The Dam Busters (1955)

Brilliant must-see film

I first saw this film when I was 7 years old in 1965. My father was an RAF pilot in WW11 and since his passing I will watch this film maybe once a year, as it never fails to remind me of the kind of person he was.

I'm not sure wether we still have this kind of bloke existing in the PC ,dumbed-down, useless rabid feminist, "Chav" society that is Britain today.

It's a humbling tragic story that needs to be told as it all happened. Regardless of the pro's and cons of how effective against the Nazi war making capacity the damage was, it's a story of unwavering courage, ingenuity and perseverance against terrible odds. This is all the more important in that the doomed generation of Bomber boy's who so bravely gave there lives were disowned by the very country they saved immediately the war was won.

Peter Jackson better be careful. He has a legacy of honour to protect if he re-makes this film. And changing Wing Commander Gibson's dog's name to appease the luvvies is not an option. A rap artist can shout any obscenity and freely use the N word without anybody batting an eyelid, yet we have to hide the truth. Its a sad and ironic reflection on our current way of life that these guy's fought and died to protect.

Right up there with my favourite movies of all time. October 6, 2008

Classics just get better

The classic war story, unembellished and pretty much the way Paul Brickhill wrote it in his book. Why oh why movie makers today feel the need to remake films which frankly cannot be improved upon is beyond me. Watching this again makes me realize that Peter Jackson is setting himself a monumental task, but if it helps educate another generation about one of the great events of the second world war, so be it. I would still encourage everyone to watch the original. This is a great story, a true story and a great piece of history, well told and well directed (even George Lucas borrowed liberally from it for his Death Star destruction scene in Star Wars!). If I were to pick just one film to represent the courage, angst and ingenuity of the RAF in World War II, this would be the one. August 29, 2008

The Dam Busters

Another true War time movie.The speicial affects at the dam attacts were a little fake but altogether a good film.A remake of th film was spokened of but the word nigger would have to be changed!! June 29, 2008

Who Needs Special Effects?

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. June 20, 2008

Brilliant then, excellent still

I had the good fortune to first see this movie in the cinema in 1956 in Germany. Perhaps surprisingly, the German audience cheered wildly as the bombs exploded! On the other hand, maybe they just enjoyed a gripping tale, superbly acted. My father, after the movie, took me to see the (rebuilt) dams as we lived quite close to them. I vividly remember standing on the Mohne Dam, looking at the new concrete between the towers, and imagining the Lancaster bombers rushing toward me over the water. The movie has been a favorite of mine ever since, though I've had to put up with TV reruns or scratched and worn VHS until this wonderful new edition. January 4, 2008

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