Battle of Britain (1969)

Strong and Moving!

Let's be realistic.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

One marks the virtual beginning of the Third Reich and one its virtual end. When Hitler was forced to abandon his plan to invade Britain he concentrated on Russia,thus sowing the seeds of his Country' downfall. And whatever revisionist historians may say,the main reason he did so was the inability of the Luftwaffe to gain air superiority,let alone the air supremacy required for a successful campaign. "The Battle of Britain" recounts the epic air war between Dowding's young pilots and Goering's. It's aerial photography is legendary,some of it shot over Essex where I was lving at the time. The Unit used a Liberator which would swoop low over the fields and we would wave to the pilot as he flew majestically past,followed by a gaggle of Spitfires in "Finger Four" formation. Tragically one of the cameramen was killed when he fell out of the aircraft. Both the Luftwaffe and the RAF are portrayed positively in an era when Germans were often thought of as psychopathic murderers. The actors are secondary to the machinery and tend to soft pedal except Mr R.Shaw who was incapable of keeping his charisma under wraps and the great Mr K.More who plays his usual humane officer role to perfection. There is nothing more than a "For Christ's sake" from Mr Shaw to offend those who are determined to take offence at something and nothing more tittilating than Miss York 's suspenders to tittilate those who are determined to be tittilated. This is as much an historic document as a wart film.

Very much like The Longest Day, this excellent war epic drama portrays not one hero or even a family, but a whole range of various British, German, French, Polish and other people who either took part in the battle, or was a witness to these terrible events. The cast is awesome, just to mention Sir Laurence Olivier, younger Michael Caine or excellent Curt Jürgens among many. All the roles are smaller, minor, they all serve the bigger and grander aim to show people amidst the bloodshed and chaos. The film serves this aim perfectly. Very well done, very realistic, very straight, honest and fast, it shows the sheer horror of a war and how fragile we all are. I am saddened by the fact that the film was a flop, it is a war Masterpiece and Must be watched very diligently. It is not a propaganda film, or a period piece. It got one message, clear and true - war is evil. The film is made very well, it shows people as they are - weak, cowardly, brave, strong, ready to die, dying, being futile, being useful. This is a very good document that must be rehabilitated and restored to its due High place.

I was very lenient in rating this movie for two reasons: - I am a sucker for these types of movies - I thought that for a movie made in 1969 with very good special f/x for the time, some of the naiveté could be forgiven Otherwise I agree with Ebert. It is not a wonder that notwithstanding that this was am A-grade mega production, it did not receive even one award or even nomination worthy of mention.This movie is far too slow, especially the battle scenes. The repeat themselves almost endlessly and seem to be the 'raison d'etre' of the movie. What is missing is characterization, introspection, real emotions. We need to feel with the protagonists, see and comprehend their fear, be apart of it. In this film pilots live and die, and somehow we couldn't care less, it doesn't bring up any emotions in us. Historically, the movie is correct, but there again it lacks in detail, more 'behind the scenes' information. What they feed us is only the basic information you learn in 4th grade. Definitely not enough. All in all, average. What a pity, considering the star saturated cast and all the money spent.

There's not much in the way of character development in this film. It's not that kind of film, so let's get that out of the way at the start. Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier, Robert Shaw, and Christopher Plummer (among many others) are on hand for their star power and charisma, but don't expect awards-worthy performances. This movie, as the title suggests, is about the Battle of Britain, so you should expect Spitfires, dogfights, the Blitz, and lots of pompous Prussian military marches.And that's exactly what you get. The makers of the film assembled a huge fleet of vintage aircraft from around the world: many Spitfires were restored to airworthy condition just for the movie and are still flying today because of it; Messerschmitts and Heinkels were loaned by the Spanish Air Force and have gone on to star in films and air shows; a trio of Hurricanes make a rare appearance. This might only be of interest to aviation enthusiasts or history buffs, but so what: it's an historic film, the only occasion outside of newsreels that you'll ever see these aircraft in their element, and it's breathtaking.The plot follows the basic timeline of the Battle. After Dunkirk, the British withdraw to their island and Hitler contemplates his options. Eventually, after a few perfunctory scenes set the stage, the Luftwaffe launches its attack. The outnumbered pilots of the Royal Air Force fight back against impossible odds. Young, inexperienced men are thrown into combat with a short life expectancy. Untried Polish volunteers acquit themselves rather well, in a couple humorous scenes. Olivier, as Air Chief Marshal Dowding, lends gravitas to the situation, while his German counterpart, Goering, frets and struts and intimidates his underlings.There's plenty missing, but there's plenty to like. The stars all do their bit for queen and country, and the attention to detail is superb. The narrative often seems to skip bits and pieces, and leaves several characters hanging...but as I said, this isn't about the characters so much as the moment in history that they happen to be passing through.