Dark Blue World
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Movie Reviews of Dark Blue World
Movie Review: Heros Among Us
Summary: 4 Stars
Lately, I have been drawn to war movies filmed from a point of view distinctly not American. This film can serve as a helpful primer to historical fact as to Czech involvement in the allied war effort during WWII. And that effort was heroic indeed. The production values and especially the cinematography of this Czech produced film are every bit as good as anything American audiences are accustomed to, but one must adapt to subtitles unless of course, you speak Czech. But it was the humanity of the characters that made this story so compelling. For instance, the Czech wing commandeer, upon returning from a training mission with his young pilot officers did not display the slightest hesitation in eagerly seeking out his dog for a gentle romp on the ground in full view of his subordinates. You would never see John Wayne or Gregory Peck display such affection for a dog in similiar circumstances. Another altered perspective had to do with allowing the engineer and fireman of a rolling supply train to evacuate before aerial straffing began. As a long time aviation buff, I purchased this movie because of the promise of airplanes. The movie does not disappoint. Some details were noted by this viewer for the first time, such as the distinctive thud of landing gear doors slamming shut on a departing Spitfire, even a tail wheel casually rotating about its axis upon a grassy landing. From an action point of view, the flying sequences were excellent and Spitfires were plentiful. But to me, the real draw came to be the bonding of men in perilous times, and for the Czech pilots who fought with the RAF in WW11, I learned this process did not realize full closure until the early 1990's.Movie Review: WWII Without the Shmaltz!
Summary: 4 Stars
As other reviewers have commented, if you found the movie "Pearl Harbor" trite, simplistic, inane and sentimentally shmaltzy, check this film out. See a different take on WWII flyers with the central story a love triangle with two pilots in love with the same woman, only this one made with some adult sensibility.The story of Czech pilots who fled their Nazi occupied country to fly for the RAF in England, the technical aspects of the film are done with care, and the flying sequences accurate and rendered with excellent special effects. Portrayed with a deliberate absence of "heroics", these courageous men are shown to be normal men doing extraordinarily brave things with a workmanlike and professional attitude. They master their fear and fly and die with understated dignity and strength. Watching them felt like witnessing the real deal. Men die by accident and just plain bad luck; and, their friends have little time to grieve, but must suit-up and go up against the enemy again.
The love story develops accidentally and with the logical "illogic" that is love. It is told simply without histrionics, yet the feelings, though muted, are real and powerful.
Told in flashback from the horror and ultimate injustice of these heroes having been imprisoned by the Communists on their return to Czechoslavakia after the war, the film ultimately is about friendship and comradeship that survives all the tests that human relationships can be put through. It is an excellent film, but it's low key tone and telling dictates that it misses that final emotional tug that would have made it a classic. 4-1/2 stars. A worthy entry.
Movie Review: Blue Dark World
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very well written, directed, and acted film. It is gripping, entertaining, and engaging all throughout its length. The characters are real, the fears and hopes are real, and I just really enjoyed this movie.
The film follows the course of several Czechoslovakian pilots who cannot reconcile themselves to Nazi occupation of their homeland. They relocate their squadron to England and wait out the drudgery of inactivity until they are finally called upon to fight for the allied war effort against Germany.
The film shows very good aerial combat with accurate airplane (Supermarine Mark IV Spitfires, a B25 Mitchell - though this was mainly a Pacific theater plane, Messerschmitt Me 109) depictions. There are enough closeups so to think there is an entire squadron of these vintage planes still around, and my guess is computer graphics played a large role in these scenes, but the effect comes across as quality and not cheesy.
The lives of the piolts is the main theme of the story. They love, dream, hope, and struggle to survive. Life expectancies of pilots was measured in weeks, not years. Life had to be taken on the run. This film shows all of this. Its actors are capable and portray believable characters. The irony of the love story is kind of heart wrenching at the end.
I recommend this film on many levels. It is a good romance. Not graphic and raunchy, but tasteful and affectionate. It is a good war movie. It shows a side of the war most Americans are not familiar with. Czech pilots? What are those? Anyway, I really liked this movie.
Movie Review: Are there holes in the road ahead?
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a movie that tells the tale of Czech fighter pilots during WWII. The movie opens prior to France and England giving Czechoslovakia to the Germans and we get to see the tension of the people. We also see the main character (Franta Slama) training some pilots. With the capture of Czechoslovakia, Franta and his best student leave for Poland (the movie skips over Poland and France to get us to England). In England, we get to see the Czech's being taught English (something that the air controllers had a real problem with the Czech and Polish pilots with) and demonstrating their use of English thru mock intercepts while riding bicycles (very funny because the bikes had mock wings and a transmitter on them!). Later we get to see some aerial combat between the Czech's and Germans (some of the best aerial combat I've seen. They had Spits, He-111's, and Me-109's, I believe the 109's were actually late war ones though). The movie does have a love story and does a good job with it. What's arguably the best piece of the movie though is that all of this is told as a dream because Franta is in a forced labor camp in Czechoslovakia (Czech troops who fought for the Western Allies that came home were put into forced labor camps to let the Communist take control of the country). This movie is VERY GOOD (really 4.5 stars, unfortunetly, Amazon won't let us use half stars!) Watch this one!Movie Review: Auctung! Czech Spitfires!
Summary: 4 Stars
While not a great movie, I would call this Czech entry very good and unique. The dogfight scenes are quite good, and for a change our heros don't shot down the whole Luftwaffle; but I still did not find the scenes any better than the old classic "Battle of Britain" movie from the 1960s. It would have been nice to see some different German aircraft besides HE 111s. Since it seems they were using computer generated aircraft for the special effects it seems they could have included some JU 88s or ME 110s for variety sake. Of course this is just a minor point and does not take away from the quality of the story. The saga of Czechs, Poles and others who fought in the RAF or in the British army deserves to be told as it is an aspect of WW2 that is not well covered. So much has been done on WW2 that anything different is welcomed! Overall a very good foriegn movie, without any of the over the top Hollywood stuff that often trivilizes the subject. Deffinitely a good war/romance epic that both male and female viewers can get into. The DVD has some nice behind the scenes features that enhance the movie.