L'ora del grande attacco

It has something of an inauspicious title, in that it doesn't do justice to the film making craft and subject matter on offer here in Phillip Leacock's film.

Leacock and his lead man, the splendidly regal Dirk Bogarde, produce a war film of undoubted human depth. There's no sledge hammer tactics to try and curry favour with the critics and film goers alike, no clichés bogging the narrative down, this is an honest to goodness telling of the emotional trials, strains, fears and peeves of a Bomber Command Squadron in England preparing for a mission during WWII 1943. Even the inevitable romantic threads are handled with skill by the makers, never cloying and adding impact as the heroes get ready for the big bully off.

Some of the action sequences show their age, but that's fine in the context of old time cinema, while the likes of Twelve O'Clock High (which came four years before this was released) set the bar too high for Leacock's film to be unfairly compared with. Yet this earns its stripes, very much so, because as those wonderful Avro Lancaster's take to the skies and thunder though the clouds, you realise you care about every single one of those involved in the mission, both in the air and on the ground. 7.5/10

Some of the best war films have been movies about the Allied bombing campaign of WWII. "Command Decision", "12 O'Clock High" and "Raiders in the Sky" are all excellent films--though the latter is set at a British bomber base whereas the first two are about American bases. While I wouldn't quite put this film in the same level as the other two in quality, it is awfully close and well worth your time.

The film centers around Wing Commander Mason (Dirk Bogarde). He's a very good pilot. However, his 87 missions is wearing on him and he's long overdue to be retired from the front line. Oddly, instead of being happy about this, Mason insists on being able to at least reach 90...and then he'll quit. The film is a nice portrait of Lancaster pilots and crew and because it was made not too long after the war, the filmmakers were able to use three airworthy bombers--which added to the realism.

So why do I think this one isn't quite up to the level of the American films? Well, mostly because Mason just seems to take the whole thing in stride (apart from insomnia) and he seems amazingly well adjusted...taking away from the tension that DID come because the other two films focused so strongly on the emotional toll. Still, a nice tribute to these brave men and well worth your time.

I quite love this film. It DOES feel a bit talky because it's predominantly so ground based...but the depiction of Wing Commander Mason's 90th "op" puts it into a class of its own. I love the audio in the raid of the Pathfinder commander...Has such an urgency and veracity which is irresistible. I agree that it's not in the same class as "12 o'clock High"...For me the film Gregory Peck should have won his Oscar for..it truly is a "maxium effort"..but it's an elegant and high quality cinematic testament to the heroism of Bomber-Command. I like too the Aussie pilot played by Bill Kerr in his darker blue RAAF uniform. We Aussies were there in high numbers like so many Commonwealth aircrew who included my Pilot-Officer Uncle Arthur(Nash)shot down with the loss of all in a Wellington bomber on a night raid over Dusseldorf.

This is one of my favourite WW2 films and yet I only discovered it in the last few years.

The script is well written, the acting particularly by Dirk Bogarde and Dinah Sheriden is excellent and believable. The footage of night bombing raids and the master bomber techniques it shows is by far the best of any film covering this subject.

The film accurately portrays the life of a bomber squadron on "maximum effort". The pilot who survived because he went on leave before a high casualty raid. The fatigue and stress of being up night after night either flying or in the "Ops" room. The Wing Commander's sheer bloodymindedness and a sense of having to finish the tour is set against the knowledge of those around him that statistically his number should have come up several times already.

This is truly excellent film. It doesn't surprise me that it has escaped the list of great war films because of its slightly stodgy title but it's up there with some of the best.

I am surprised I haven't run across this one before discovering it recently on-line. What most of the other reviews have said is true. The bombing sequence at the end of the movie has a documentary quality to it readily evoking MEMPHIS BELLE -- not the disappointing 1990 movie, but the 1944, William-Wyler-directed wartime documentary released by the United States Army Air Forces during the war itself. It is also a highly detailed treatment that illuminates the RAF's night-time area bombing tactics far beyond else ever dramatized. By the same token, the entire rest of the film tends to be a straightforward representation of what it was like for participants in that phase of the war, remarkable as a movie for its minimization of histrionics. It deserves at least a bare minimum of a 7 on IMDb.