The Dam Busters
|
List Price: Our Price: $17.99 You Save: $1.99 (10%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $17.81 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Dam Busters
Movie Review: The Dam Busters
Summary: 5 Stars
1954's "The Dam Busters" is a detailed, almost reverential recounting of the British Royal Air Force raid against three dams in the Ruhr valley of Germany during the Second World War. The raid itself was notable for the use of an experimental five-ton bouncing bomb delivered at low altitude across the water against the inside of a dam face. The raid was also notable for the high casualties among the squadron that pressed home the attack: eight of 19 planes lost, 56 of 133 men killed.
The movie took advantage of the immediate availability of aircraft, equipment, uniforms, and facilities in use during the war. The black and white cinematography is crisp and realistic. The storyline is built around the efforts of inventor Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) to convince the bureaucracy to use his bomb and around Wing Commander Guy Gibson's (Richard Todd) painstaking training and leadership of the hand-picked squadron that made the attack. The actual attack on the dams is a series of thrilling flying sequences, as Lancaster bombers maneuver through curtains of flak and around a variety of obstacles to make their bombing runs. The special effects associated with the attack on the dams looks primitive by today's standards but were considered state of the art in the day.
Covereage of Wallis's tedious development of his bomb is perhaps overlong. Unfortunately, rather less time is devoted to character development among the fliers, most of whom, apart from Gibson, end up being faces hidden by oxygen masks. The movie makes a understated but unmistakable point about the sacrifices of the pilots and aircrew who didn't make it back.
This movie is highly recommended to fans of the war movie genre, especially those interested in an almost documentary coverage of a famous incident of the air war against Hitler's Germany.
Movie Review: Dam Good Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a 1954 B&W movie based on a 1951 book by Paul Brickhill. Both the book and the movie are excellent.
This film is packed with action, and the tension is maintained throughout. There is not a dull moment. There is a great deal of atmosphere in every major scene. The actors are good and the production is quite realistic. Some of the special effects are not very well executed though. I am sure they could have done better, even with the technological limitations of the early fifties.
Speaking of technology, the first part of this movie deals with the challenge of destroying a dam that is 120 feet thick at the base. We spend a long time witnessing the development of an audacious idea concocted by a scientist who has to go through various trials and tribulations before his concept is vindicated. So the first half of the movie would qualify as a documentary in that regard. But there is just as much action and tension here as there are in the bombing scenes that follow. For the whole story is threaded with the same fabric.
So the second half of the movie deals with the actual bombing of three German dams in the Rhur Valley. That is what we had been waiting for and it is delivered like an apotheoses. Indeed it is the climax of the movie, but the tension is only released after numerous attempts. There is a "feel good" part here, but the triumph is somewhat mitigated by the heavy casualties. That is what makes it a great war movie.
n_hamel@videotron.ca
Movie Review: Who Needs Special Effects?
Summary: 5 Stars
This film was exciting when I saw it in 1956 in Holland, and it is just as exciting now. How can one miss with the superb talent of Michael Redgrave, the stirring music of Eric Coates, and a gripping yarn that happens to be true? Much of the fascination of this film stems from its depiction of Barnes Wallis's process of planning and perfecting the bouncing bomb, and persuading Whitehall to go along with his eccentric idea. Equally interesting are the various makeshift devices, such as the range-finding lights and the home-made bombsight.
"The Dam Busters" tells the story of ingenuity and courage during wartime. In the wrong hands, such a topic might be heavy handed, but one of the things that British filmmakers of the 1950s did so well was to deliver their patriotic messages with a touch of wry humor mixed with just the right amount of pathos. The camera may not focus on exploding planes or dwell on the devastating effects for the inhabitants of the Ruhr valley, but in leaving such details to the collective imagination of the audience, the director has developed cinematic understatement into a fine art.
Movie Review: Based on a true story
Summary: 5 Stars
A good movie with good actors and a good story line. A movie you can view many times. It's about the efforts of a far-seeing inventor who conceived a method of destroying German dams with a special bomb. Two problems had to be solved. The first the design of the bomb and the physics of it's deployment.This was headed by the somewhat eccentric physicist/engineer, Barns Wallis, who's crazy idea was only accepted because he had a remarkable track record for crazy ideas that worked. The second was to find a way of delivering it. This was achieved by a brave, disciplined, group of bomber crews who had to fly onto enemy ground fire while positioning the aircraft at an exact distant and height before releasing the bomb. The raid destroyed 3 hydro-electric dams but cost the lives of 56 airman.
The DVD is excellent. It's in black and white but all the blips and scratches have been blended out and it probably views better than the screen original. The special music composed for the film, "The Dam Busters March" is often heard around the globe.
Movie Review: This is the one to buy...
Summary: 5 Stars
As with the Congress Entertainment DVD, this is a straight dub of the 1954 British film, including all the original video and audio. The story is very interesting, historically important, and well acted. I saw it not very long after its original release and enjoyed it then, and still do.
Given the very high regard the British have for Wing Commander Gibson, who was awarded Britain's highest military honor (Victoria Cross) for this raid and died in action just over a year later, I'm sure that - in 1954 - they were being very careful about accuracy, and left in historically accurate details which some will find offensive.
By "modern" (pre computer graphic animation) standards, the special effects are a bit primitive, but quite well done for 1954. Unlike the Congress Entertainment DVD, the audio and video quality are excellent, and the presentation is quite professional. Both may have been taken from the same original, as they both have a momentary frame freeze at one point.