Battle of Britain (DVD)

Battle Of Britain. Double DVD Special Edition MGM 10001024 MZ1 Picture this. A little boy sits with his dad in a darkened old cinema in Catterick Camp. The trailers are on, but the boy is more interested in his popcorn. He still keeps a disinterested eye on the screen though. He doesn’t want to miss the films. Then one of the trailers catches his attention. What’s this? Hordes of Messerschmitts shooting up Hurricanes on the ground? Bombers crashing into the sea? And a Spitfire plummeting out of the sky, explodes on a beach. The boy sits up, riveted. The Battle Of Britain is coming to town. ...  Read the complete review

The Finest Hour...is in fact a not bad two hours and Thirteen minutes... Pearl Harbor is set to open in the US May 25th 2001, and I suspect the visuals of planes in combat are going to set the standard for years to come...so I thought I'd re-visit the British equivalent, made in 1969. The film has a surprisingly long prologue taking us through the fall of France, the evacuation from Dunkirk to the German High Command contemplating their invasion plans before the opening credits run. We're then introduced to our group of celebrity pilots with whom we are to identify before the action begins, notably Robert Shaw, Michael Caine and ...  Read the complete review

The title probably puts the majority of people off. The mind creates images of dashing young World War Two fighter-pilots carelessly throwing their machines across the sky, all with a dashing smile and irresistable charm. In fact, the movie is very down to earth (!). Only once does the theme-tune roar out, as the R.A.F. tears apart enemy formations with ease. The rest of the time concentrates on the lives of those involved: the tensions beneath the rather cool exterior. As the stars are slowly killed off, the viewer begins to realise how desperate the situation was, how uncertain the outcome was. Historically acturate, and with excellent aerial photography, the film ...  Read the complete review