Battle of Britain DVD (1 Viewer)

[Paul Bond]

I was a freshman in at Texas A&M University in Texas when BoB was released. For those who don't know, TAMU was once a full military college (ROTC), but by the late 60's it was down to about 1/3 military.

Let me assure you that this movie was quite popular in that little colleg town.

Of course the REAL big seller of that time was Patton. There were lines down the street waiting to get in.

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[Karl_Luph]

That's it, I'm going to buy it tonight! By the way Paul, I once saw a B& W movie on tv late one night that looked like it was from the 30's or 40's , and it was about the corp life at Texas A&M University. I can't remember any of the stars in it though. Just thought i'd throw that out there.

 

[Brian E]

This film has been on my most wanted list since I got a player in '98.

What a week,
Battle of Britain
The Desert Fox
The Blue Max
633 Squadron
Mosquito Squadron
Attack Sink the Bismarck

 

[andrew markworthy]

It's a v. good film, though I've always thought it a pity that the myth was perpetuated that the Brit pilots were all white middle- and upper-class Brits and members of the Commonwealth assisted by some expat eastern europeans thrown in for good measure. This isn't in any way to belittle these groups' achievements, but about half the Brit pilots were from working class backgrounds (flying, believe it or not, was a popular hobby in 1930s Britain, and there were more airfields then than now). Also, there was a considerable contingent of Afro-Caribbean pilots, but try spotting one in the movie. There have been several documentaries/articles about the latter two groups in the Brit media over the last few years, who are understandably annoyed and hurt at being written out of history.

Anyway, back on topic - the scene which most impressed me when I saw it as a child at the cinema wasn't one of the battle sequences, but the Nazi rally - it scared me rigid.

 

[Paul Bond]

To Karl,

You were probably watching "We've Never Been Licked". I think it was made around 1943 as it has some WWII pseudo-action in it.

Now THAT was always a popular show at school, especially summer evenings when they did 'walk-in theater' at various outdoor spots on campus. Of course it was so dated that it got more laughs than awe.

The title comes from a school sports motto that... "We've never been licked. We just ran out of time."

Paul

 

[Karl_Luph]

Thanks Paul for the name of the movie, I've been curious about it for a number of years. No luck last night getting a copy of Battle of Britain, I'll have to try tonight. Great info Andrew on the Afro-Carribbean pilots' flying abilities and hats off for a job well done indeed! This story itself would make a good movie.

 

[John Hodson]

Ironic isn't it that Ron Goodwin's March of the Luftwaffe from BoB is a popular staple used by British military bands at State occasions.

I always thought Len (Ipcress File) Deighton's fabulous book Bomber would make a great WWII movie (and his controversial book Fighter tells a good deal more about the Battle of Britain than the movie ever did).

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So many films, so little time...

 

[andrew markworthy]

I endorse the remarks about Len Deighton's works - they are excellent books (and easy reading, for those who normally shy away from history books).

Also, am I right in thinking that Walton was really annoyed by his music being cut from the movie? So much so, that he refused to do any more film work? If you want to hear his work for the movie in a coherent format, try 'the Spitfire Fugue'.

And yes, Ron Goodwin's music is used by military bands.

Incidentally, I should stress that BoB is a great movie, not withstanding my little comments, which are meant as caveats rather than outright critcisms.

 

[mark-edk]

The Spitfire Fugue is not from Battle of Britain.

 

[andrew markworthy]

The Spitfire Fugue is not from Battle of Britain.

Mark, happy to be corrected - I thought it comprised a large chunk of the music they'd cut out of the movie.

 

[Randy A Salas]

The Spitfire Fugue is from William Walton's score for the 1942 film The First of the Few.

 

[John Hodson]

Also, am I right in thinking that Walton was really annoyed by his music being cut from the movie? So much so, that he refused to do any more film work?

Ron Goodwin was (rightly) embarrassed by being asked to replace Walton's score (save for the four minute section Battle in the Air which, for me, is the highlight of the film).

Just before his death earlier this year, Goodwin was quoted as being delighted at rumours that the Walton score was to be restored to the forthcoming DVD release. Alas, that hasn't happened with the R1 release, and there is still no news of BoB on R2.

BTW my uncle (a Lancashire lad of true working class origins), was a navigator/gunner, first on Wellingtons and later on Stirlings, and holds the DFC. He can testify to the veracity of Deighton's Bomber. Towards the end of the war, aged 27, he was affectionately known to flight crews as 'grandad'.

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So many films, so little time...

 

[Philip Verdieck]

One of the best WWII aviation books I ever read was "The Big Show" by Pierre Clostermann. He was a Free French flier. There is an incredibly engrossing part where he had to do a belly landing in a Tempest.


http://imansolas.freeservers.com/Ace...lostermann.htm

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Well I picked this up at lunch over at Fry's: $9.99. I quickly ran through a few highlights using my small office set, and have a few remarks. More details will come when I screen this title tonight.

For reasons best known to themselves, the opening and closing credits have been changed - it's all new.

Even worst, the music over the closing credits has been completely changed from a rousing march to a placid, contemplative march. And the Churchill quote about "the few" has been replaced by another Churchill quote about "the end of the beginning", which has nothing to do about the Battle of Britain (it was recognizing the victory in North Africa much later in the war).

MGM is beginning to get on my "stuff-list". First a ratty squalid mess of Exodus: now a Battle of Britain with several odd and inappropriate changes. These were my two most eagerly awaited war titles.

 

[Brian E]

For reasons best known to themselves, the opening and closing credits have been changed - it's all new.

Even worst, the music over the closing credits has been completely changed from a rousing march to a placid, contemplative march. And the Churchill quote about "the few" has been replaced by another Churchill quote about "the end of the beginning", which has nothing to do about the Battle of Britain (it was recognizing the victory in North Africa much later in the war).

Damn stuff like this pisses me off. I've been waiting for this for a long time and now they screw the pooch on it.

Don't even get me started on the ugly ass covers MGM and Fox insist on using for these war titles. Were the original posters so bad? :frowning:

 

[Miles]

Have any Canucks seen this title in retail outlets today? I was unable to find it at FutureShop, Walmart or Costco...

Miles

 

[Avery C]

I could not find it in Halifax either.
Let me know if you find it.
Avery

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I have a CD of the William Walton Suite from The Battle of Britain (LPO Carl Davis, EMI CDC 7479442). From comparing this to the "new" closing titles music on the MGM DVD, I have identified the "new" closing title music as being the "March and Siegfried Music" from Walton's Suite.

The CD was recorded in 1987, and notes that the "March and Siegfried Music" was "previously unrecorded". This means that what MGM put on the DVD was NOT an unused recording made contemporaneously with the film but instead something cooked up recently.

 

[CraigF]

Not around here either. In fact, of all the stores I went to, only one store, a Wal-Mart, had any of the titles (most of them, in a display case), but not BoB and 633...got Blue Max and Bismarck, so not a total loss. Other W-M's had nothing.

In fact, of all the major releases for today, and there were a lot of them, many could not be seen around here, with Future Shop having the most of them. Best Buy, as usual, had almost none except the poppiest trash, nothing substantial. Shortages? Most stores around here were open yesterday, so it can't be the holiday...

Edit: Hmmm, I notice amazon.ca lists BoB/633 as Special Order now, besides the fact that they went up in price (as did almost ALL their discs) since yesterday. What happened overnight?

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I don't have the DVD yet, so I can't compare the music, but the Ryko CD of the "Battle of Britain" soundtrack includes 9 tracks written and recorded by William Walton (in addition to Ron Goodwin's complete score). The last track is called 'Finale: Battle of Britain March'. The liner notes say the following about the piece:

Some prints of the film later had Walton's "Battle of Britain March" restored for the finale of the film.

So it sounds like this DVD is possibly from alternate source material, and does not include anything "cooked up recently".