Battle of Britain [Blu-ray] [1969] [2009]

They don't come any better.

Enjoyment

Executive summary - Want to see what real 1940's dogfighting was about - this is it. Special effects - Suspend belief against modern standards - but good for the time!Let us be clear - this simply doesn't stand up to modern digital special effects standards. Some model shots are excellent: Heinkel 111 being chased over wavetops, pilot dead and plowing into the beach (the model is the beach shot) and some are truly awful (the Stukas bombing an RDF station).The aircraft - especially the Spanish airforce re-painted in German colors but all flying with Merlin engines have wrong profiles.The special effects of London burning from the air - suspend your belief a moment - perspectives are wrong and the "Red Glow" - phuleeze!The apparently disjointed plot and timeline.My personal nitpick - the 1960's plastic bell push on a "1940 cottage".BUT!Before you see this read the history including the key tactical moments.Remember that in 1969 these were great special effectsand most importantly - a huge armada of aircraft of correct vintage were found, saved, restored or stood as props.IT IS A GREAT MOVIE. Historically the timeline is correct (but it pays to understand it on the way into the movie), the key characters are portrayed by stars suspending their egos and status to the greater good) battling with their daily problem of aircraft maintenance (though there was never actually a shortage of British aircraft which were being delivered fast enough) and the real shortage - "the few" pilots on the British side - experienced leaders getting eroded by constant scrambles and dog-fights and the inexperienced replacements.And if you wondered what dogfighting was about in 1940 this is THE movie to recreate it because there were no digital effects - the pilots went up there day after day through the summer of 1968 flying dogfights behind a camera plane. They did it for real and if you freeze the frame during the "Battle in the Air" sequence it is amazing how many real planes are up there "fighting" it out again.It is a real tribute to the few, advised and orchestrated by those who were really there and survived.You think Private Ryan and Band of Brothers are good? Sure they are - but after you have suspended special effects belief BoB does a marvellous job of showing (in a 1960's way) what it was like to fight with your backs to the wall and dwindling pilot resources.Final peeve - it was the Battle of BRITAIN - but it suffers from the standard problem of all UK people being "English". Even the real Dowding wrote about the defence of "England" and it is faithfully replayed here. Watch for the racist treatment of the Polish pilots - absolutely prevalent at the time and though the intent of the portrayal at the time was not to highlight racisim - in a modern world it clearly does.Your nationality was also there but didn't get a mention (?) - well you can't fit everything in - and a roll call in the end credits tries to put it right - it wasn't just the Battle of Britian - it was also the Battle of the "over-run" and the "not yet joined in" - whether motivated by revenge or a desire for adventure - they died too - watch it for them too.

During a 15-year period (1962-1977), the all-star cast recreation of major World War II battles was an expensive sub-genre of the action-adventure/war film category. Undoubtedly spurred by the success of 20th Century-Fox's 1962 mega hit The Longest Day and ending, ironically, with 1977's well-intentioned but widely ignored A Bridge Too Far, the "big cast, big budget" war epics ranged from excellent (The Longest Day, The Great Escape), decent (Tora! Tora! Tora! and A Bridge Too Far), all the way down to dismal (1966's Battle of the Bulge, 1976's Midway). Not only did the law of diminishing returns apply here (as it did with the countless Star Wars knock-offs that hit the silver screen soon after that film became a cultural force to be reckoned with), but the then-ongoing war in Vietnam soured audiences on any film that was in any way favorable to the military.Nevertheless, the big-name war epic was embraced by many countries that had participated in World War II, and one of the United Kingdom's biggest contributions was, naturally, 1969's The Battle of Britain, a spectacular if rather uneven mix of historical recreation and fictionalized melodrama that commemorates the decisive defeat of the German air force (Luftwaffe) by the outnumbered fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force in the summer of 1940.The movie, directed by Guy Hamilton (who later would be briefly connected with the struggles to bring Superman: The Movie to take flight but was better known for directing a James Bond flick or two), has many things in its favor. First, it's fast paced -- considering it covers a five-month period (May to September 1940) -- and has a running time of two hours and 12 minutes. Second, it boasts some of the best aerial photography ever filmed, employing as many airworthy vintage aircraft that producers Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz could acquire (mostly Hurricanes, Spitfires, Heinkel 111 bombers and Messerchmitt Bf 109s). Third, it has a stirring and memorable score by Sir William Walton, with its two dueling themes of a Germanic martial march and the soaring victorious RAF fanfare underscoring the beautifully choreographed aerial battles. Fourth, it has a stellar cast of mostly British stars of the 1960s, including Harry Andrews, Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Curt Jurgens, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Ralph Richardson, Robert Shaw, and Susannah York. Finally, Hamilton and his production team shot the film on location in France and the British Isles, attempting -- and mostly succeeding -- to get the period details just right.Nevertheless, in trying to give the audience both a history lesson and some human interest drama by delving a bit into the personal lives of the airmen, the screenplay by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex seesaws wildly from war documentary (albeit in color) to soap opera dramatics (namely the conjugal conflicts between Canadian squadron commander Plummer and his WAF wife York). Also, the fact that this sort of war epic doesn't rely on a single "lead" to carry the picture but instead scatters its cast in small vignettes on and off the field of battle (or, in this case, in and out of the cockpits) doesn't give the audience a single hero to identify with or follow throughout the whole movie.Although some of my fellow reviewers have pointed out that The Battle of Britain's complement of aircraft is limited to five types of live-action aircraft (Hurricanes and Spits for the RAF, He-111s, Bf-109s and two Ju-52 transports for the Luftwaffe), choosing to depict the Ju-87 Stukas with model photography and ignoring the twin-engine Messerchmitt Bf 110 fighter and the Ju-88 medium bomber, I can perhaps live with that, realizing that there might not have been any of those in flyable condition in 1969. Maybe if the film had been shot in the 21st Century with CGI special effects (as in the horrible Michael Bay effort, Pearl Harbor), this "oversight" would have been unforgivable, but considering how vastly different the miniature photography scenes would have looked in contrast to the breathtaking live action aerial footage, it was wise that the producers put their budget where it counted. I -- in contrast to more accuracy-minded folks -- don't penalize the producers for using various variants of aircraft to stand in for their 1940 forbears. Nor do I find fault with the now outdated visual effects; yes, some of the explosions (particularly of crashing planes and the big bombing raid on London at night) look cartoony, but, again, this film was made in 1969, not 2004...or even 1999.The MGM 2003 DVD release is a bit lacking in the critical areas of sound (it's okay but not exactly earthshaking) and extra features, since the only such offering is the original theatrical trailer. Heck, it doesn't even bring a chapter list or one of those trivia-filled booklets such as those in the MGM Home Entertainment DVDs of The Great Escape and A Bridge Too Far. Nevertheless, its restoration to widescreen places The Battle of Britain's DVD version head and shoulders above the fullscreen VHS videotape edition.

order arrived on time and no damage. One of the best historical movies made about one of the most important events in world war 2. Features some of the greatest British screen stars of the 20th century.

great movie and very clear and good audio

Fantastica película a una increíble calidad. Incluye idioma español de españa.

German Luftwaffe air attacks disturbed British Empire during second World War. Various Aircrafts used by British Royal Air Force to protect their air from German invasion are demonstrated in the film. The determination, planningand loyalty of British soldiers are well depicted. Video clarity is excellent but audio is very poor. We can't expect much audio clarity from a Film released decades ago. This film gives excellent viewing experience. DVD is encoded in Region 3 format hence Region free DVD player would be required to watch it in India.

Una excelente narracion del intento de Hitler de invadir La Gran Bretaña durante los inicios de la segunda Guerra , desarticulando primero a la RAF y la heroica defensa por sus pilotos de la isla , cortando asi los planes de Goering y Hitlerespectaculares escenas de combate aereo , muy recomendable