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One minor quibble: the quote from Churchill at the end of the DVD edition was changed from that shown at the end of the video edition. The DVD quote "This is not the beginning of the end ... " was spoken by Churchill following the British victory at El Alamein, whereas his famous reference to the RAF, following the end of the Battle of Britain (and shown on the VHS version) was, of course, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."


irresistable   July 9, 2004
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Although made as a tribute to the RAF and this episode in World War II history, it nonetheless followed the successful formula of Tora, Tora, Tora, by making the enemy human and reasonable. It captures the essential spirit of the contestants in this epic air battle. The fact it was done for real, before CGI effects were what they are today, is an asset. There is a reality about it, a versimillitude, that comes from actually using the real articles. It gives the film an authentic look and thus there is no temptation to monkey with history by flooding the skies with an exaggerated computer panoply of planes or having the aircraft demonstrate exciting but very unrealistic maneuvers.


Great aerial combat sequences with even better cast   July 6, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Battle of Britain is a huge war epic along the lines of A Bridge too Far and The Longest Day. In the years before the United States entered WWII, England had to hold back Nazi Germany almost singlehandedly. After the disaster at Dunkirk, it looked like there was no stopping the Germans. All that remained was for the German Luftwaffe to weaken England to the point where a land invasion could take place allowing Hitler to take control of Great Britain. The only surviving hope for England was the RAF, Royal Air Force. Hopelessly outnumbered, 2500 German planes to 690 British planes, the RAF had to hold back the Luftwaffe in the skies above England. The movie tells the story, from both sides, of the British pilots and their efforts to stop Germany from complete domination of Western Europe. This movie has the best aerial combat sequences ever put on film. One particularly effective scene has the musical score playing over the silent dogfights between the RAF and the Luftwaffe. Battle of Britain is a great war movie, full of action that should not be missed.

Battle of Britain boasts an impressive cast full of notable British actors. The huge list includes, in alphabetical order, Harry Andrews, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, Trevor Howard, Curt Jurgens, Ian McShane, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Patrick, Christopher Plummer, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Robert Shaw, Patrick Wymark, and Susannah York. The ones that really stand out from the rest are Robert Shaw as a squadron leader trying to get his fighter squadron through the battle and Christopher Plummer as a fighter pilot trying to save his marriage. The DVD offers a great-looking widescreen presentation and the theatrical trailer. For a great war epic with a huge cast and great aerial combat footage, check out Battle of Britain!


Their finest hour: the movie   June 25, 2004
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Some years ago I was talking with a late-middle-aged Englishman who had been involved in the U.S. film industry. After we had exhausted, for the time being, a mutual interest -- beautiful leading actresses -- the subject somehow got around to the film The Battle of Britain. My acquaintance said that among the film's distinctions was that, having been released in 1969 (which probably meant it had been written and filmed a year or more earlier), it possessed an authenticity that was becoming less possible with each passing year: many members of the cast and crew were old enough to remember the World War II years, and some had actually been involved in events related to the story.

When I saw the film in its DVD incarnation recently, it was that aura of authenticity, of being visualized through having "been there," that leaped out at me. The most critical year of the battle, 1941, was 28 years before the movie appeared. The key personnel could remember that time well enough to get the less obvious details right.

So, in The Battle of Britain, it's not just the uniforms and aircraft insignia and such that are accurate; you also get a sense that the words the characters speak, the vocal style (more formal by far than today's U.K. English), the interior decor, and the countryside as seen from the air (much less built-up in 1969) ring true in a way that would be hard to reproduce now.

(The only serious anachronism is that the women sport hairstyles that no one would have dreamed of in the '40s.)

The film is a remarkable technical triumph in its thrilling depiction of air battles. I know nothing about the production background, but they obviously used real Spitfires, Messerschmitts and Heinkels in dazzling maneuvers. I would not have thought there'd have been enough left in airworthy condition, or that anyone would have allowed them to be used in simulated aerial combat that surely had the potential for accidental destruction of the aircraft. Perhaps the Spitfires' owners felt that it was worth the risk to aid a movie that might enable the younger generation to better understand the heroism and sacrifices of the RAF pilots in the war.

The shots of the planes exploding and crashing were presumably done with models, but the verisimilitude is outstanding. You are almost never conscious that you are watching special effects.

In the intervals between aerial dogfights, the scenes on the ground are less compelling, although it's interesting to see how the locations of the German bombers and the RAF fighters were plotted on huge horizontal maps by RAF women (Wrens?) receiving radio messages from spotters via headphones.

With all this going for the film, it's too bad I have to tell you not to get too excited when you see the cast list. Many of the famous names involved have only routine or minor roles. Even Michael Caine doesn't make much of an impression. In the movie's one concession to romance, Christopher Plummer is a colorless "leading man." Susannah York, playing the object of his affections, blows her one big moment, in the aftermath of a bombing attack on the airfield where she's stationed, by egregiously overacting.

Two greats of the English stage and screen provide some compensation. Ralph Richardson, as a diplomat who receives a German ambassador who wants to persuade the British government that they have no chance against an invasion, has only one scene. But Richardson, with that extraordinary voice that Kenneth Tynan compared to the sound of very expensive tissue paper being crinkled, offers a riposte that stirs the blood.

Laurence Olivier plays the air chief marshal in overall charge of the RAF defense strategy, with an air of controlled, bottomless melancholy, as though he feels that every RAF airman who will die in the cockpit is his brother. We, too, should mourn all those who were killed or maimed to save Britain in her darkest hour, and honor them for every hour of freedom that they helped make it possible for us to enjoy. The Battle of Britain isn't the ideal tribute to those heroes, but it's a heartfelt one, and its virtues well outweigh its lesser moments.

The DVD transfer is good. And if you haven't seen the widescreen version, you haven't seen the film.