Simviation Forum - Battle of Britain!

Nov 21^st, 2003 at 5:12pm

Crumbso Offline
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I saw it on channel 5 last night and I have to say it is one of the best air war films I have ever seen. (kicked the s*it out of Pearl harbour anyway.)

Great music to.

What do you think of it?

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Reply #1 - Nov 21^st, 2003 at 5:31pm

Hagar Offline
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Hi Pete. I assume you mean the 1969 classic feature film. This has been discussed here before at some length. I saw it the first time round, soon after the premiere. I've watched it many times since.

My opinion is still the same as when I first saw it - well made with a good script & storyline but I found the aerial ballet sequences over-long & a tad boring. (A good chance to put the kettle on for a cuppa.) They went to a great deal of trouble & expense but being a tad over-critical, the Spanish-built versions of the Bf 109 & He 111 never looked quite right. Anyone watching the film without knowing the history would assume that the He 111 was the only German bomber involved.

It's still an excellent film for all that & well worth watching. Wink

PS. Like all good films it's much more impressive on a big screen at the cinema. TV somehow doesn't do it justice.

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Reply #2 - Nov 21^st, 2003 at 6:11pm

SabreHawk Offline
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Ahhh, I agree on this film too, I've had the DVD for some time now and watch it often. Yeah, and for all the money they spent making the latest "Pearl Harbor", it does seem to have done as good or better a job( especially considering it was made in the 60's)
But then I also think that back then they did alot of things with the "real stuff" & not just computer animated. A good example is "Grand Prix" amde in the 60's as well as opposed to todays "Driven". Roll Eyes

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Reply #3 - Nov 21^st, 2003 at 7:37pm

BFMF Offline
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I've heard that the DVD version of the Battle of Britian isn't as good as the VHS edition

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Reply #4 - Nov 21^st, 2003 at 8:07pm

SabreHawk Offline
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Hmmm not really sure as I never seen the VHS ver. Gosh I should think it would be the same, but then well, the DVD ver. of "Das Boot" was pretty sliced up compared to the VHS, I mean hey, they did have some scenes in it that were not in the original,( the Brothel at the beginning) but some others were left out. Hmmm Roll Eyes

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Reply #5 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 12:34am

Katahu Offline
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Have any of you people seen the "Tora Tora Tora"?

I love that movie. It may be old, but it's good.

However, I only saw it once on TV and after that, I wasn't able to see it again because I only have an antenna and I don't have the video or dvd of the movie.

I never "Battle of Britain". So, I can't give my opinion on that part.

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Reply #6 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 12:45am

Katahu Offline
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While making Tora Tora Tora, the director got really disappointed by the fact that one of the shots of the ships did not go as planned. Remember, they were using REAL ACTUAL WW2 ships and fighter planes. So, you can imagine the expense and careful planning that had to be made.

However, the entire movie was a complete HIT when it was released in theaters. Everyone loved it.

It's a representation of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 7, 1941. The movie is a 100 times better than the modern movie "Pearl Harbor".

On a scale of 1-5, I give it a 5.

Have you also seen the movie "Flying Misfits"? It's a representation of the well known BlackSheep Squadron that was formed by Greg Boyington.

The movie does have some historical inaccuracies, but it was still good.

On a scale of 1-5, I give it a 4.

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Reply #7 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 12:58am

Oso Ex Member

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Remember, they were using REAL ACTUAL WW2 ships and fighter planes.

Hmmmm. I wonder where they got the Zeroes? Wink

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Reply #8 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 12:59am

BFMF Offline
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I've got bothTora Tora Tora & Midway, although I havn't seen them for a long time Embarrassed

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Reply #9 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 1:12am

BFMF Offline
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Quote:

Hmmmm. I wonder where they got the Zeroes? Wink

Nobody said they were zeros, just WW2 aircraft Wink

Weren't a lot of them painted T-6 Texans???

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Reply #10 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 3:24am

ozzy72 Offline
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BoB is a GREAT movie. Dambusters is pretty good as well (barring the special effects....).

Ozzy

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Reply #11 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 5:34am

Hagar Offline
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Quote:

I've heard that the DVD version of the Battle of Britian isn't as good as the VHS edition

I've not seen the DVD version. I did read that it reverts to the original film as shown at the cinema. The VHS version was edited & considerably different. I'm not sure which one they show on TV.

Quote:

Hmmmm. I wonder where they got the Zeroes?

The producers of Pearl Harbor went to huge expense to get authentic aircraft. I have friends in the CAF who sent me news & photos while it was being made. Unfortunately I lost them when my HD fried. At least one extremely rare Japanese aircraft was written off while on location in Hawaii. I've not seen the film but it seems a pity it was not well received. Joe Public seems to go for special effects nowadays rather than the real thing. Roll Eyes

Quote:

Dambusters is pretty good as well (barring the special effects....).

The Dam Busters will always be one of the great classic British war films to me. The effects might look primitive now but were the latest thing when it was made - only 10 years after the end of WWII. The biggest bonus was that plenty of the actual aircraft were still in service or readily available. These old B&W films take a lot of beating & are usually far better than anything we see today, despite the special computerised effects & all that blood & gore. IMHO

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Reply #12 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 5:45am

ozzy72 Offline
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Agreed Hagar, but you have to remember in those days actors had to actually be able to act, and scriptwriters were people who were actually literate Grin

Also I think with a lot of the 'old' war movies a lot of the people had really been there and done it, or those that had were around.

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Reply #13 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 6:14am

Hagar Offline
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Agreed. A cast of experienced actors doesn't guarantee success for any film but it can't do any harm. Here's a few of the star cast in the Battle of Britain.

Quote:

Harry Andrews ... Senior civil servant
Michael Caine ... Squadron Leader Canfield
Trevor Howard ... Air Vice Marshal Keith Park
Curd Jürgens ... Baron von Richter
Ian McShane ... Sgt. Pilot Andy
Kenneth More ... Group Capt. Baker
Laurence Olivier ... Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
Nigel Patrick ... Group Capt. Hope
Christopher Plummer ... Squadron Leader Colin Harvey
Michael Redgrave ... Air Vice Marshal Evill
Ralph Richardson ... Sir David Kelly (British minister to Switzerland)
Robert Shaw ... Squadron Leader Skipper
Patrick Wymark ... Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Susannah York ... Section Officer Maggie Harvey
Michael Bates ... Warr. Off. Warrick
Robert Flemyng ... Wing Cmdr. Willoughby
Barry Foster ... Squadron Leader Edwards
Edward Fox ... Pilot Officer Archie

On the subject of the DVD there have been many uncomplimentary comparisons to the VHS version. This is one answer I found to the critics. Makes me think about getting it & judging for myself.

Quote:

Don't be mislead by those complaining.,

1. The complaints about subtitles:

These are the ORIGINAL widescreen subtitles restored! In the past you saw the edited ones for the TV format VHS

2. The lack of location titles:

Shot of Swiss Embassy - cut to "Welcome to Switzerland Max".....

Phlueeze! All shots are like this - you should be able to figure out where you are!

3. Translations:

They are not perfect but they are nearer the mark - and these are the original translations on the original widescreen.

4. Walton's music included:

It was in the original release....

BUT HERE IS WHAT I HAVEN'T SEEN anybody write:

- Crisp colour
- The widescreen lets you see the shots as intended and gives even more sweep and scale to the flying shots
- the detail is good enough to see the 1969 film grain - in otherwords it is as good as you are going to get.

This DVD is a TERRIFIC improvement over the VHS tape. MUST HAVE.

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Reply #14 - Nov 22^nd, 2003 at 8:26am

HawkerTempest5 Offline
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BoB and The Dam Busters are my all time favourite aircraft films. I think the use of real planes adds to that (every time I see BoB now I start looking for all the different types of Spits, MkII's, V's and IX's.) A great number of BoB aircraft are still around today on the Warbird scene. Indeed, BBMF's MkIIa was restored to flying condition for this movie.

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