Metacritic-Rezensionen

It's a long way from Top Gun, but it's still stirring stuff.

This stirring if slightly overlong saga of England's WWII defense of its homeland features a staggering, star-studded cast, who abet the film's docudrama style with excellent portrayals down the line, despite the restrictions of their roles.

It's pretty standard fare, but it's always uplifting to watch Spitfires stick it to the Stukas. [25 May 2019, p.32]

These sequences—the dogfights over Dover, the disintegration of planes in mid-air, the graceful tactics of evasion—are more than just technically stunning. They also are beautiful, in the completely impersonal way that the spectacle of machines—working well and seemingly with wills of their own—can be beautiful. Unfortunately, something less than one-third of the film takes place in the air.

It is depressing to see $20 million poured down the drain in praise of a stiff upper lip which keeps mankind on the rack from Lagos to Mai Ly. [18 Dec 1969, p.63]

The writers never solved the problem of incorporating the top-heavy special effects into their thin little plot.