In 1940, the British Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle to prevent the Luftwaffe from gaining air superiority over the English Channel as a prelude to a possible Axis invasion of the UK. Historical reenactment of the air war in the early days of World War Two for control of the skies over Britain as the new Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force determine whether or not an invasion can take place. Michael Caine heads an all-star cast including Trevor Howard, Christopher Plummer, Harry Andrews, and Sir Laurence Oliver as this Guy Hamilton directed film attempts to recreate the historical account of how the Royal Air Force(RAF) valiantly defended Britain from the Nazi air assault of 1940, which cost the lives of many fine airmen, as well as a huge number of civilian deaths along with Airplane and property destruction that cost England dearly, though which ultimately turned the tide against Hitler's Germany.<br/><br/>Though the aerial dogfights between the RAF and Luftwaffe are impressively recreated, this film is otherwise disappointing, as it never creates an involving story with its characters, or any kind of compelling dramatic story, which is strange, since the potential was there. A good documentary on the subject may be more interesting and informative than this, unfortunately. POSSIBLE SPOILERS<br/><br/>The film, "Battle of Britain," is quite good. It's shorter than "A Bridge Too Far," but it's still a good war movie (even though ABTF is better).<br/><br/>Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, and others really did give a good performance. Hermann Goening's reaction to the Nazi defeat of the Battle of Britain was hilarious and it stayed true to history (when the Luftwaffe was facing off with the R.A.F, Hitler refused to listen to his military experts and listened to the incompetent Goening, who was in charge of the Luftwaffe…fortunately for the Allied forces). I'm surprised my history professor didn't recommend this film.<br/><br/>3.75 out of 5 stars.
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