Lancaster Skies [Region 2]

I found the film quite compelling, especially the story and characters. I have never taken part in one bombing raid in a lumbering Lancaster, never mind clocking up a full tour, so i have absolutely no idea what that must feel like. It's a story about extremely ordinary people thrown into a horrendous day to day situation and required to perform extraordinary tasks ....and try to maintain their sanity. The relief of the crew when they are not flying and going for another session at the pub and then the tension and dread of what lies ahead when they do have an op is very understated and well done. The crushing atmosphere of their lives is very palpable and believable....no ott or gung ho antics, just people trying to come to terms with and make sense of a situation that they knew could end them in an instant. Guy Gibson saw virtually all his friends fall and he had a quite matter of fact attitude that his turn would come..... as it surely did. Lancaster skies is not an action film, although there are a few aircraft shots and pretty well done night fighter scenes. If you want action, watch Red Tails or Flyboys etc. If you want a no frills down to earth film about ordinary people at war, then Lancaster Skies is well worth a look.

First, point. This film was shot on a budget of £80k.Let's put that in context: You could make this film 1,250 times over for the budget of "Midway" another recently released Aviation movie.Of the two, I found Lancaster Skies marginally more compelling (but Midway was a massive disappointment)The limited budget means the movie has to try and make more story out of the dialogue and characters and can't just wow us with CGI and aviation shots. Many people have said it doesn't use CGI. This isn't true at all. Any shot with more than one Lancaster flying is using CGI...but there is relatively little CGI. (Although CGI is actually uniformly terrible in aviation movies. The only film with good aviation sequences in of late - Dunkirk -eschewed CGI for doing it the proper way.)The attempt to make it a character driven movie would work better if the characters were better, but the pace is soo slooooww, and it's all a little wooden.I actually quite enjoyed the final aerial sequence. Some will say it wasn't dramatic enough, but actually I thought it was quite nicely understated rather than being melodramatic like Memphis Belle.Overall, if you are watching this alongside mainstream movies, you will rate it as one star or two star. If you are watching it as being almost nothing more than a media studies student project - which at £80k budget it almost is - then it's a five star job.Hence. 3 stars overall.

I watched this film prepared to suspend my disbelief but very quickly became involved in the opening scenes of a Lancaster under attack by a Messerschmitt 110 night-fighter. Although the film is framed by bombing operations, and contains enough 'Lancaster Porn' for the rivet counters who turn up the volume every time a video of anything with a Merlin engine is posted on social media, Lancaster Skies is a film about the people. The film tells the story of a Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot, who has transferred to Bomber Command and must win the respect of an established Lancaster crew whose pilot was killed. For me however, the stand out performance was from David Dobson as flight engineer George Williams. His sympathetic portrayal of a junior officer struggling to hold his crew together, enjoy life, and not brood on 'the chop' rate is bang on, and there's a feeling of authenticity too in some of the humorous subplots that remind me of Bomber Command veterans' anecdotes I have heard. The attention to detail and continuity is impressive in a film with a budget of less than £80,000 that was filmed over several years. The few minor historical inaccuracies can be forgiven and I especially enjoyed the nodding references to classic war films, including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Appointment in London, The Dam Busters, and Catch 22.

I read the reviews and almost didn't bother. I am glad I did watch it. Okay so there were some howlers and again as former RAF Officer winced at the inappropriate saluting but I guess policemen do the same when watching a crime drama. I could not help but keep thinking how anyone could make a film for such a low budget - and it was a good well structured effort. You could see the budget constraints in the same actors appearing in different guises and even the writers and producer had a walk on role - but then again so did Hitchcock. Obviously it does not compare with the big budget productions - Memphis Belle a similar story cost $23m in 1990 - but for the cost it is a charming, interesting and well constructed film. Worth ignoring the flaws and giving it a chance.