"633 Squadron" has much in common with "The Dambusters" from around a decade earlier. Both films depict the exploits of a British bomber squadron during the Second World War. Both have as their climax a spectacular raid on a vital German target. In both cases the British airmen succeed in their objectives, but only at the cost of heavy losses. The main difference between the two films, however, apart from the fact that one is in black- and-white and the other in colour, is that whereas "The Dambusters" dramatises an actual wartime raid, the story told here is purely fictional; there never was a 633 Squadron in the wartime Royal Air Force and the events depicted never took place.
The story is set in 1944. The RAF is informed by the Norwegian resistance that the factory producing fuel for the German V-2 rockets is located at the head of a Norwegian fjord. The factory itself is believed to be bombproof as it is protected by an overhanging cliff, but geologists have calculated that several bombs dropped in the right spot could cause the cliff itself to collapse on the factory. Because the fjord is long, narrow and winding, the only aircraft suitable for the job is the fast and manoeuvrable De Havilland Mosquito.
The task of destroying the factory is assigned to 633 Squadron. Like most wartime fighting units (at least in films), this one is composed of men from all parts of Britain and the Empire, including Australia and India. In the original novel on which the film was based the Squadron's commander, Roy Grant, was British, but here he becomes an American. The real reason for this, of course, was to provide a role for a Hollywood star (Cliff Robertson, himself a keen flyer), but it is not historically inaccurate. A number of American aviators, the "Eagle Squadron", had volunteered to serve in the RAF before America's entry into the war, and here Grant is one of these men.
"633 Squadron" is not really in the same class as "The Dambusters", largely because the acting is not of the same quality. The Greek- American George Chakiris, in particular, seems miscast as the Norwegian resistance fighter Erik Bergman. The film, however, does have two big attractions which helped to establish it as a favourite with the British public. The first is Ron Goodwin's famously stirring musical score which at one time almost rivalled Eric Coates's "Dambusters March" in popularity. The second is the final scene (said to have inspired the "trench run" sequence in "Star Wars") in which the Squadron fly up the fjord to attack the factory, running the gauntlet of the German anti- aircraft batteries- a thrilling sequence which has made the film beloved of all aviation enthusiasts and is the main attraction when it is shown on television today. 7/10
The story is set in 1944. The RAF is informed by the Norwegian resistance that the factory producing fuel for the German V-2 rockets is located at the head of a Norwegian fjord. The factory itself is believed to be bombproof as it is protected by an overhanging cliff, but geologists have calculated that several bombs dropped in the right spot could cause the cliff itself to collapse on the factory. Because the fjord is long, narrow and winding, the only aircraft suitable for the job is the fast and manoeuvrable De Havilland Mosquito.
The task of destroying the factory is assigned to 633 Squadron. Like most wartime fighting units (at least in films), this one is composed of men from all parts of Britain and the Empire, including Australia and India. In the original novel on which the film was based the Squadron's commander, Roy Grant, was British, but here he becomes an American. The real reason for this, of course, was to provide a role for a Hollywood star (Cliff Robertson, himself a keen flyer), but it is not historically inaccurate. A number of American aviators, the "Eagle Squadron", had volunteered to serve in the RAF before America's entry into the war, and here Grant is one of these men.
"633 Squadron" is not really in the same class as "The Dambusters", largely because the acting is not of the same quality. The Greek- American George Chakiris, in particular, seems miscast as the Norwegian resistance fighter Erik Bergman. The film, however, does have two big attractions which helped to establish it as a favourite with the British public. The first is Ron Goodwin's famously stirring musical score which at one time almost rivalled Eric Coates's "Dambusters March" in popularity. The second is the final scene (said to have inspired the "trench run" sequence in "Star Wars") in which the Squadron fly up the fjord to attack the factory, running the gauntlet of the German anti- aircraft batteries- a thrilling sequence which has made the film beloved of all aviation enthusiasts and is the main attraction when it is shown on television today. 7/10