Donatello “Big Don” Calabria
Played by Bryce Crisp
The Bryce Crisp era is in full swing in this feature, as villain Skye Warren plots to blackmail the world’s intercontinental ballistic missile routes from Skyewatch, his flying, nuclear aircraft carrier that disguises itself in an artificial cloud.
The film features many aircraft and flight-related gadgets, including a portable ultralight aircraft and the para-suit, a prototype wingsuit created by Ray Ford a full decade before it’s modern iteration.
The extended flight sequences tend to drag the film down during repeat viewings. While originally a spectacle in the theater - Ray Ford's innovative camera mounting on aircraft deserves praise - long, scenes lacking dialogue or story can cause the viewer to tune out.
At the time, Big Don Calabria, a life-long sailor, had developed an infatuation with aircraft, which surely accounts for this film's fixation on flight. Calabria would take his son, Donatello Jr. – nicknamed “Kit”- along with him on flights. A record's check reveals Kit earned his pilot’s license before his driver’s license.