Battle Of Britain [1969]
£8.75
Battle of britian film is immense - this film is the best it is soooooo cool buy it now i will say that again even though its a bit old fashioned it is mega mega mega get it
An All Time Favourite But Not The Whole Story - This is one of my all time favourite films. I remember eagerly waiting for it (its making was well trailed beforehand) and seeing it in its debut run at the Dominion in London - complete with commemorative booklet. I saw it several more times when it came out on general release so you will appreciate that it is a film that I love and can watch over and over again. However, it is a story and not a documentary as some reviewers have implied. It is one view of events and gives a taste of some of the ground level conflicts and difficulties. It would have taken a mini-series to do history full justice.Several reviewers have commented that some of the planes are not authentic and while that is true, they are lot more authentic than CGI creations. And yes, by today s standards some of the special effects are a bit naff (the aerial views of London burning at night for instance). But in some cases there are spectacular scenes that could not be recreated today - St Katherine s dock on fire, collapsing (real) houses etc.The film touches on the big wing argument and rather implies that the big wing was a great success (an idea that I absorbed from the film). There are however convincing arguments that it was in fact a poor tactic and that more time spent engaging with the enemy and less time forming into the big wing would have been more effective. So perhaps viewers should keep an open mind when veiwing those scenes.The one thing that strikes me as wrong (with hindsight and the help of varous documentaries) is the officer/nco mix of pilots. The film follows the standard portrayal of most of the few being public school educated officers, closely mingling with the very rare flight sergeant pilots. The scene where Flt Sgt Andy shares a house with with the squadron CO seems most improbable. As I understand it the majority of pilots were in practice Flt Sgts whose conditions of service were considerably less comfortable than that of the officers. In a documentary a real Flt Sgt complained that they were billeted in tents on the airfield while the officers were given houses. He (and others) also complained that they were looked down on and poorly treated by the officers. The film certainly does not even hint at that.The other thing that the film perhaps does not convey is the number of times day the pilots had to go up. In the thick of things they might be scrambled five or six times a day, which left them living on the edge of exhaustion.But bearing in mind that it is a story, squeazed into a little over two hours, not a mini-series or documentary, it remains a darned good film and well worth the money!
battle of britain film - loved the film all through, but the lack of tracer bullets and muzzle flash was annoying. When one of the spitfires recieved a bomb hit you could see it was plywood (I ve seen the actual one used in the film, the tail unit was blown away!) - one thing amusing in the film was when there were 3 spitfires ganging up on a heinkel 111, and the pilot looked startled as he was looking forwards!,the spitfires were on his 6 not his 12! never mind we can t all be perfect, silly director!
Two Scores! - Sir William Walton wrote the original score for this film, but it was cut apart from a short sequence at the climax of the film. Ron Goodwin wrote a glitzy 1960 s score with the famous Aces High Luftwaffe March, but Olivier insisted his friend Walton s score should be retained in part.Now you can get both scores - one moody and 1940s, the other upbeat and 1960s. Both go to show how much a score can set the mood for a film, watch both - neither is better -they are just great but different.Flying sequences are superb, although some of the bombing effects look weak. Despite its faults, this is the definitive Battle of Britain film, and Olivier s impression of Dowding spot-on.How could the film makers claim the RAF had an Israeli pilot? This was 7 years too early...
fantistic - how can anyone not love this film,you can cry, you can sob, you can wonder what the hell went on . but it does not confirm with the detailes, , that we were told in the 1950/1960/1970/1980/ .if we were told the truth in those years we would have put a lot more presure ,and kicked the goverment out