Review of Battle of Britain (1969) by Sean L — 16 Jun 2007

Probably the most effective recruitment drive since 'Britons needs you' this film tells the story of the heroic 'few' as they fight off hordes of Luftwaffe invaders. The film features a sterling performance from Christopher Plummer as a fighter pilot destined to meet a horrific fate and Laurence Olivier as the British foreign minister. Noteworthy is also an appearance by a very young Michael Caine in one of his first feature films playing a young enthused pilot who is eager to see action.

This story has some of the most magnificent scenes set to a fabulous score. What is more impressive is that all shots are filmed without special effects (this was the sixties after all); the producers gathered together so many old fighters and bombers aurplus after the war that they formed the sixth biggest airforce in the world!

So to the story, we follow the trials and tribulations of one of the many squadrons of fighter pilots trying desperatly to stave off a Nazi invasion (Operation Sea Lion) by preventing the Luftwaffe from achieving aerial superiority over the chanel. It is interjected well with the wider strategic implications including the German decision to switch from the British airfields to instead concentrate on the civilian and industrial regions as well as the obvious repercutions of this decision.

Most notably is that this film also takes time to concentrate on the support personnel so vital to the war effort, following the strategists who have to take the hard decision of meeting the Luftwaffe after they have dropped their payloads in order to inflict heavier losses at the expense of larger civilian losses.

Overall, a great film although not for all. Something to watch with the lads rather than with your girlfriend.