Battle Over Britain

I'm sat watching now.

As a film, as a concept of bringing back the Classic British War Film, it's a great attempt. Not a blockbuster, not a study in of human endeavour in any real depth, just a story and a scenario of RAF Pilots 'doing their jobs'.

There is some plotline of sorts revolving around a competition of kills for a prize pot, the main driver of the competition being a bluff Yorkshireman (accent like Sean Bean) who has a cold exterior of a personality, not particularly likeable.

In short, it's ok, 1hr 20 min, and actually worth the time. Makes a change to see a film in slow burn mode and not to be bashed around the head with multi plot line set-ups to be able to play the last 20 mins punchline.

Give it a go.

I have seen parts of this movie and it is just as bad as the Masters of the Skies series.

Guys sitting in there Spifires in perfectly starched suits flying straight lines while in combat.

Really is this the new norm of Hollywood movie making.

Flying straight line in active combat airspace is a deathwish to be fullfilled.

Every enemy gun will have zero trouble of shooting you down.

And the ammount of CGI is again everywhere.

And then I'm not even talking about the highschool level acting of the actors.

My advice would be to find, Battle over Brittian from 1969 and get a much better feeling how it was over the skies of Southern England during WWII and how close England got to be defeated by the Luftwaffe.

I have already deleted this movie from my collection because I will not insult the brave airmen that gave their lives during this horrible conflict by owning a copy of this abomination.

Filmed and produced on a budget of 10 shillings and 6 pence, this utter load of rubbish is a disgrace and a slap in the face of real WWII veterans who fought and died in the conflict. Actors who have no idea of period acting, aircraft straight out of an X-box game, the combat sequences are ridiculous and the use of a garden shed for a flight dispersal defies belief. Background extras walking about wearing odd bits of uniforms, the whole film is complete farce. How anyone can take this level of amateur filmmaking seriously is beyond belief, whoever rated this higher than 2 stars must have been watching something completely different.

This is not a film for watching, it's a film for bypassing and avoiding...

From the point of view of the remains of a squadron, with a new replacement after losing two pilots, this story is more about what it was like for the fighter pilots both during and in-between battle.

The acting is good and the story and characters are interesting enough to keep you engaged to the end.

The evidently low-budget does however impact scenes, flying scenes in particular, with some moments more convincing than others. I swear I saw one Spitfire fly through a Heinkel wing (remember a ship doing something similar in Star Wars?) and the scenes showing battle through the gun sights were poor, whereas, oddly, the shots of German fighters in the rear view mirror were better, if still not that great. In short, the effects were low budget.

There aren't many real "Spits" around anymore and at times it seemed like they only had the use of the same one on the ground.

If you are looking for a non-stop, action-filled Battle of Britain story filled with great air scenes and dog fights, you'll probably be very disappointed by what you see here - but if you are interested in a tale about the psychological strain of war and how different pilots dealt with it, this is worth a watch.

I am assuming their research department for this movie was hit by severe funding cutbacks because this movie is riddled with inaccuracies and outright hyperbole. I especially enjoyed the part where they just hop in their Spits and fly away, not a ground crew to be found other than one guy pulling the wheel blocks away. And whats with the not shaving? It may be be chic to walk around with a 5 oclock shadow, but in the military you would get crucified. Uniforms are sporting insignia that are placed wrong or did not even exist during the BoB, terrible plane inaccuracies, and British pilots who would ALL have been shot down on the first day. The movie is good for a laugh, or if you fancy a drinking game where everyone does a shot when they notice something farcical.