The Battle of Britain (1969)

Plot Outline: In 1940, Nazi Germany had conquered most of Western Europe with the exception of Great Britain. Turning her attention to the invasion of Britain, the German military decided that the RAF should be destroyed first so that German invasion ships would not come under air attack. The Luftwaffe numbered around 2,500 planes opposed to the RAF which had around 650, the majority of which were flown by trainee pilots whose training had been rushed to get them operational. The future of the war and of Britain as a sovereign nation hang in the balance during The Battle of Britain.

The Review: What should have been a classic war movie about the single turning point of World War II turns into something of a muddle as although director Guy Hamilton manages to convince us that the air is thick with fighter planes, it's just that the cast is too thick as well and there are too many people for us to worry about to get involved in the film emotionally. He has certainly assembled a strong cast: Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Laurence Olivier, Robert Shaw, Ralph Richardson, Michael Redgrave, Kenneth More and a whole host of other British actors. The trouble is that there are too many characters and most of them are only given rather brief cameos. There's no one we can really root for and since we know the outcome of the film anyway, it all leads nowhere quickly really. It's more like a re-enactment of the battle than an actual feature film. I mean it's hard to film an action movie based on real-life events because you know how it ends but the final battle over England just lacks any tension or suspense at all. But it's where the battle scenes come in that this film really plays it's deck to the maximum. Never before have dogfights looked so good on the screen - the air is brimming with fighter planes all performing acrobatics and firing away with their machine guns. Some of the bombing scenes are also excellent, notably the first attack on the airfields and the blitz over London. It really brings home some of the pain of the war because it's all done realistically and with real authentic World War II planes. In fact at the time of filming, this film had the 11th largest air force in the world! It's clear that homework was done in making the Battle of Britain look so good on the screen.

Final Verdict: The Battle of Britain works brilliantly as a re-enactment not a stand-alone feature film. With a massive array of acting talent on show, you'll come off extremely disappointed hoping your favourite British actor has something worthwhile to do. Just sit back, think of Britain and thank the real pilots for the sacrifices they made. This film is a testament to their courage and what they had to endure.

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