Memphis Belle - A Fortaleza Voadora

World War II and as the battle for the skies rages, the youthful crew of B-17 Bomber Memphis Belle embark on their 25th and final mission...

David Puttnam co-produces with Catherine Wyler and Michael Caton-Jones directs this poignant and gripping WWII story. The crew of "Belle" are made up of a youth inflected cast of actors headed by the likes of Eric Stoltz, Sean Astin, Billy Zane and Matthew Modine, while John Lithgow and David Strathairn provide the mature acting weight on the ground hoping that the boys come back safely.

In truth it's all a bit too predictable, but never insultingly so, though research into the real exploits of the brave heroes involved reveals that Hollywood has, well, been Hollywood. Tech credits are a mixture of the brilliant and the poor, but when it involves the aerial sequences the film is stunning, and the makers do a sterling job of making "Belle's" final flight suspenseful and emotionally potent. 6.5/10

I first came across this masterpiece when I did a search for Eric Stoltz on the Netflix website. Much to my surprise I discoverd this film had an all star cast, and I adored them all! Tate Donovan, Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Billy Zane, Harry Connick Jr., D.B. Sweeney, Reed Diamond, Courntey Gains, Neil Giuntoli and John Lithgow all give amazing performances in this true story.

Even my Dad, who sleeps through every movie we watch, no matter how enthralling, stayed awake and watched this. (Allbeit the second time I popped this in the DVD player, but nevertheless hello.)

I would give this movie 20 stars if I could. It was one of the best war movies I'd seen in a long time. Plus, being a teenage girl, I loved seeing all the boys in Uniform. Oh my God, don't get me started.

When my mom asked me if I was ready to send it back to Netflix, I said no and kept it a pretty good long while. But when we finally did send it back, I cried, yes I cried, because I had fallen in love with this movie. I'd watch it everyday if I could. I have yet to buy it yet, but trust me, I'll find a way.

If you have had family that was in WWII, my grandfather was, then this movie will have an impact on you. It did on me. I found my self thinking that my grandpa was young like that right around that time. This film was set in 1942 and that means that my grandfather had yet to marry my grandmother, but he was in his prime. My mom and I both thought that.

But you don't have to like war movies to love Memphis Belle. Because it's not really like a war movie. It's about the close relationship of these ten soldiers and how they work together to stay alive in the worst of a situation. (I mean they're not having to eat rats to stay alive, which my grandfather had to do in occupied France, or anything.)

The first time you see Memphis Belle anywhere, to rent or to buy, grab it and take it home with you. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT! Take my word on that.

Missy

The movie actually was a fairly accurate account of the Belle's experiences except that the movie had everything that actually happened to the plane and crew on its 25 flights happen on the last flight. The one thing missing was that a Belle waist gunner ended up with frost bite on his hands and was replaced. The characters in the movie were fictional. I've seen some comments by people that it was unrealistic for a 21-year old (Matthew Modine's Dennis Dearborn character) to be the pilot. The real Belle pilot, Robert K. Morgan, was only 24 when they began flying missions in late 1942. Some of the movie's dialogue actually was said by crew during the Belle's missions. The government produced a 1944 documentary on the Memphis Belle directed by William Wyler and if you watch it you will recognize some of the scenes and dialogue from this movie.

Seeing movies about World War II we are always informed that the glamour service was the Air Corps. A bit of a carryover I suspect from World War I when you had those small biplanes with individual pilots acting like knights of old. That was not the mission of the Air Corps in World War II.

In fact people in the Air Corps were the first to see combat in both Europe and the Pacific. Before the invasion of North Africa the only blows against the Axis were struck by the people in the skies. The Americans and British had differing ideas about what to do which is discussed somewhat in Memphis Belle and also in other air films like Twelve O'Clock High for instance. The British believed in night bombing, fly high avoid the anti-aircraft, drop your load and let it do whatever damage it did wherever it landed. The Americans believed in what you see here, daylight bombing to try and limit damage to specific military targets. Casualties were greater that way.

So when a B-17 like the Memphis Belle completes its run of 25 missions with the same crew it is a miracle of chance that Captain Matthew Modine and his crew have gone through with the same bunch for 25. After that the tour of duty is up.

An eager Army Air Corps publicity guy John Lithgow wants to get them all on a war bond tour when that 25th mission is in the books. But the commander David Strathairn is just treating them like any of the rest of his crews. Not for the least reason that these guys have enough psychological pressure.

The crew is a cross section of Americana, white Americana to be sure as the armed forces were segregated at the time. Standing out in the performances are Eric Stoltz and Billy Zane and Harry Connick, Jr. To say that last mission was a rough one is putting it mildly.

The battle scenes are well staged, especially inside the plane which was one small contained area. I had never seen it portrayed so well before in a film about the war in the skies. Howard Hughes would have been proud of the staging.

This fine film is dedicated to those who fought in the skies in the 2nd World War. I could do no less with this review.

"Memphis Belle" tells of the last combat mission of a legendary WWII B-17 bomber and her crew. The film is Hollywoodized for entertainment value and doesn't square with history on many counts including a fully fictionalized crew. Nonetheless, the film is offers a good cast, good drama, plenty of suspense and action, and imparts some sense of the daring and danger involved in the Belle's mission #25 and daylight Army Air Corps raids over Western Europe. Worth a look for those unfamiliar with the sacrifices of the air combat crews of WWII.