THE DAM BUSTERS

On Friday 16^th at 4pm, the day of Operation Chastise, the Dambusters Raid in 1943, THE DAM BUSTERS (2hrs) starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave.

The Dam Busters was acclaimed by critics, who widely praised its acting (especially Todd’s and Redgrave’s), Anderson’s direction, its superlative special effects photography by Gilbert Taylor and soundtrack score by Eric Coates (especially the stirring The Dam Busters March theme tune). The film was Britain’s biggest box-office success of 1955. A much-loved British classic, The Dam Busters has since been cited as one of the greatest films of the 20th century.  The film holds 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

After inventing the “bouncing bomb,” which can skip across water until it encounters a dam to explode, Dr. Barnes Wallis struggles for years to develop his new device for use in World War II. Once the bombs are ready to be tested, Wing Commander Guy Gibson’s squadron must be specially trained to drop the sensitive weapons on Germany’s Ruhr Dams. Based on true events, this British film features a legendary grand finale of special effects.

“An exceptional movie on many levels

First of all, it’s a pretty darn good depiction of the factual events of Britain’s destruction of German hydroelectric dams in WWII, including the sometimes single-handed efforts of Dr. Barnes Wallis, engineer, scientist and visionary, to convince British high command to implement his plan. Second, excellent footage of the AVRO Lancaster, Britain’s premier heavy bomber of the war, at times yanking and banking at extreme low level. Third, it’s a very good depiction of the combat crews and their emotions before and after the missions. Fourth, it’s just a damn good movie, no pun intended.

The main plot is to develop a means of destroying the three main dams that power most of Germany’s war industry in the Ruhr Valley, and then executing the plan. Sir Michael Redgrave’s rendition of Wallis treats the audience to the same enthusiasm, exhaustion, disappointment and triumph that the man himself must have felt. A very interesting part of the movie is when, after finally winning over bureaucratic lethargy and getting his plans for the destruction of the dams approved, he now realizes his pet project will put young men in danger, and many, even possibly all, will die.

Richard Todd and a competent cast play the Lanc crews with a minimum of schmaltz. All depictions of the Lancasters are live footage with the exception of the few crash scenes, which are done using miniatures. Legend has it that George Lucas used footage and even duologue from this film for his Star Wars movies.

Warning: Todd’s character, Wing Commander Gibson, has a black Labrador Retriever named “Nigger.” In fact, they use the dog’s name as a code word indicating success.” IMDb reviewer