Supelice Dreadfully Boring

HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

merklekranz This is one of my favorite WW2 movies. It pulls no punches, glorifies bravery, and is exciting to the finish. The non c.g.i. images are terrific, model planes crashing into studio rock walls are so much more impressive than a cartoon within a film. The acting is totally acceptable, and the story, while fictional, is unique. A thankfully brief attempt at romance even has a rather unpleasant conclusion, which flies against the usually mandatory happy ending. There is ample flying action, gorgeous mountain scenery, and of course the squadron of "Mosquitos'. If you are looking for an almost unknown war movie, this is one to watch. - MERK

Tweekums This, along with The Dam Busters, is a classic film about the exploits of the RAF in the Second World War although unlike The Dam Busters this follows a fictional squadron. Not surprisingly for a film made in 1964 the special effects seem dated but the sight and sound or real Mosquitoes flying is something a modern film couldn't have.The squadron is given the task of destroying a factory making rocket fuel in Norway, to do this they will have to fly up a well defended fjord and bomb a fault on the mountain above the factory rather than attacking the building directly. The squadron is made up of a mixture of nationalities and lead by an American, Wing Cmdr. Roy Grant, who had enlisted in the RAF Eagle Squadron before the US joined the war. The are assisted by a Norwegian Navy Lieutenant, Erik Bergman, who brings them details of the factory site then later returns with the intention of enlisting the help of local resistance fighters to attack the anti-aircraft guns. There is also a subplot where Wing Cmdr. Grant gets romantically involved with Erik Bergman's sister.Like most British war films of the time this isn't about gung-ho heroics but about the sacrifice involved in warfare. The film was fairly well acted and the flying scenes were great, it is tragic that there are no longer any airworthy Mosquitoes here. Being a fairly old film it is suitable for younger viewers as there is no bad language and there isn't gore, even people shot with machine-guns manage to avoid bleeding. No review of this film would be complete without mentioning Ron Goodwin's excellent score which combined with the drone of the Mosquito's two Merlin engines is enough to give one goosebumps.

malboocock I've always enjoyed this film, ever since I saw it at the cinema in the sixties. The flying sequences are always thrilling and listening to those Merlins! However, my Father, who was in the RAF (617 Sqn) during the war always pointed out that there were no NCO pilots in the film. There were always Sergeant Pilots/Aircrew in an RAF squadron, even Guy Gibson had his fair share of NCO's flying. I have read some of the comments about Cliff Robertson's character. As far as I understood it, his character is an American who volunteered, before America became involved, flying for the Eagle Squadron. Hence the large American eagle badge on the upper sleeve of his tunic. Some commenters thought that the character may have been a Canadian. Robertson does play a Canadian in another war film (starring William Holden) but not this one. However, he does play an American Officer attached to the Britsh Army in another war film (starring Michael Caine and Denholm Elliot.) So as the Britsh Police would say "He's got previous."

naseby Where Eagles Dare, Operation Crossbow, The Dirty Dozen, The Battle of the Bulge and The Blue Max and The Guns of Navarone - and 633 Squadron, complete the '60's war spectaculars that have accredited classic war-movie status! There wasn't much in the way of 'air battles' films in the 1960's surprisingly. The Battle of Britain only came at the end of this decade. This air-epic involves the excellent De Havilland Mosquito aircraft, still an acknowledged warplane, but overlooked and thankfully helped by this film for its true recognition in the war.Naturally to sell it to the 'states, we were fed with an American 'Eagle Squadron' flyer , Roy Grant (Robertson) and numerous British stalwarts as the RAF flyers, but also treated to the other American actor, George Chakiris (Bergman) as the hero Norwegian resistance leader aiding the RAF (Who looked about as Norwegian as Nana Mouskouri). The mission - impossible of course - to fly low level down a Norwegian fjord to waste a V2 fuel refinery. Naturally it can't be done any other way. Bergman and his 'resistance-geologists' have decided the only way to destroy it is 'to bring the mountain down on top of it'. A crack below an overhanging rock will do this if the boys manage to fly at a real odd angle and get their eggs in the basket.We're treated to some good flying/action of/around the Mosquito. Training runs, a Nazi fighter sweep on the airfield and even in between the final raid, Bergman is captured, so the RAF despatch Grant to bomb the s*** out of him and of course keep the operation secret (under the guise of putting Bergman out of his misery - but we all know what that means!). Grant manages this, but although escapes being shot down cops a hole in an engine, his undercarriage wheel fails and we're given a good crash landing at 'Sutton Craddock' airfield.In actual fact although Bergman is dead he's squealed and as a consequence when Grant and the boys are in the air on their way to the V2 refinery, they're told to abort the mission as the Norwegian resistance were subsequently destroyed and the AA/Flak guns they were meant to knock out are obviously now intact. Of course 'Wingco' Grant does no such thing, and we're given the da-da-da-da-da-da-da-daaaaaaaahhhhhhh! music that follows them in to the fjord as each aircraft flies up to take its chances. (Excellent score as is the incidental music by Ron Goodwin).Many are blown away, some make the target with plenty of splinters in the cockpit and the 'mad' Aussie (John Meillon) decides to kamikaze against a Nazi fighter. The rock still ain't moving though despite several hits and the tension mounts - when the morse code is being sent back to Air Vice-Marshall Davis (Andrews), all seems lost as only one bomb is left. That is until Don (Donald Houston) gets his in there, sadly crashes (In plastic Revell/Airfix style in his 'Mossie'!) but has completed the job - the rock descends and demolishes the target. None of the squadron make it back though. "You can't kill a squadron." says Davis coldly in the last line of the film!This actioner was set in Norway,but the lochs of Scotland doubled (rather cheaply) for the fjords. I feel this would've elevated the film even more significantly to a 'ten' if they had filmed this there.(No offence to Scotland, nice scenery anyway, but wrong place!) Also, in typical 'sixties style, Hilda, (Maria Perschey) as Bergman's sister provided love-interest for Grant even though he's wasted her brother, but that's explained as a 'nicety' for him being relieved of his suffering. The score as I've said, is superb but does grate on your nerves a bit every time a Mosquito makes its run in to the 'fjord' and there are, as I've said already, a few more 'plastic moments' when aircraft are destroyed - but the crash-landing scenes and sweep on 'Sutton Craddock' technically are well-handled as is the general action, make up for this somewhat.Still, it's a definite must-see for at least aerial warfare fans if anything! As a footnote, another film made in 1968 titled 'Mosquito Squadron' was decidedly inferior and used some of this film in bits and bobs even though new action was included. Don't watch that, believe me it's a poor shadow of this film!