Sink the Bismarck!
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Movie Reviews of Sink the Bismarck!
Movie Review: Tense RN B/W epic -classic
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a very-good effort, pretty-convincing special effects, good script, looks right, feels right, sounds right, but does divert from authentic fact in some regards to sex it up a little. Moores character is fictional, as final credits admit.Script sounds right, and may delight both British and non-British viewers:
Suffolk /Norfolk shadowing cruisers Jack Tarr crewmen:
'Oy,you know, we might as well throw crumpets at the Bismarck for all the good our little guns would do!
Crewman 2 'I wish someone would throw a bleedin' crumpet at me!
The destroyer 'Solent' destroyed by a salvo from the Bismarck after the Captain beautifully-Britishly declares
' NOW WE'RE FOR IT!'
as a searchlight clicks onto the sneaky brave little British -ship trying to angle for a night-torpedo attack, never existed. Vians tribal destroyer-flotilla 2 and a Polish-destroyer 'Paiun' did attempt a night attack in heavy seas the night before Bismarcks destruction, but despite considerable gunfire exchanged with the rudder-crippled Nazi collossus, neither Bismarck nor its small tormentors suffered much damage, let alone sudden shattering obliteration like this imaginary 'Solent'.
And as the final-scene suggests, despite all the invincible unsinkable ballyhoo, Bismarck was silenced relatively quickly by two British heavy ships. Then saturated by torpedos from destroyers and cruisers once silenced, this was thought to have been the reason it was finished-off, but strong evidence now suggests the surviving German crews scuttled the blazing listing hulk, rather than risk its capture as a trophy- not a practical possiblity for the British force assailing it, as it now turns out.They were low on fuel, apprehensive of U-boats, just coming into range of the Luftwaffe, and were inclined to 'bounce' as soon as Bismarck was done for, not take 45 000 tons of admittedly good German scrap-metal under tow.
For the war-bird buffs, the 2 'Swordfish' attacks are actually rather fabulous, look absolutely great from all camera-angles, including plumetting torpedoes. Once again the film sexes up the truth, showing 1 or 2 Swordfish blown to pieces by flak in each attack, miraculously, no 'Stringbags' were shot down in either attack, one suffered a near-miss flak-burst and the crew wounded by splinters but survived.( Its thought the normally excellent German gunners missed and missed because they couldnt judge the speed of the 100 mph WW1-performance biplanes.)
But this is a good one, and I can recommend without reservation, it stands-up and impresses easily today.Certainly its worth 5 or 10 'U571s' or 'Pearl Harbors'....
If you want to read the factual story of Bismarck , its hunting and sinking, out of the several books Ive read, I would glowingly endorse 'Pursuit', by Ludovic Kennedy, for this is a great unput-downable sea-story in its own right, 'Pursuit' would be available on Amazon,probably cheap 2nd hand H/C, and you wouldnt regret its purchase, trust me.
Movie Review: What a difference a war makes!
Summary: 4 Stars
I rated this at least a 4 star film for a none to thrilling fact that this film represents an event in a time past that was as dramatic as any of the days of world war 2.There are a few items of a verifiable nature that the would be viewer might well learn from. The world had settled a score with Germany with the signing of the armistice which ended the first world war.The accord agreed to restricted the tonnage,that is the size and scope of germanys naval ambitions,just to mention one of the many restrictions placed on germany.One of the original ideas that germany pioneered in order to get around the restrictions was the advent of what we now know was the pocket battleship.The Bismarck was a very powerfull,if not the most powerfull ship afloat while she roamed the seas.I beleive though that the Japanese had the distinction of possessing the right to the most powerfull ship afloat during world war two.However, look no further than the bismarck! Destroyers and the like ran from her and to be absolutly straight up with you that was a ship to be reckoned with! There is another fact that might provide some help in this very important battle that is about to take place? The first world war brought an end to the era of the dreadnaught,which H.M.S. Hood was part of,though her place on the high seas was at a latter point in the first world war she still possessed a dreadnaught distinction.During a time between the wars and commencing a time immediately before the onset of hostilites of the second world war Hood underwent a makeover.Listen to this! those dreadnaught were slower than what was being done as the years passed and in an effort to make Hood faster she made a sacrifice of her plating.If you really want a shock wear do you think her plating was taken from?Right behind the stacks immediately over the area which protects the munitions.If ever there was a disaster waiting to happen it was that.I beleive that this might still be a conjecture as to the Hood blowing up,however the rest is history.I want to be clear this actually occured Hood was refitted and slimmed down and it may have cost her,her life.Long Live this Island nation-had it not been For the resolve of England on the high seas things may very well been different.This is not lessen any other aspect of the very dramatic time in world history but its dramatic detail cannot be overlooked-As a side note this picture drew enough attention that I think it was a singer who released a song at the time of the release of the film called Sink the Bismarck by johnny Horton.There not many events in history that entire movies are dedicated to,well,this is one.Movie Review: Swordfish Mania!
Summary: 4 Stars
A very enjoyable film about one of the great naval engagements of the Second World War.
The American and Japanese aircraft carriers have generally
gotten most of the cinematic glory in films like "Tora, Tora,
Tora" and "Midway" but in this film we get a glimpse of the
British carriers and their legendary Swordfish torpedo bombers. This biplane aircraft, which looks like
a relic of the First World War, played an important role in the war, not only in the attack on the Bismarck, but also in carrying out the famous devastating attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto which gave the Japanese the idea that they could also carry out a similar torpedo bomber attack at Pearl Harbor.
In this film, we also see the operation of the huge guns of the
battleships and the complicated mechanisms that loaded and aimed them.
One thing mentioned by the other reviewers is that Admiral Lutjens is portrayed as a raving Nazi maniac which they claim is incorrect. I read an article by a German naval officer who was one of the relatively few survivors of the Bismarck and he says that after the sinking of the HMS Hood, he gave a speech to the crew that was strangely depressed and seemed to indicate that they were on a suicide mission. This demoralized the crew since it seemed that they had just won a big victory. When looked at objectively, the mission of the Bismarck does seem strange, since he could have turned back once detected in the North Sea. Some speculated that he thought the war was lost (although the Bismarck sailed in May 1941 which was a month before Germany's suicidal invasion of the USSR, at a time when Germany seemed to be unstoppable) and so he perhaps thought to go out in a blaze of glory. After all, the Bismarck task force consisted of only one other ship (the Prinz Eugen), so no matter how powerful their guns were, the British had superiority in numbers in the Atlantic, so it would only be a matter of time before the Bismarck would be cornered, as had happened to the Graf Spee earlier in the war.
The film also shows the classic British "stiff-upper-lip" mentality that got them through the very difficult period before the USSR and US entered the war. All-in-all, a film well worth seeing.
Movie Review: Drama at Sea...
Summary: 4 Stars
May, 1941: Great Britain stands alone resisting the march of Nazi Germany. France has fallen, Rommel's Afrika Corps is hounding the British Eighth Army in North Africa, and the British are losing the battle for Crete. German submarines and surface raiders are cutting Britain's vital supply lines across the North Atlantic. At this particularly bad moment, the new German battleship Bismarck leaves Germany to attack convoys in the North Atlantic.
1960's "Sink The Bismarck" is a screen adaptation of C.S. Forester's novel of the same name, itself a dramatization of the actual pursuit of the Bismarck by the British Royal Navy. If a few historic details get slighted, the suspense more than makes up for it, as the Bismarck escapes into the North Atlantic, then annihilates a pursuing British battleship.
The center of the drama is the Admiralty Operations Room in London, where the hard-nosed Operations Chief, one Captain Shepard (Kenneth More), moves ships to confront the Bismarck and makes some shrewd guesses as to her route and intentions. He is assisted by a smart young WREN Officer, Anne Davis (the attractive Dana Wynter). Shepard has been traumatized almost into emotional numbness by the loss of his ship at sea and a wife to the Blitz, while his son goes missing in action during the pursuit of the Bismarck. The sensitive Davis will help revive his sense of humanity, providing an emotional core to the dramatic action at sea.
In 1960, special effects were fairly limited, but the movie skillfully weaves in actual combat footage to provide a vivid impression of the exchanges of naval gunfire and the horror of damaged and sinking ships. Especially astonishing is footage of British carrier pilots attacking the Bismarck in obsolete, open-cockpit Swordfish biplanes.
"Sink The Bismarck" is highly recommended as an excellent and entertaining example of a whole genre of World War II films turned out in the 1960's, as that war was still in living memory.
Movie Review: An all time favorite
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm not entirely sure why I like this movie so very much, but I have loved it from the very first time I saw it more than 20 years ago and still watch it often. It is a dramatization of the true story of the short-lived first cruise of the German battleship "Bismarck", of the destruction it wrought and of the hunt to find and ultimately destroy it. Yes, there are some inaccuracies in the details of which ships took part in the hunt, as well as in the portrayal of German Admiral Gunther Lutjens, but the fact that this is a British movie, made while the scars of war were still a strongly living memory, should be borne in mind in this regard. Among the things that make it worth viewing are: the presence of Edward R. Morrow recreating the atmosphere of his wartime London radio reports, the recreation of the Naval command center underneath the Admiralty building and the highly believable performance of Kenneth More (himself a wartime naval officer) as the deeply wounded Captain Shepherd. Dana Wynter also gives a delicately nuanced performance as Second Officer Anne Davis. The moment when she enters Shepherd's office and realizes that he is crying is beautifully done.
The highly restrained romantic undercurrent doesn't interfere with the main story line and is very believable for wartime professionals. One comes away from this movie knowing that a great menace to the eventual survival of Britain has been eliminated and that there may be hope for both the UK and for two lonely people.
The inclusion in the new DVD of some newreel footage of the actual event is a nice little bonus. The subject of the hunt for and destruction of the "Bismarck" has also recently been the subject of some recent documentaries. The story retains its impact, even after more than 60 years.