Battle of Britain, 1969

(Blu-ray:) Grand score and cinematography and overall production. However, very little/contrived story or (as a result) suspense, campy special effects mixed with good "analog" aerial combat footage, flat acting given the context of war and imminent invasion (and not just because of the British behavior). This film really tries to dramatize too much about the BofB and thus appears like a silly glossing over of the events. Those who know the history already will find the trimmings banal while those who aren't that familiar won't get much from the jumpy hodgepodge of scenes. They should have dropped the plot all together and just kept a few high-ranking constant characters who tell the audience the intent of their war-time decisions and then let the suspense come from the dramatization of these decisions and whether they will work. Perhaps its unfair to compare this to modern war movies like Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers, but most of the war scenes in this appear rather contrived. There are repeated cockpit cameras showing pilots either shooting or being shot, ad nauseum (mainly because they're shown seemingly gratuitously since there's not much story, just more dog-fighting). The "bombs" hitting the ground appear as though the pyrotechnic people just wanted to blow stuff up while the director wanted to make sure the audience saw it (since it costs so much to blow stuff up). In the context of drama, showing a few characters' plight is much more compelling. Especially in the backdrop of historical events. If you want to know about the BofB, there are plenty of books/documentaries which will be much more entertaining.

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