In May 1940 as France falls to the advancing German army, the Luftwaffe prepare for the oncoming invasion by conquering the skies. They begin by attacking the airfields and radar stations, but are met by a determined and gritty adversary in the RAF.
By the late 1960s and early 70's Hollywood studios were spending a good deal of money on big budget, ambitious and big star appeal roadshow productions. Yet there is a problem in raising the finance for this very British story of heroism for producer Harry Saltzman in that there wasn't much of an American angle or American hero. Nevertheless, Saltzman did find the money and the stars to appear in it.
As with many films like this one that work well, it took THE LONGEST DAY (1962) approach in making a war movie, in that rather than having a central set of characters to create the plot, it instead relies on the event itself for the story. Therefore such major figures as Christopher Plummer, Laurence Olivier (as Air Vice Marshall Dowding), Michael Caine, Kenneth More, Ralph Richardson or Trevor Howard starred alongside such relative newcomers as Ian McShane, Robert Shaw, Edward Fox and Barry Foster. Each strand and aspect of the film is perfectly balanced within the framework of the action and the narrative of events. Only Susannah York stands out, albeit effectively, as the only woman in the story strands.
The action is brilliantly handled by director Guy Hamilton, a director familiar with action having already directed GOLDFINGER (1964) and would go on to direct a further three James Bond blockbusters, as well as having directed the PoW escape movie, THE COLDITZ STORY (1955) handled making BATTLE OF BRITAIN like a campaign itself. One of the biggest achievements in the film, something that could never be done now is gather together all the British Spitfires and Hurricanes and German Messerschmidt 109e's and Heinkel 111's (adapted from the Spanish CASA bombers and filmed in Spain). Only the Stuka dive bombers were either modelled or adapted from other aircraft. The aerial seuqences are exceptional, with even the models used working really well with real live action aircraft. The aerial sequences are perfectly captured by William Walton and Ron Goodwin's scoring. Of course these sequences could never be made to day for a whole number obvious reasons and would instead use CGI; even the use of back projection is fairly well done. On the ground too, the scenes of the Blitz of London (using the now disused Aldwych underground) and filmed in parts of Docklands where the council were clearing for redevelopment the filmmakers were able to use this in the film to good effect. In addition many of the sequences were shot at RAF Duxford which had changed little since 1940 and were even able to blow up a hangar for the film. Additional sequences for France were filmed in Spain.
This film is often given decent but not glowing reviews by critics, though it stands out as one of the main war movies of the decade, even if the subject had been done before in ANGELS ONE FIVE (1951), though it has a greater sense of distance in time and might have been a little outdated as a subject in the late 1960s. The film did good business in Britain and Europe on its release, although fared fairly poorly in the US, perhaps for the reason stated above. However, whenever it was first shown on British TV in 1974 it achieved very high viewing figures and over the years its reputation to home audiences has grown to cult status as the Spitfire especially, as well as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight continues to have widespread iconic support.
By the late 1960s and early 70's Hollywood studios were spending a good deal of money on big budget, ambitious and big star appeal roadshow productions. Yet there is a problem in raising the finance for this very British story of heroism for producer Harry Saltzman in that there wasn't much of an American angle or American hero. Nevertheless, Saltzman did find the money and the stars to appear in it.
As with many films like this one that work well, it took THE LONGEST DAY (1962) approach in making a war movie, in that rather than having a central set of characters to create the plot, it instead relies on the event itself for the story. Therefore such major figures as Christopher Plummer, Laurence Olivier (as Air Vice Marshall Dowding), Michael Caine, Kenneth More, Ralph Richardson or Trevor Howard starred alongside such relative newcomers as Ian McShane, Robert Shaw, Edward Fox and Barry Foster. Each strand and aspect of the film is perfectly balanced within the framework of the action and the narrative of events. Only Susannah York stands out, albeit effectively, as the only woman in the story strands.
The action is brilliantly handled by director Guy Hamilton, a director familiar with action having already directed GOLDFINGER (1964) and would go on to direct a further three James Bond blockbusters, as well as having directed the PoW escape movie, THE COLDITZ STORY (1955) handled making BATTLE OF BRITAIN like a campaign itself. One of the biggest achievements in the film, something that could never be done now is gather together all the British Spitfires and Hurricanes and German Messerschmidt 109e's and Heinkel 111's (adapted from the Spanish CASA bombers and filmed in Spain). Only the Stuka dive bombers were either modelled or adapted from other aircraft. The aerial seuqences are exceptional, with even the models used working really well with real live action aircraft. The aerial sequences are perfectly captured by William Walton and Ron Goodwin's scoring. Of course these sequences could never be made to day for a whole number obvious reasons and would instead use CGI; even the use of back projection is fairly well done. On the ground too, the scenes of the Blitz of London (using the now disused Aldwych underground) and filmed in parts of Docklands where the council were clearing for redevelopment the filmmakers were able to use this in the film to good effect. In addition many of the sequences were shot at RAF Duxford which had changed little since 1940 and were even able to blow up a hangar for the film. Additional sequences for France were filmed in Spain.
This film is often given decent but not glowing reviews by critics, though it stands out as one of the main war movies of the decade, even if the subject had been done before in ANGELS ONE FIVE (1951), though it has a greater sense of distance in time and might have been a little outdated as a subject in the late 1960s. The film did good business in Britain and Europe on its release, although fared fairly poorly in the US, perhaps for the reason stated above. However, whenever it was first shown on British TV in 1974 it achieved very high viewing figures and over the years its reputation to home audiences has grown to cult status as the Spitfire especially, as well as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight continues to have widespread iconic support.