I really wanted to like this movie, so much I even bought it without seeing it. Oops. This movie is painfully slow by today's standards and is not entertaining at all. Oh and it's very British so there for its dryer than certain area's on Jane Fonda's body. Despite the strong cast don't see this movie it won't be entertaining.

Briefly, after the fall of France to the German Army, England was the last remaining country in Western Europe not under Nazi rule. The Germans wanted to destroy the British Air Force before they start the invasion of England. So the Germans sent wave after wave of bombers and fighters while the British were standing on the edge of annihilation, a few British pilots survived and defeated the Luftwaffe. The war in Western Europe was changed and arguably the war overall because the Germans lost many planes that they could have used to support their failed Russian invasion in 1942.

The cast is a who's who of English actors from the 1960's including Sir Laurence Olivier (Hamlet), Michael Caine (Secondhand Lions), Christopher Plummer (National Treasure), and Robert Shaw (Jaws) to name a few actors. Yet this strong cast does not help the movie because the script was written in a way that highlights the battle and the characters are almost secondary in nature. But because the battle scenes are shot in wide areas, there is no tense dog fighting action. The only time the camera gets close is to focus on the pilots pushing the triggers or bailing out of planes, or getting shot. The action scenes are fairly slow.

The story is interesting in that it focuses on the pilots, on both sides, who go through the struggles of losing men as the war progresses. This dynamic is interesting but it can not carry the film for the length of the movie. However that is what screenwriters Wilfred Greatorex and James Kennaway did in writing this movie and it makes for some very boring times in the movie. It is fascinating if you like the historical aspect of the war but as entertainment it is lacking.

If you want to watch a movie that deals with lots of air battles I suggest Midway or Tora, Tora, Tora. These two movies dwell on the battle but the action is better and the story is equally entertaining.

Brian - the Naked Gun