3 reviews
I got to see this film at a special screening on Remembrance Day 2019, in Hamilton (where I live, and where the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum is located), amid a full house at one of our independent movie theaters. Some of the CWHM staff and Lancaster flight crew were there for a Q&A session afterward, along with the producer/director Morgan Elliott. They were great to listen to, the film was excellent, and it was just a great experience! In the audience, we also had a very old fellow who happened to be one of the original Lancaster pilots fron WWII -- he got a standing and very heartfelt ovation from all the rest of us there.
One thing I learned was that during WWII the Lancaster bombers were actually manufactured in Canada as well as the UK, so it's entirely appropriate that one of the only two remaining flying Lancasters resides here. That plane ("Vera") is the star of the show throughout, and we see all the events through her "eyes" and through the experience of her (civilian) pilots and flight crew. Vera has been lovingly restored to full operation by CWHM staff and volunteers, it's the plane that every visitor to the CWHM wants to see, and it's constantly in use for tourist flights -- it's a real icon around town that people here have really taken to heart. Its 3500-mile journey to England in 2014 to join the other working Lancaster for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flights, a tour of locations spanning 50 days, is a great story. One thing that leaps out from the screen is not just the magnificent shots from air and ground -- of which there's a full dose -- but also the reception they got from their English hosts. This all meant a LOT to them. Thousands of people flocked to every site in the tour, and "the Canadians are coming!" was the icing on the cake for their whole experience.
I also learned that there's a third Lancaster (callsign Just Jane) in England that is gradually getting closer towards full restoration as well. Maybe in a few years it will be possible to see all three flying in formation? I hope that some of the original pilots and crew (who were little more than boys in WWII) can live to see that. During the late stages of the War, hundreds of Lancasters would fly in a formation 10 miles wide, at night, with no lights and no radio; the collective noise from their classic Merlin engines shook the ground. 70 years later, one can only imagine.
Footnote: if you want to see more of Vera in the air, just google "Rick Mercer Report Lancaster" or search for that on YouTube, and you can see the segment where Rick rides with the crew aboard the Lancaster over Toronto, Niagara Falls, and the southern Ontario countryside. It's beautiful.
One thing I learned was that during WWII the Lancaster bombers were actually manufactured in Canada as well as the UK, so it's entirely appropriate that one of the only two remaining flying Lancasters resides here. That plane ("Vera") is the star of the show throughout, and we see all the events through her "eyes" and through the experience of her (civilian) pilots and flight crew. Vera has been lovingly restored to full operation by CWHM staff and volunteers, it's the plane that every visitor to the CWHM wants to see, and it's constantly in use for tourist flights -- it's a real icon around town that people here have really taken to heart. Its 3500-mile journey to England in 2014 to join the other working Lancaster for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flights, a tour of locations spanning 50 days, is a great story. One thing that leaps out from the screen is not just the magnificent shots from air and ground -- of which there's a full dose -- but also the reception they got from their English hosts. This all meant a LOT to them. Thousands of people flocked to every site in the tour, and "the Canadians are coming!" was the icing on the cake for their whole experience.
I also learned that there's a third Lancaster (callsign Just Jane) in England that is gradually getting closer towards full restoration as well. Maybe in a few years it will be possible to see all three flying in formation? I hope that some of the original pilots and crew (who were little more than boys in WWII) can live to see that. During the late stages of the War, hundreds of Lancasters would fly in a formation 10 miles wide, at night, with no lights and no radio; the collective noise from their classic Merlin engines shook the ground. 70 years later, one can only imagine.
Footnote: if you want to see more of Vera in the air, just google "Rick Mercer Report Lancaster" or search for that on YouTube, and you can see the segment where Rick rides with the crew aboard the Lancaster over Toronto, Niagara Falls, and the southern Ontario countryside. It's beautiful.
Great film showing the reunion of a Canadian Lancaster with an RAF one at Coningsby. One criticism - that intrusive background music. Could have done without it.
For anyone who is interested in WW2 aviation this film/documentary is an absolute must. The most famous heavy bomber of the allies was the Avro Lancaster and there are only two airworthy examples left in the world. And they are on opposite sides of the world, one in the BBMF stable at Coningsby, Lincolnshire and one in Canada.
For several weeks in the late summer of 2014 these two old ladies of the skies, sisters, were reunited - probably for the last time.
This documentary covers the journey of "VERA" over the North Atlantic, through Iceland and her reunion with "THUMPER" in a Lincolnshire downpour. We then see the preparations being made for these two to fly together and the magnificent sight of them flying side by side through the skies they helped defend in the dark days of WW2.
Fantastic aerial photography and stunning welcomes that these two giants received wherever they went will make this a film to be watched over and over again.
For several weeks in the late summer of 2014 these two old ladies of the skies, sisters, were reunited - probably for the last time.
This documentary covers the journey of "VERA" over the North Atlantic, through Iceland and her reunion with "THUMPER" in a Lincolnshire downpour. We then see the preparations being made for these two to fly together and the magnificent sight of them flying side by side through the skies they helped defend in the dark days of WW2.
Fantastic aerial photography and stunning welcomes that these two giants received wherever they went will make this a film to be watched over and over again.
- chrisbarber-98549
- Nov 26, 2016
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