Popular reviews

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  Review by Jizzmonkey ★★★★

  I'm positive the dog in this is my neighbor's dog; it looks just like it, and has the same name too which my neighbor is often shouting out while sitting on his porch shooting at squirrels and drinking grain liquor with his niece as she wriggles on his lap. My wife is always wanting to call the cops on them, but the sheriff spends a lot of time over there on what appears to be personal business, so I don't see the point.

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  Review by Neil Studd ★★★★½ 1

  If Star Wars was just the Death Star trench run but told from the perspective of the guy who invented photon torpedoes and Luke had a racist dog.

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★

  The very dry British counterpart to THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO, the story of a famous morale-boosting victory. What it lacks in outright drama it makes up for with lots of patient, proper, stiff upper lip camaraderie, cool miniature effects, and endless unembellished scenes of planes taxiing, taking off, flying, and landing. Unfortunately everyone involved in Operation Chastise must now be cancelled because of what they named the dog.

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  Review by Cineanalyst ★★ 2

  Reel Wars

  Well, if you think bouncing bombs is fantastic, sirs of “The Dam Busters,” you should see George Lucas’s space opera appropriation of your WWII climax for his “Star Wars” (1977). He even got your special effects photographer, Gilbert Taylor, to be his cinematographer. Although it may not be so obvious watching the films separately, and not to minimize their differences, but more than one YouTube comparison video (here’s one) makes a compelling case of the similar basic premises of the two film climaxes, some similarities in visuals, and some reused dialogue. Indeed, the climaxes of “The Dam Busters” and “633 Squadron” (1964) were edited together in place of the eventual special effects sequence in “Star Wars” for a…

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  Review by Old Man Angelo ★★★½

  A film of two halves, one of meticulous and and excruciatingly detail oriented planning and the second of rousing and tense execution. This can be a bit of a chore to get through, especially for someone like me whose hearing isn’t the best as subtitles weren’t available and the sound mixing is from the 1950’s. But it’s certainly a unique look at World War II, focusing on a very British perspective, giving it a very mission focused stiff up lip get the job done attitude.

  The two halves balance together well, the almost redundant amount of times we see the test bombs skip across the water almost lull us into a false sense of security when we get to the…

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  Review by Paul Elliott ★★★★½

  This splendidly constructed war movie from Around the World in 80 Days director Michael Anderson is an account of the historical Operation Chastise, and the destruction of German hydroelectric dams during WWII. The script is an amalgamation of two novels, Guy Gibson’s Enemy Coast Ahead (1946) and Paul Brickhill’s The Dam Busters (1951), and it generates some solid performances to blend with the exquisite cinematography and the iconic theme by Eric Coates. It's very much a product of its time however as no observations are given to the estimated death of over 1,600 civilians, more than 1,000 of which turned out to be forced labour camp inmates and prisoners of war; which subsequently lead to Article 56 of the Protocol I amendment to the Geneva Conventions, outlawing attacks on dams.

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  Review by Will ★★★

  I'm actually pretty glad this film didn't create some fake drama surrounding the squadron, it's very matter of fact as far as I could tell. Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave lead the cast and do a solid job, so much so that it's possible with the wrong casting I'd not have been half as interested. I won't say I found this to be as superb as I'd hoped, it has dull moments and I can't really say it's thrilling, but with its classic theme song and some proper stiff upper lip chaps, I found this satisfactory enough.

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  Review by Natalie Friend ★★★★

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  Review by RetroHound ★★★½

  The Dam Busters is a British movie about the development and deployment of some special bombs that took out some hydro-electric dams in Germany during World War II. The bombs, really mines, were designed to be dropped from a low altitude of only 60 feet and then skip over the water to the dam, drop down and explode below the water knocking a hole in the dam. It was an expensive mission losing 8 Lancaster bombers and over 50 men, a nearly 40% casualty rate. However, it seriously damaged German industrial output for several months. The British did not follow up with more bombings to slow the rebuilding of the dams and factories, which was a huge missed opportunity.

  The…

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  Review by Brian Koukol ♿ ★★★

  Glad George Lucas only lifted the good parts, stopping short of naming Chewbacca after the dog.

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  Review by Andy Summers ★★★★

  Barnes Wallis was a genius and forward thinking scientist and inventor during WWII. His breakthrough in technology and revolutionary idea of how to attack the industrial heartland of Germany and in particular the dams of the Ruhr Valley was inspired.
  Michael Anderson's rousing and pride-inducing film of 617 Squadron and the daring night-time raids on the Eder, Sorpe and Mohne dams is a boys-own-stuff style film of invention and bravery. With Michael Redgrave playing the inventor Barnes Wallis, the man behind the incredible "bouncing bombs", he had fashioned a way to destroy dams that would otherwise be impenetrable. It's a story of trials and tribulations, of failure and then ultimate success, but at a huge cost of life. Richard Todd…

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  Review by dankwit

  was gonna use this as fresh ammunition to shit on george lucas, but tbh he (and especially his wife, editor Marcia Lucas) deserve major kudos for lifting key elements of this and adding them to the Star Wars postmodern potpourri to create one of the most thrilling climaxes in film history

  real shame about the doge tho