Battle Over Britain

From the point of view of the remains of a squadron, with a new replacement after losing two pilots, this story is more about what it was like for the fighter pilots both during and in-between battle.

The acting is good and the story and characters are interesting enough to keep you engaged to the end.

The evidently low-budget does however impact scenes, flying scenes in particular, with some moments more convincing than others. I swear I saw one Spitfire fly through a Heinkel wing (remember a ship doing something similar in Star Wars?) and the scenes showing battle through the gun sights were poor, whereas, oddly, the shots of German fighters in the rear view mirror were better, if still not that great. In short, the effects were low budget.

There aren't many real "Spits" around anymore and at times it seemed like they only had the use of the same one on the ground.

If you are looking for a non-stop, action-filled Battle of Britain story filled with great air scenes and dog fights, you'll probably be very disappointed by what you see here - but if you are interested in a tale about the psychological strain of war and how different pilots dealt with it, this is worth a watch.

One Spitfire (all pilots are flying and sharing the same aeroplane :) ), one garden shed and one patch of grass as airfield doesn't make a war film (or any film at all), especialy with long fruitless conversations, no story at all and mediocre CGI. If possible, watch it only for your amusement how bad this movie really is with all obvious mistakes. One can not move aeroplane with wheel blocks in front, but still does. Oh, did I mention, that all aeroplanes have the same markings, even in CGI form? :) Chasing lonely He-111 bomber wihtout any gunners defence? What is this, arcade game BoB with novice level on? We had thousands of better aeroplane and war movies. So skipping this one no one will get hurt.

The earliest WW 2 films featuring pilots are head and shoulders over this production. The production values are extremely limited, even as the actors try their best to make the thin script into something more than it is.

There are no dives or climbs, as one would see in almost every other WW2 plane film, there is just a video-game feeling about the targets, and it is highly impersonal, as we do not get to see any of the German pilots.

Even one scene of an enemy pilot would have added to the emotional content of the film, which, at best, was lukewarm.

I happened to have viewed A Yank in the RAF recently, and their battle scenes were far more effective than these tepid attempts. And that film was primarily a soap. For real airplane action, you are much better off seeing Wings, the WW1 Academy Award winner.

I'm sat watching now.

As a film, as a concept of bringing back the Classic British War Film, it's a great attempt. Not a blockbuster, not a study in of human endeavour in any real depth, just a story and a scenario of RAF Pilots 'doing their jobs'.

There is some plotline of sorts revolving around a competition of kills for a prize pot, the main driver of the competition being a bluff Yorkshireman (accent like Sean Bean) who has a cold exterior of a personality, not particularly likeable.

In short, it's ok, 1hr 20 min, and actually worth the time. Makes a change to see a film in slow burn mode and not to be bashed around the head with multi plot line set-ups to be able to play the last 20 mins punchline.

Give it a go.

At the beginning when the four Spitfires land after a sortie ,the only person there to greet them is one man in blue overalls ,who pokes around in a cockpit . In reality the planes would need refueling and re arming so they would be ready to take off again within 5mins. This would involve many men swarming around the planes as they stop! With a fuel bowser present and a least an Ambulance .We see no vehicles .We see one man ! Two men are later seen fiddling around with a tail rudder in the background! But NO refueling or re-arming! A short while later a Spitfire lands with a female pilot (with presumably a replacement aircraft) But it has exactly the same flight identification markings as the Spitfire the Skipper landed in a short time earlier ! Then they take off in a few minutes later without being re-armed or re-fueled ! And so it goes on !