Dark Blue World

This film is 99% historically accurate unlike the many obvious misreprentations in Pearl Harbor. DBW makes use of real aircraft filmed for the purpose plus some bits from the film Battle Of Britain. The flying sequences are far superior to anything in Pearl Harbor.

Unlike Pearl Harbor there are no dyslexic or stammering pilots. The love interest is central to the plot and Tara Fitzgerald is very convincing in her role.

My only gripe is that the officers and sergeants share the same mess hall. This is something that could easily have been avoided by making both of the main characters officers which would not have affected the sory line in any way.

In short, if you like comic strip type stuff you will prefer Pearl Harbor but for quality and accuracy, Dark Blue World wins hands down.

Centres on Czech WW2 pilots – the older Frantisek, the boyish impulsive Karel and in the background the quiet piano-playing Honza. As the film opens, it is 1950, the war is over and Frantisek and Honza are imprisoned in a former monastery. In their now Soviet-controlled native country they are 'enemy of the people'. Honza is severely maltreated by his Communist countrymen and dies.

In 1939 many pilots manage to escape German-occupied Europe and make their way to England where they join the RAF. Notwithstanding their high motivation and experience they face RAF reluctance and British stiff upper lip. Finally they fight gallantly in the Battle of Britain. However, Frantisek and Karel find their friendship severely tested when they both fall for the same woman.

In terms of romantic sub-plot, this is very similar to the Hollywood production Pearl Harbour. However, given the context of the film and Frantisek's eventual fate, it is also possible to read the English woman's treatment of the two men as symbolic of British treatment of the Czech and Polish RAF pilots: conveniently forgetting them once the war is over.

In addition, the film is a lot less cliché than Pearl Harbour and the characters are more fully realised. Dark Blue World also scores in terms of its stunning aerial dogfights, which were seamlessly created using a mixture of models, actual live-action aerial filming and out-takes from the 1969 epic The Battle of Britain.

In short, Dark Blue World is a well-made, moving, thought-provoking and exciting drama that puts the likes of Pearl Harbour to shame. Highly recommended.

In addition to being a drama, this film gives a rather nice account of the Czech struggle against both Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union. Having read "The Big Show" by Pierre Clostermann, and having had an Polish acquaintance who escaped Poland after the Nazi onslaught and made it to England, I found the main story line to be reasonably in line historical fact. Thanks to a combination of computer imagery and some surviving Spitfires of the era, the flying scenes are very convincing. The detail in the Spitfire attack on the German train is consistent with real life events of the time.

The dramatic aspects of the story are entirely believable also. Lonely men far from home and facing death on a daily basis behave very much like the characters in this story. The turns of events also reflect a very believable story line. The directors do a creditable job of blending three different time periods so that there is enough continuity to make the drama of this story manageable.

This film held my interest from the start for several reasons: I'm a retired military flier; I'm a student of history, especially the history of WWII; I'm way past being tired of the trashy Hollywood versions of world events. This film is a top notch product in every respect.

This is a gem - a charming step back in time and a testament to marrying the image to the period. You know you have been touched by a film when it resonates long after leaving your seat. A movie will be gone from your thoughts if it has no layers to its storytelling and this film still lingers in the mind and begs to be revisited. A fundamental error made by film-makers is not allowing the audience to participate in the film by insulting their ability to work things out for themselves. Dark Blue World is poetic, exciting and ultimately a most rewarding cinema experience. If only Pearl Harbor and its ilk could learn something of this art for their particular brand. I cannot wait for the follow-up to this special team. 8/10.

I missed it at the cinema and have rented it on DVD. If you get the chance I would recommend it as it´s better than nearly everything I´ve seen at the cinema or on DVd this year. That isn´t to say it´s one of the best films ever or anything, it´s just I´ve seen a lot of rubbish :)

Can´t really add to what´s already been said except 8/10