An all-star cast act in-between beautiful scenes of aerial combat in a recounting of the famous World War II battle over Great Britain’s skies. This movie will make you want to see it on a big screen – the bigger the better.
From August 12 to October of 1940, a fierce bombing campaign by Germany took place in preparation for an eventual invasion of Great Britain. Badly outnumbered and riven by arguments over strategy, the British very nearly lost this critical battle during the early stages of the Second World War. Any attempt to portray this complicated history was bound to be flawed in one way or another, so it was interesting to see how this movie handled it.
Three main stories are interweaved: the factual RAF Fighter Command struggle to form an effective strategy, depictions of events in the air war itself, and drama around fictionalized fighter pilots. Most of the focus is on the second and features the best aerial footage I’ve seen in any movie. With the noted James Bond film series director Guy Hamilton helming the movie, great action is guaranteed.
The cast is stellar, both in name recognition and actual performances. While the drama feels shoehorned in at times, it can be rather subtle and powerful at others. Amongst the many notables from the cast:
Robert Shaw as Skipper, a squadron leader who is hard as nails but cares greatly for his men. The character is fictional and a steady, if impatient, presence throughout the film.
A young Ian McShane plays Sgt. Pilot Andy, a fictional enlisted man flier and friend of Shaw’s. Given what appears to be an odd amount of attention in early parts of the film, his story eventually brings home the cost of the war in a heartbreaking way.
Christopher Plummer is the romantic lead and his character, Squadron Leader Harvey, represents Canada’s volunteers in the RAF. His rocky relationship with his English wife is the chief source of melodrama. Another fictional character along with his wife.
Susannah York plays Harvey’s wife, Maggie. An officer herself, her refusal to transfer closer to her husband becomes a source of great friction between the two. Section Officer Harvey’s experiences reflect what the WRAF’s went through during the battle.
Michael Caine once again plays an upper class officer, Canfield. His fictional character is representative of the wealthy old boys club that dominated the RAF during the early years of the war.
Sir Lawrence Olivier plays Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding. It is a somber performance reflecting the stuffiness and deliberate manner of the real man who had to run the defense of Britain. The weight of the world seems to rest on his shoulders.
Sir Ralph Richardson has a marvelously acted cameo as Sir David Kelly, the UK’s representative in Switzerland. His scene is one of the most memorable in the movie.
Battle of Britain starts with a Hurricane flying through the blue sky and follows it doing a victory roll over a column of retreating soldiers and civilian refugees. It is France and the German blitzkrieg has the Allies on the run toward the coast. After landing, the young Hawker Hurricane pilot is chewed out for stunting over the airfield by Harvey (Plummer). They have too few machines in flying condition even with reinforcements landing, one of them being Skipper (Shaw).
We are also introduced to most of the pilots we’ll be following but they don’t have long on screen – the Germans are coming. Frantic efforts to get the still flyable fighters off the ground are followed by attempts to torch the “wounded ducks.” Even that goes poorly and we haven’t gotten to the title screen yet.
The famous retreat and evacuation at Dunkirk is touched on in an effectively sobering shot and then the victorious German’s make their appearance. One thing I love about older war movies is that they had the real languages spoken with subtitles, rather than foreign accented English. Here it is put to great use as we get to see the other side of the story with a terrific German cast.
From here we go to Switzerland for superbly acted scene where Baron von Richter (Curt Jurgens) relays a message to his friend, Sir Kelly (Richardson) from Adolph Hitler. It a peace offering by a leader who regularly broke his word, so it isn’t well received. There are few things worse than ending up on opposite sides to bring out anger and the tension is palpable. Despite Sir Kelly’s bravado, it is true that England is not ready for what is to come.
Both the RAF pilots and Luftwaffe are portrayed as aggressive and cocky, but it is clear which side has the advantage. The Germans are building up their invasion force as both sides can eyeball each other through high power binoculars across the English Channel. The go ahead for Eagle Day commences and the Battle of Britain begins in earnest with Ju-87 Stuka dive bombers attacking radar installations on the coast.
Battle of Britain is a film that seems calculated to wear you down as much as the characters are. The stunning aerial battles always come at a high human cost on both sides and the gradual trauma on the combatants is reflected in the dramatic subplots. War is not portrayed as anything glamorous, indeed it is shown to be a human meat grinder as we watch established characters suffer horrible fates including death.
Certain scenes and minor plots stood out to me. One of the better ones involves the plucky Polish pilots who aren’t trusted to fight despite being actual veterans of the air war in 1939. Watching a training flight of Hurricanes getting a chance to take out Heinkel He-111 bombers is a rare moment of exuberance late in the movie. The contributions of foreign pilots during the battle were not minor and they helped relief the shortage of qualified pilots.
Also standing out is the appearances by Hermann Goering who comes off like a petulant man child. Which is pretty accurate from what I’ve read. His treatment of the officers in charge of the Luftwaffe fighters shows a complete disregard for input from those on the scene. It also leads to one of the most famous quotes of the war.
The accidental bombing of London by a weary and wind blown Luftwaffe bomber crew lost at night is memorable. That event changed the direction of the war when a retaliatory raid hit Berlin. An enraged Hitler ordered London and other cities to be flattened in return, thereby sparing the mortally wounded RAF and their airfields. But what got to me was the adoring women and female Hitler youth members at the rally. It is an unnerving scene of blind loyalty and devotion that creeped me out, for a lack of better words.
The London Blitz is very well portrayed and captures little slices of life under the bombing. I don’t know how many people outside of the UK understand what a horrific pounding London took and I think the movie will give a good idea of what it was like. The imagery is eerie, with the undersides of bombers bathed in the orange red glow of the burning fires beneath.
Around the two hour mark, the film has a five minute montage of nonstop combat that depicts the desperate final clashes between the RAF and Luftwaffe. Human loss and suffering depicted becomes numbing after awhile. Which is the reaction I think the film makers were going for, since that is how the pilots on both sides have become.
Briefly touched on is the argument over Leigh-Mallory’s “big wing” theory, which is still being debated today. Something to note is that Dowding was sacked after the Battle of Britain ended, rather than rewarded. Unfortunately, the movie only scrapes the surface of the command decisions and politics involved. Those alone could fill a movie.
My Verdict
Battle of Britain was a box office loser, with an estimated lose of $11 million worldwide. It isn’t a bad movie by any means, but it is rather depressing and flawed in trying to fit too much into one film. You don’t come out of watching this and feel uplifted.
Too many characters make the it hard to develop any real attachment to them. This harmed the impact that the dramatic parts should have had. So don’t expect great involvement with the characters.
Even so, I consider it a neglected classic and was surprised to find it on DVD in well remastered glory.
While rated G, it has a lot of death, mild gore, disturbing imagery, and mild profanity. I’d say it should have been rated PG.
Technical Details
MGM’s 2003 release is a no frills DVD, lacking an insert. The menu is basic and the only extra is the theatrical trailer which has more spoilers in it than this review.
The video is presented in 16:9 letterbox with the theatrical release 2.35:1 aspect maintained. Oddly, there is a black bar at the far left in the letterboxing.
The cinematography is superb and always beautiful, especially in the air to air shots. Many vintage warbirds were assembled for filming this extravagant project and the roar of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine is constantly heard. The transfer on the DVD is very good, with only a few scratches and hairs to annoy.
The sound is nice and clear mono, so don’t expect great things on home theater setups.
Trivia
Interestingly, all the fighters and the Heinkel bombers had the Merlin installed. The Messerschmitt Bf-109’s are actually Spanish license built HA 1112 Buchon’s manufactured after the war. Likewise, the Heinkel He-111’s are really CASA 2.111’s rebuilt with Merlin engines. Those were flown by Spanish Air Force crews since they were still in service as target tugs and training aircraft.
Though the Supermarine Spitfire is the star of the show, in reality the slower Hawker Hurricane fought the bulk of the battle. They were available in more numbers and because of the way their guns were installed they packed a bigger punch against bombers. Ironically, there were fewer Hurricane’s available by the late 60’s so the Spit got the most usage in filming. Look carefully and you will see Buchon’s painted up like Hurricane’s late in the film to augment the numbers.
All the Stuka’s were remote controlled minatures and they appear a bit dodgy during the dive bombing sequence. But they blow up really nicely and better than the superimposed effects on the real Spit’s and Buchon’s.
Extra Screen Captures
0 comments:
Post a Comment