90° turns and perspective be fixed behind the character. When it came to the game's aesthetics, multiple ideas were conceptualized but ultimately settled for the character to running on a pathway resembling the Great Wall of China or Aztec temple.


title: Temple Run

text: After the temple design was solidified, Imangi Studios questioned the player character's motivation for constantly running without any breaks and came up with the idea of having something chasing him. Imangi Studios originally had the aliens from "Max Adventure" as placeholders. Kiril created the design of evil demon monkeys and gave them skull masks due to his desire of adding skulls in games he's involved in. Natalia initially did not like having evil demon monkeys chasing the player character and found them terrifying. Keith and Kiril, however, liked the evil demon monkeys and convinced Natalia to remain in the final product. Natalia later admitted that they were right and that it added immediacy and adrenaline.


title: Temple Run

text: The coin and gem mechanic was originally intended to be a variety of colored gems where the player would receive different bonuses depending on what combination of gems was obtained, similar to Poker hand rankings but was proven too difficult to achieve and was scrapped. Natalia mentioned coins and Gems were particularly frustrating to add into the game that at one point were removed during development, but were added back due to the team missing them.


title: Temple Run

text: The game was released on the App Store on August 4, 2011. The game was originally for 99 cents to download, but was switched to freemium prior to December 2011.


title: Temple Run

text: On January 12, 2012, Imangi Studios announced on the "Temple Run" Facebook page that the game would be released for the Android platform in February. The game was released on Google Play on March 27, 2012, a month later than expected. As "Temple Run" was originally released with a custom, flexible engine on iOS, there were some difficulties when it was ported to Android, primarily related to the use of the Unity game engine. The game frequently crashed, occasionally caused devices to overheat, and drained battery life extremely quickly. This led to generally unfavourable reviews.


title: Temple Run

text: An arcade version was developed by Coastal Amusements and released on 2012. The arcade version was discontinued some time after.


title: Temple Run

text: In November 2013, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Warner Bros. Pictures and producer David Heyman were in talks with Imangi Studios to make a movie version of "Temple Run".


title: Temple Run

text: In July 2014, a "Temple Run" fiction series and an activity book was published by Egmont Publishing. The series is called "Run For Your Life", with the first four titles called "Jungle Trek", "Doom Lagoon", "Arctic Rescue" and "Pyramid Peril". The series is a "choose-your-own-ending" series aimed at fans of the game and books like "Beast Quest". The activity book, "Temple Run Downloaded" is shaped like a tablet and includes "Temple Run" info, character profiles, mazes and brain teasers.


title: Temple Run

text: Since its initial release on the App Store, the popularity of the game has soared, to the point that Imangi Studios became more popular than Zynga. In the iTunes Store, the game was included in the top 50 most-downloaded apps in December 2011, and eventually became the number one free iOS app in the Store. It also reached the position of the top grossing iOS app. The Android version was downloaded one million times within three days of its release. As of June 2014, "Temple Run" and its sequel have been downloaded over 1 billion times.


title: Temple Run

text: "Temple Run" has been generally well-received amongst critics. The iOS version holds an aggregate score of 80 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 10 reviews. Phillip Levin of "148Apps" praised the gameplay but criticizing the backgrounds; "my big qualm with "Temple Run" lies in the fact that the majority of the game's scenery looks the same. Yeah, the scenery does change here and there, but most of the time, gamers are running through ruined, temple pathways that look consistently the same. It all starts to blur together after a while." "AppSpy" Andrew Nesvadba was more impressed, writing ""Temple Run" tightens up and polishes the endless-runner for the 3rd dimension, giving players a unique and fun challenge that controls like a dream." "TouchArcade" Nissa Campbell praising its move away from the "one-button jumping control system" of most endless runners, as well as the game's "milieu"; "Any endless runner worth the name will give you high-tension situations and that "one more time" compulsion. But "Temple Run" is probably the only one that also makes you feel like a daring archaeologist with a penchant for deadly situations."


title: Temple Run

text: "Gamezebo" Art Green called it "an instant iPhone classic," and writing "addictive doesn't even accurately describe the game. Enthralling gameplay as the game speeds up. Objectives add goals that keep you playing." "Slide to Play" Andrew Webster praised the upgrade system, 3D graphics, and controls, concluding "Even if you think you're sick of automatic runners, "Temple Run" proves there's still much life left in the genre. It matches the sheer thrill and intensity of "Canabalt", but with a completely new theme and perspective. We've all wanted to be Indiana Jones at some point, and now's your chance."


title: Temple Run

text: "IGN" Justin Davis praised the game's depth and upgrade system, which he felt distinguished it from other endless runners, such as "Canabalt" and "Robot Unicorn Attack". He concluded that ""Temple Run" is a fast and frenzied iPhone experience. The combination of swiping and tilt controls give each session a frantic feeling [...] Gamers craving a new iOS time waster should give "Temple Run" a long look."


title: Temple Run

text: "PC Magazine" Laarni Almendrala Ragaza called the initial Android version "crisp", with "snappy" navigation. They also included it in their "Mobile Apps to keep Kids Happy" list.


title: Temple Run

text: In the wake of "Temple Run's" success, other developers created games of a similar style, such as "Temple Guns", "Temple Jump", "Piggy Run", "Zombie Run" and "Pyramid Run". Imangi Studios co-founder Keith Shepherd found it flattering that developers were inspired by the game to create interesting games that make them unique. However, Shepard also found it frustrating when developers took exact gameplay, branding, and assets from their original game. This led to many of the copycat games from indie developer Anton Sinelnikov being removed from the App Store.


title: Temple Run

text: "Temple Run" was followed by several sequels and spin-offs, becoming the first game in the "Temple Run" series. The second entry in the series is "Temple Run: Brave" and is a spin-off based on the film, "Brave". It was released on Android and iOS on June 14, 2012. The third entry in the series is "Temple Run 2" and serves as the direct sequel to "Temple Run". "Temple Run 2" was released on iOS on January 16, 2013. The fourth entry is "Temple Run: Oz" and is the second spin-off in the series, now based on the film, "Oz the Great and Powerful". "Temple Run: Oz" was released in early 2013. The fifth entry in the series is "Temple Run VR" and released for the Samsung Gear VR headset on December 23, 2014.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: An Idiot Abroad is a British travel documentary comedy television series broadcast on Sky One, as well as a series of companion books published by Canongate Books, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and starring Karl Pilkington. The ongoing theme of both the television series and the books is that Pilkington has no interest in global travel, so Merchant and Gervais make him travel while they stay in the United Kingdom and monitor his progress.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: Originally titled "Karl Pilkington's Seven Wonders of the World", "An Idiot Abroad" documents Karl Pilkington's journeys to foreign countries under the guise of visiting the New Seven Wonders of the World. Though the New Seven Wonders of the World include the Colosseum in Rome, this is not one of Pilkington's destinations, Gervais and Merchant feeling Karl would be too comfortable in Italy; instead he visits the Great Pyramids in Egypt (which is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to remain intact). Most of each episode focuses on Pilkington's reactions to cultural differences and idiosyncrasies in the countries he visits. Gervais and Merchant call Pilkington during each trip, to assign him tasks often not related to why he believed he was visiting the country. These include training as a luchador, travelling the desert on a camel, and dancing with a samba school in a Carnival parade. It was confirmed by the show's producers that Pilkington has no prior warning about these situations. The camera man coaxes him along. Gervais commented: "This is a [more real] documentary than most others you'll ever see on television. We don't plan it, he doesn't know what's going to happen."


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: A book entitled "The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington" was published shortly after the series. It was authored by Pilkington and gives a deeper insight into his feelings on what he was experiencing.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: Gervais produced a Christmas special mini-series that aired in the UK in late 2012. The original concept, pitched by Gervais, was to show Pilkington and Warwick Davis travelling around England on a bike together. The outcome featured the pair travelling to China from Venice via Eastern Europe and India, loosely based on the journey of Marco Polo. Gervais said, "We started planning the route for "An Idiot Abroad 3: The Short Way Round", this week. It's only a three-part special but we've decided to make it a bit more global as opposed to 'around Kent for a few days', Pilkington is starting to regret it already." "An Idiot Abroad 3" did not feature Stephen Merchant, who was busy with other projects. After the conclusion of the show, Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington worked together again in the TV series "Derek".


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: There is also an official podcast to accompany the programme and book. The programme was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky1, and has since started airing in other countries.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: The very first episode of "An Idiot Abroad" aired on 23 September 2010 at 9:30pm on Sky1 and achieved an official audience figure of 1,241,000 viewers based on BARB. These audience figures were Sky1's best viewer numbers for a debuting show since "Terry Pratchett's Going Postal" four months earlier, making "An Idiot Abroad" the fourth-most popular non-terrestrial programme that day. The program increased its viewing figures throughout its run, with Episode 3 attracting 1,850,000 viewers and Episode 7 attracting 1,918,000 viewers.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: The show returned on 23 September 2011 at 9:00pm on Sky1 with 2,659,000 viewers, making it the most watched Sky1 and non-terrestrial programme since 2005.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: A three-part Christmas special was shown from 30 November 2012 to 14 December 2012 on Sky1. Pilkington is joined by actor Warwick Davis travelling to various locations along the route taken by Marco Polo to China. On 21 December 2012, a fourth episode entitled "A Commentary" was broadcast; it featured Davis, Pilkington, and Gervais commenting on Episode 3. Gervais confirmed that the specials would be the end of the series.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: In February 2013, Science, which broadcast all three series in North America, began rebroadcasting episodes of "An Idiot Abroad" under the title "An Idiot Abroad: Lost Luggage", marketed as "Karl Pilkington's greatest journeys... now with never-before-seen footage" and "Same idiot, more scenes." Each "Lost Luggage" episode is made up of the original episode and two brief, new "Lost Luggage" segments filmed at Gervais's home in England that were not part of the original episode. In each "Lost Luggage" segment, Gervais and Pilkington hold a short discussion.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: The first series was released in the UK on 15 November 2010 for DVD and Blu-ray. The second series was released on 21 November 2011, as well as a box set featuring series 1 and 2. The third series was released on DVD in the UK on 24 December 2012, as well as a box set featuring series 1, 2 and 3.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: The first series was released on Blu-ray in the US on 16 November 2010, and a Blu-ray box set of the first and second series on 29 November 2011. The first series was released on DVD on 10 January 2012, and series two was released on DVD on 8 January 2013.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: This is a list of countries, locations and events that Pilkington experiences over all three series of "An Idiot Abroad". China, India and the United States are the only countries that he visits more than once, and China is the only country that appears in all three series.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: "An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington" is the fourth book written by Karl Pilkington. This book is an accompaniment to the television series "An Idiot Abroad". It was released through Canongate Books. A second book entitled "The Further Adventures of An Idiot Abroad" was released on 20 September 2012 by Canongate Books. The second book features a conclusion where "An Idiot Abroad 3" is featured, but it is unclear if a third book will be released.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: The show has received widespread acclaim. Tim Goodman of "The Hollywood Reporter" praised the show, saying: "At times, it's nearly impossible not to fall apart laughing. "An Idiot Abroad" is ridiculously funny and even when it's clear that Gervais and Merchant—pulling the strings back home in England and communicating with Pilkington via cell phone (some of these exchanges are scripted and sound added post-production, since cell coverage is not available in remote areas)—are having a cruel laugh, it's nearly impossible not to fall apart laughing at poor Pilkington's fate." "TV Shows on DVD" gave the first series a positive review, saying: "I've been to places featured in three of the episodes, and it was a blast watching Karl experience them."


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: James Draven from "MSN" gave the second series a positive review: ""An Idiot Abroad 2" may dress up its premise as 'bucket list,' but it's really a fish-out-of-water presentation of Karl Pilkington's idiot-savant credentials. The laughter he inevitably provokes, regardless of the situation, make this a must-see. If you miss it, you'll miss out," and gave the first episode four stars.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: Reviewing the show's third series, "Shiny Potato" said: "Warwick Davis is a welcome addition to the series, as he only seems to make Karl's reactions worse." Ricky Gervais believes the third series to be the show's best.


title: An Idiot Abroad

text: In Autumn 2013, a spin-off series called "The Moaning of Life "aired on Sky1. It once again featured Pilkington travelling around the world and was produced in a similar style. Its premise is different, however, as Pilkington set out to discover how other cultures deal with "life's biggest issues". Gervais and Merchant were not involved in the project and they did not appear in the series or its credits.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Alpha–beta pruning is a search algorithm that seeks to decrease the number of nodes that are evaluated by the minimax algorithm in its search tree. It is an adversarial search algorithm used commonly for machine playing of two-player games (Tic-tac-toe, Chess, Connect 4, etc.). It stops evaluating a move when at least one possibility has been found that proves the move to be worse than a previously examined move. Such moves need not be evaluated further. When applied to a standard minimax tree, it returns the same move as minimax would, but prunes away branches that cannot possibly influence the final decision.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon who used what John McCarthy calls an "approximation" in 1958 wrote that alpha–beta "appears to have been reinvented a number of times". Arthur Samuel had an early version for a checkers simulation. Richards, Timothy Hart, Michael Levin and/or Daniel Edwards also invented alpha–beta independently in the United States. McCarthy proposed similar ideas during the Dartmouth workshop in 1956 and suggested it to a group of his students including Alan Kotok at MIT in 1961. Alexander Brudno independently conceived the alpha–beta algorithm, publishing his results in 1963. Donald Knuth and Ronald W. Moore refined the algorithm in 1975. Judea Pearl proved its optimality in terms of the expected running time for trees with randomly assigned leaf values in two papers. The optimality of the randomized version of alpha–beta was shown by Michael Saks and Avi Wigderson in 1986.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: A game tree can represent many two-player zero-sum games, such as chess, checkers, and reversi. Each node in the tree represents a possible situation in the game. Each terminal node (outcome) of a branch is assigned a numeric score that determines the value of the outcome to the player with the next move.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: The algorithm maintains two values, alpha and beta, which respectively represent the minimum score that the maximizing player is assured of and the maximum score that the minimizing player is assured of. Initially, alpha is negative infinity and beta is positive infinity, i.e. both players start with their worst possible score. Whenever the maximum score that the minimizing player (i.e. the "beta" player) is assured of becomes less than the minimum score that the maximizing player (i.e., the "alpha" player) is assured of (i.e. beta < alpha), the maximizing player need not consider further descendants of this node, as they will never be reached in the actual play.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: To illustrate this with a real-life example, suppose somebody is playing chess, and it is their turn. Move "A" will improve the player's position. The player continues to look for moves to make sure a better one hasn't been missed. Move "B" is also a good move, but the player then realizes that it will allow the opponent to force checkmate in two moves. Thus, other outcomes from playing move B no longer need to be considered since the opponent can force a win. The maximum score that the opponent could force after move "B" is negative infinity: a loss for the player. This is less than the minimum position that was previously found; move "A" does not result in a forced loss in two moves.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: The benefit of alpha–beta pruning lies in the fact that branches of the search tree can be eliminated. This way, the search time can be limited to the 'more promising' subtree, and a deeper search can be performed in the same time. Like its predecessor, it belongs to the branch and bound class of algorithms. The optimization reduces the effective depth to slightly more than half that of simple minimax if the nodes are evaluated in an optimal or near optimal order (best choice for side on move ordered first at each node).


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: With an (average or constant) branching factor of "b", and a search depth of "d" plies, the maximum number of leaf node positions evaluated (when the move ordering is pessimal) is "O"("b"×"b"×...×"b") = "O"("b") – the same as a simple minimax search. If the move ordering for the search is optimal (meaning the best moves are always searched first), the number of leaf node positions evaluated is about "O"("b"×1×"b"×1×...×"b") for odd depth and "O"("b"×1×"b"×1×...×1) for even depth, or formula_1. In the latter case, where the ply of a search is even, the effective branching factor is reduced to its square root, or, equivalently, the search can go twice as deep with the same amount of computation. The explanation of "b"×1×"b"×1×... is that all the first player's moves must be studied to find the best one, but for each, only the second player's best move is needed to refute all but the first (and best) first player move—alpha–beta ensures no other second player moves need be considered. When nodes are considered in a random order (i.e., the algorithm randomizes), asymptotically,


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: For the same trees, when the values are assigned to the leaf values independently of each other and say zero and one are both equally probable, the expected number of nodes evaluated is formula_3, which is much smaller than the work done by the randomized algorithm, mentioned above, and is again optimal for such random trees. When the leaf values are chosen independently of each other but from the formula_4 interval uniformly at random, the expected number of nodes evaluated increases to formula_5 in the formula_6 limit, which is again optimal for these kind random trees. Note that the actual work for "small" values of formula_7 is better approximated using formula_8.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: A chess program that searches four plies with an average of 36 branches per node evaluates more than one million terminal nodes. An optimal alpha-beta prune would eliminate all but about 2,000 terminal nodes, a reduction of 99.8%.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Normally during alpha–beta, the subtrees are temporarily dominated by either a first player advantage (when many first player moves are good, and at each search depth the first move checked by the first player is adequate, but all second player responses are required to try to find a refutation), or vice versa. This advantage can switch sides many times during the search if the move ordering is incorrect, each time leading to inefficiency. As the number of positions searched decreases exponentially each move nearer the current position, it is worth spending considerable effort on sorting early moves. An improved sort at any depth will exponentially reduce the total number of positions searched, but sorting all positions at depths near the root node is relatively cheap as there are so few of them. In practice, the move ordering is often determined by the results of earlier, smaller searches, such as through iterative deepening.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Additionally, this algorithm can be trivially modified to return an entire principal variation in addition to the score. Some more aggressive algorithms such as MTD(f) do not easily permit such a modification.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Implementations of alpha–beta pruning can often be delineated by whether they are "fail-soft," or "fail-hard". With fail-soft alpha–beta, the alphabeta function may return values (v) that exceed (v < α or v > β) the α and β bounds set by its function call arguments. In comparison, fail-hard alpha–beta limits its function return value into the inclusive range of α and β. The main difference between fail-soft and fail-hard implementations is whether α and β are updated before or after the cutoff check. If they are updated before the check, then they can exceed initial bounds and the algorithm is fail-soft.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Further improvement can be achieved without sacrificing accuracy by using ordering heuristics to search earlier parts of the tree that are likely to force alpha–beta cutoffs. For example, in chess, moves that capture pieces may be examined before moves that do not, and moves that have scored highly in earlier passes through the game-tree analysis may be evaluated before others. Another common, and very cheap, heuristic is the killer heuristic, where the last move that caused a beta-cutoff at the same tree level in the tree search is always examined first. This idea can also be generalized into a set of refutation tables.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Alpha–beta search can be made even faster by considering only a narrow search window (generally determined by guesswork based on experience). This is known as "aspiration search". In the extreme case, the search is performed with alpha and beta equal; a technique known as "zero-window search", "null-window search", or "scout search". This is particularly useful for win/loss searches near the end of a game where the extra depth gained from the narrow window and a simple win/loss evaluation function may lead to a conclusive result. If an aspiration search fails, it is straightforward to detect whether it failed "high" (high edge of window was too low) or "low" (lower edge of window was too high). This gives information about what window values might be useful in a re-search of the position.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Over time, other improvements have been suggested, and indeed the Falphabeta (fail-soft alpha–beta) idea of John Fishburn is nearly universal and is already incorporated above in a slightly modified form. Fishburn also suggested a combination of the killer heuristic and zero-window search under the name Lalphabeta ("last move with minimal window alpha–beta search").


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Since the minimax algorithm and its variants are inherently depth-first, a strategy such as iterative deepening is usually used in conjunction with alpha–beta so that a reasonably good move can be returned even if the algorithm is interrupted before it has finished execution. Another advantage of using iterative deepening is that searches at shallower depths give move-ordering hints, as well as shallow alpha and beta estimates, that both can help produce cutoffs for higher depth searches much earlier than would otherwise be possible.


title: Alpha–beta pruning

text: Algorithms like SSS*, on the other hand, use the best-first strategy. This can potentially make them more time-efficient, but typically at a heavy cost in space-efficiency.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll of the ball (a strike), or failing that, on the second roll (a spare).


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: An approximately long "approach" area used by the bowler to impart speed and apply rotation to the ball ends in a "foul line". The , lane is bordered along its length by "gutters" ("channels") that collect errant balls. The lane's long and narrow shape limits straight-line ball paths to angles that are smaller than optimum angles for achieving strikes; accordingly, bowlers impart side rotation to "hook" (curve) the ball into the pins to increase the likelihood of striking.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Oil is applied to approximately the first two-thirds of the lane's length to allow a "skid" area for the ball before it encounters friction and hooks. The oil is applied in different lengths and layout patterns, especially in professional and tournament play, to add complexity and regulate challenge in the sport. Especially when coupled with technological developments in ball design since the early 1990s, easier oil patterns common for league bowling enable many league bowlers to achieve scores rivaling those of professional bowlers who must bowl on more difficult patterns—a development that has caused substantial controversy.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Ten-pin bowling arose in the early 1800s as an alternative to nine-pin bowling, with truly standardized regulations not being agreed on until nearly the end of that century. After the development of automated mechanical pinsetters, the sport enjoyed a "golden age" in the mid twentieth century. People approach modern ten-pin bowling as either a demanding precision sport or as a simple recreational pastime. Following substantial declines since the 1980s in both professional tournament television ratings and amateur league participation, bowling centers have increasingly expanded to become diverse entertainment centers.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Ten-pin bowling is often simply referred to as bowling. Ten-pin, or less commonly big-ball, are prepended in the English-speaking world to distinguish it from other bowling types such as bowls, candlepin, duckpin and five-pin.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Ten-pin bowling lanes are from the foul line to the center of the head pin (1-pin), with guide arrows (aiming targets) about from the foul line. The lane is wide and has 39 wooden boards, or is made of a synthetic material with the 39 "boards" simulated using marking lines. The approach has two sets of dots, respectively and behind the foul line, to help with foot placement.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Modern bowling lanes have oil patterns designed not only to shield the lanes from damage from bowling ball impacts, but to provide bowlers with different levels of challenge in achieving strikes. As illustrated, a typical house pattern (or THS, typical house shot) has drier outside portions that give bowling balls more friction to hook (curve) into the pocket, but heavier oil concentrations surrounding the centerline so that balls slide directly toward the pocket with less hooking. In the more challenging sport patterns used in tournaments and professional-level matches, a "flat" oil pattern—one with oil distributed more evenly from side to side—provides little assistance in guiding the ball toward the pocket, and is less forgiving with regard to off-target shots. The ratio of centerline oil concentration to side oil concentration (the "oil ratio") can exceed 10-to-1 for THSs but is restricted to 3-to-1 or less for sport shots.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Lane oils, also called lane conditioners, are composed of about 98% mineral oil that, with numerous additives, are designed to minimize breakdown and carry-down that would change ball reaction after repeated ball rolls. Lane oils are characterized by different levels of viscosity, with oils of higher viscosity (thicker consistency) being more durable but causing balls to slow and hook earlier than lower-viscosity oils.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Rubber balls (introduced in 1905) were eventually supplanted by polyester ("plastic") balls (1959) and polyurethane ("urethane") balls (1980s). Coverstocks (surfaces) of bowling balls then evolved to increase the hook-enhancing friction between ball and lane: reactive resin balls arrived in the early 1990s, and particle-enhanced resin balls in the late 1990s. Meanwhile, the increasingly sophisticated technology of internal cores (also called "weight blocks") has increased balls' dynamic imbalance, which, in conjunction with the coverstocks' increased friction, enhances hook (curving) potential to achieve the higher entry angles that have enabled dramatic increases in strike percentage and game scores.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Hook potential has increased so much that dry lane conditions or spare shooting scenarios sometimes compel use of plastic or urethane balls, to purposely avoid the larger hook provided by reactive technology.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: The USBC regulates ball parameters including maximum diameter (), maximum circumference (), and maximum weight (16 pounds (7.26 kg)).


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Because pin spacing is much larger than ball size, it is impossible for the ball to contact all pins. Therefore, a tactical shot is required, which would result in a chain reaction of pins hitting other pins (called "pin scatter"). In what is considered an ideal strike shot, the ball contacts only the 1, 3, 5 and 9 pins (right-handed deliveries).


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Most new players roll the ball straight, while more experienced bowlers may roll a hook that involves making the ball start out straight but then curve toward a target, to increase the likelihood of striking: USBC research has shown that shots most likely to strike enter the pocket at an angle of entry that is achievable only with a hook.


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: A complex interaction of a variety of factors influences ball motion and its effect on scoring results. Such factors may be categorized as:


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Bowling pins (with a maximum thickness of at the waist) are "spotted" (placed) in four rows, forming an equilateral triangle with four pins on a side to form a tetractys. Neighboring pins are centered apart, leaving a space of between pins that can be bridged by a bowling ball of regulation diameter ().


title: Ten-pin bowling

text: Pin "carry"—essentially, the probability of achieving a strike assuming the ball impacts in or near the pocket—varies with several factors. Even before a 2008 USBC pin carry study, it was known that entry angle and ball weight increase strike percentages. The 2008 study concluded that an impact with the ball centered at "board 17.5" causes pin scatter that maximizes likelihood of striking. The material of the pin deck and "kickback" (side) plates was also found to materially affect pin carry.