Battle of Britain (1969)

At long last fans of this great production have a DVD that won't disappoint. Those of us who saw the film when it was released in Theaters to this day, I believe, at every viewing of this movie recall and relive the significant impact it had.

O.k...so we have Heinkels and Me 109's with Merlin engines. Come on guys! I certainly prefer that to CGI planes that don't even exist. Remember...there's about as little chance that you'll ever see a gathering of warbirds like this on film again as there is of the Battle of Britain repeating itself. And the model Stukas? Well, think about it. Even if there were a few around, which there wasn't (flyable that is), they wouldn't be crashing them now would they. No, we'd still see models. Not one real airplane was destroyed making this film. All were mock-ups or models.

While the love story addicts are generally happier watching the likes of Pearl Harbor for obvious reasons, it must be remembered that films like Battle of Britain and Tora Tora Tora (easily the better Pearl Harbor depiction)are simply intended to tell a story. A little bit of documentary? You bet. A story of which we already know the begining, the middle and the outcome. There are no twists or suprises to be expected. No heroes walking out of the smoke in slow motion. The film is about the battle, not the individuals. It's about the RAF, not the one pilot that flies better than anyone else and has the prettiest girl waiting for him. It's about the country that against overwhelming odds came through. No. No individual heroes or loves...if that's what you're looking for quite simply you are watching the wrong movie. What? Did we see a review or two that complained of no plot? Geeez Loueeez...don't tell the Germans. You can teach monkeys to review better than that. Anyway, similarly we have a production that brings us real Heinkels and 109's and Spitfires and Hurricanes once again dueling it out over London and Dover...impossible by todays standards for monetary, permitability and aircraft availability reasons, in an almost equally overwhelming effort as stopping the Luftwaffe. I for one think the guys responsible for this masterful movie deserve all the credit for laboring and acheiving as good a look back at those times as we're ever likely to get.

It's interresting to note that it was twenty-nine years seperating the real event from the movie. It's been thirty-six years since the movie premiered. In that thirty-six year period not another film of this genre can come close. And if we go farther back into Hollywood history, well there's loads of AT-6's and occasional P-43 Lancers painted as Zeros, F-84's masquerading as Migs...and of course, more recently F-5's as Migs, and so on. I am grateful for the attention to authenticity that was given to every aspect of this production. Watch the special features disc about how even actual dock areas of London real estate and airbase hangers were once again destroyed to add even more realism.

And speaking of grateful, THANK YOU MGM for the great job on this DVD set. Whatever the reason for the lousy version released a couple of years ago, this effort is superb. To those of you who have not seen it yet, rest assured it is back in it's original form...and then some. Subtitles have all been restored, the video is mastered in high definition and the audio greatly displays the benefit of a re-do in 5.1 Dolby Digital. Thankfully, the soundtrack is also returned to the glorious Ron Goodwin version, with the Sir William Walton score available as an option. It's interesting to run the movie with the other score, but I promise you after about 15 minutes you'll be switching back to Ron Goodwin. However, Sir William Walton is a talented composer in his own right, and while his approach was entirely diferent it is that contrast that makes his "Battle in the Air" interlude such a striking part of the movie. Pilot and aircraft attrition are displayed at the end as in the original. The subtitles are located in the lower letterbox bar which is great, although it may be a little frustrating for some depending on your television. Since it is in 16x9 aspect ratio, the "stretch mode" most appropriate on some screens may crop the lower line of subtitle. Watching it on a Sony 50 inch widescreen LCD set had this problem, but the SharpVision projector set at 9 feet diagonally has a setting

that accomodates perfectly.

So put that old laser disc and the blurry vhs tape away for good...sit back and enjoy...the real Battle of Britain is about to begin...

I was eagerly looking forward do the DVD version of this movie. I have had the old RCA disk version that dates back to the early 80's, the VHS, and laserdisc version. The laser disc version is in widescreen. When I received the DVD, my enthusiasm decreased when I started watching the film. I could not believe what had been done to this version of the film. The following items are what I have found to be faults with the DVD version:

1) This version does not include any references to the location or the time frame that the scenes are occuring (e.g. the opening shot takes place May 1940 in France, the scene with Sir Ralph Richardson and Curt Jurgens is at the British Embassy in Switzerland, the first scene with Goering is at Pas de Calis).

2) The opening credits are completely changed especially "The Battle of Britain" instead of "Battle of Britain".

3) No credit is given to Maurice Binder for Main Titles and Ron Goodwin for music. It is Ron Goodwin's music that is used for most of the movie.

4) The English subtitles were inaccurate at least on one occasion. The scene near the beginning that talks about Churchill refering to the battle of France is over. Churchill's quote says "[w]hat General Weygand called the battle of France...", but the subtitle says de Gaulle instead of Weygand.

5) Battle of Britain March by Sir William Walton was substituted at the end. This music was not appropriate because the end of the film paid tribute to those involved in the campaign.

6) The film used a quote that did not capture the essence of the battle. I think that his "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" sentiments are much more appropriate.

7) I also believe that the DVD left out the number of German planes, casualties, and missing.

I was looking forward to seeing this film finally on DVD. I can only rate it 3 stars based on the deficiencies that I have listed. If you have a VHS copy, hang on to it and compare it with the DVD version. I am fortunate that I still have the laserdisc version.

Buy Battle of Britain (1969) Now

I was there, a kid who lived through the Blitz and my father volunteered for the RAF and served in the Far East I guess that makes me biased. Much attention is given by Hollywood to D-Day. What people like Leonard Maltin forget, in his snide comment ("another 'spot the star' WW2 epic") in his Movie & Video Guide, is that if the June 6 invasion had failed another one could have been launched within months; but if the Battle of Britain had been lost ("on the outcome of this battle depends the future of ... civilization" W. Churchill) there would have been no D-Day because there would have been nowhere to launch it from. Maltin's problem, like so many American critics of foreign films, is probably that there were no American stars performing mythical heroics no James Garner or Steve McQueen with spurious roles as in "The Great Escape." The film faithfully portrayed the events and characters: Robert Shaw's "Skipper" character is a great representation of Squadron Leader "Sailor" Malan; Laurence Olivier spent countless hours studying archival films of Air Chief Marshall Dowding so as to portray him accurately, to the extent that people who knew "Stuffy" Dowding said it was like turning the clock back 30 years. The importance of radar was detailed, as was the hopeless leadership of Goering (wonderfully played by vaudeville artist Hein Riess). No mock heroics, just scared young men doing their best against impossible odds. Did you spot the realistic touch made by including an actual horribly burned airman? Once more, consider the consequences of Britain losing this battle: with no Western front to guard and the British laying down their arms in North Africa, Hitler would have been able to use his entire army, probably led by Rommel, and an undiminished air force, to quickly overpower Russia. After joining Japan, and with all of Europe and Asia under their control, with all the resources, raw materials, armament factories and the British Fleet, the last act would have been a 2-coast attack on, and defeat of, the USA. "The whole world, including the United States, cast into a new Dark Age" (Churchill). In summary: an exciting, technically-correct episodic docudrama of how less than 1,000 young men saved the world.

Read Best Reviews of Battle of Britain (1969) Here

There are a plethora of reviews of the movie, but my review is mostly a comparison of the BD vs DVD version. I won't discuss its merits as a war film.

The BD version is fantastic, and is equal or superior to the theatrical release I vaguely remember as a child and beyond superior to the DVD version.

The audio is crisp and clear and makes good use of its uncompressed audio track. For a movie released in 1969, the sound is 21st century quality: the effects roar into your living room, the engines thunder and drone as if you were there, bombs thud with deep bass, gun fire are not only clear they are period accurate to the type of guns used. The vocal track is balanced and not drowned out by effects and background noise. There are several English alternative tracks, one gives more attention to Sir Walton's musical score used in the original theatrical release.

The BD transfer is up to the highest quality BD disks. The actors faces are all so well defined, and luckily show almost no trace of makeup. Texture in uniforms are so clear one could discern cotton from wool in the material, make out details in engines, rivets on planes, brush strokes of paint and even blades of grass on the fields. Most strikingly, the details reveal when stunts were done with real planes, or when props were substituted and animation were used, such as when planes exploded in mid-flight. There is a very striking difference in movements and maneuvers by real planes that is qualitatively different from the CGI, such as used for planes in the 2001 film, Pearl Harbor.

I do recall as child, the film did not receive high praise, due to a shallow script and editing, characters were not developed. Its not immediately clear when many of the key characters are either killed or taken off duty, or how desperate Britain's situation had become. But I leave criticism of the full movie to the reader. When BoB excels without peer 40 years since its release, is its simulated WWII air combat using many original planes. IMHO, only Howard Hughes "Hell's Angels," matched in near realism for dogfights, in Hughes case relative to WW1. Even in 1969, great praise was made for BoB's aerial photography and portrayal of combat.

Want Battle of Britain (1969) Discount?

This recent release of the Battle of Britain is finally what is is intended to be. A wonderful, immense story (and movie) of Great Britains Finest Hour. The movie is restored to its original (VHS) release, music and sub-titles. The letterbox is very good. The 2 disc set has many added features. Several documentary type programs, added commentary and even restored original musical score. I recommend this to everyone who may be interested in this historic event. (and especially to those who may already own either the VHS or earlier DVD) BUY this right away!

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