First of all, it's a pretty darn good depiction of the factual events of Britain's destruction of German hydroelectric dams in WWII, including the sometimes single-handed efforts of Dr. Barnes Wallis, engineer, scientist and visionary, to convince British high command to implement his plan. Second, excellent footage of the AVRO Lancaster, Britain's premier heavy bomber of the war, at times yanking and banking at extreme low level. Third, it's a very good depiction of the combat crews and their emotions before and after the missions. Fourth, it's just a damn good movie, no pun intended.
The main plot is to develop a means of destroying the three main dams that power most of Germany's war industry in the Ruhr Valley, and then executing the plan. Sir Michael Redgrave's rendition of Wallis treats the audience to the same enthusiasm, exhaustion, disappointment and triumph that the man himself must have felt. A very interesting part of the movie is when, after finally winning over bureaucratic lethargy and getting his plans for the destruction of the dams approved, he now realizes his pet project will put young men in danger, and many, even possibly all, will die.
Richard Todd and a competent cast play the Lanc crews with a minimum of schmaltz. All depictions of the Lancasters are live footage with the exception of the few crash scenes, which are done using miniatures. Legend has it that George Lucas used footage and even duologue from this film for his Star Wars movies.
Warning: Todd's character, Wing Commander Gibson, has a black Labrador Retriever named "Nigger." In fact, they use the dog's name as a code word indicating success. Obviously, the word means something much different in the US today. The US version of the movie and the one seen on TV had "Trigger" dubbed in, but the DVD version uses the original duologue. It take a bit getting used to, and may be a distraction for some.
Look for future greats Robert Shaw and Patrick McGoohan in bit parts.
The main plot is to develop a means of destroying the three main dams that power most of Germany's war industry in the Ruhr Valley, and then executing the plan. Sir Michael Redgrave's rendition of Wallis treats the audience to the same enthusiasm, exhaustion, disappointment and triumph that the man himself must have felt. A very interesting part of the movie is when, after finally winning over bureaucratic lethargy and getting his plans for the destruction of the dams approved, he now realizes his pet project will put young men in danger, and many, even possibly all, will die.
Richard Todd and a competent cast play the Lanc crews with a minimum of schmaltz. All depictions of the Lancasters are live footage with the exception of the few crash scenes, which are done using miniatures. Legend has it that George Lucas used footage and even duologue from this film for his Star Wars movies.
Warning: Todd's character, Wing Commander Gibson, has a black Labrador Retriever named "Nigger." In fact, they use the dog's name as a code word indicating success. Obviously, the word means something much different in the US today. The US version of the movie and the one seen on TV had "Trigger" dubbed in, but the DVD version uses the original duologue. It take a bit getting used to, and may be a distraction for some.
Look for future greats Robert Shaw and Patrick McGoohan in bit parts.