What do the critics know?
Added 11/2/2009
I remember when this movie first came out, the critics panned it for having "unrealistic" scenes of crew interaction while the Memphis Belle was on its last mission. As a former aircraft commander of a bomber crew, I can tell you that the crew interaction and banter between the crew members is the most realistic part of the movie! I highly recommend this movie not only as an example of what our young men sacrificed for our country at that time, but also a terrific story - even though it is not the real story of the Belle's last mission.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Concise Review
Added 10/23/2009
Everybody seeems to love this movie, including those who aren't usually that into war films. One of the main reasons for this is the charactors. Offering up a very typical group of young men as the B-17's aircrew, I can't think of a more fitting reason to like this film. Hollywood aside, it needs to be remembered that while we hear the tale of these missions recounted by aged men now, in most cases they were just high school aged boys that braved unimaginable danger on a daily basis to serve their country. It's hard to realise fully what it takes for a young man to experience such a mission, hopefully make it back to base to see how many of your friends didn't make it, sleep, dream of home and family that you miss so much, get up the next morning and go do it all over again. A brutal, impersonal attrition of numbers that as parents, we could not imagine subjecting our "children" to. So, if there is one thing to be gained from watching Memphis Belle it should be a real appreciation for what many choose not to think about. Sure, it takes it's liberties but like The Battle of Britain, it's a great look back at important history that is beautifully presented with real aircraft...something that unfortunately will not happen many more times. Fabulous musical score by George Fenton puts the iceing on the cake.Memphis Belle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Their Last Mission
Added 2/3/2009
In the summer of 1943 the Allied Air Force bombers attacked Germany, the US by day, the British by night. This is the story of a bomber crew created for the 1990s. [You can compare it to "Command Decision".] Was daylight bombing the only way to win the war? Some say this bombing delayed a cross-channel invasion in 1943 and an earlier end to the war. The last B-17 to land explodes for a dramatic effect. Bombers dropped surplus bomb in the Channel before they landed. That idea of a chain of restaurants was anachronistic. Would those men talk about their mission to civilians? Would they drop all those balloons at a party? Rubber was a scarce resource. That box camera would have underexposed film. The sale of film was rationed in Britain.
The assembled crews get their orders: Bremen, the aircraft factory. Strategic bombing picked the critical targets (like ball-bearing factories) to do the most damage. [Didn't they have alternate targets if the main target was clouded over?] Weren't the planes spaced far apart to prevent collision? They are attacked. A "lucky rubber band"? Some letters remind us of the real war. Anti-aircraft fire greets them as they approach the target. Was there such conflicts among the men as shown? The film shows actual film from the war to show bombs exploding. A dangerous maneuver extinguishes an engine fire. The damaged bomber makes it back to England. There is drama in the landing, but we should expect a happy ending.
The credits roll at the end, a lot of people are named. While the details of the story seem authentic, the tone of the story does not match the culture shown in the films of the 1940s. Overall, its worth watching as a dramatic story. There was a real "Memphis Belle" whose crew toured America to help sell war bonds.
The B-24 could fly higher, faster, and further than the B-17. It was not as user-friendly and all models were demolished for scrap at the end of the war. "The Wild Blue" by Stephen E. Ambrose has the story.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Average war flick
Added 1/9/2009
Mild Spoilers Follow
This is not a dreadful movie, but it is pretty average. What makes it interesting are the aerial sequences, and the flying B17 bombers, several of them real planes which are credited at the end of the film. Watching (and hearing) them fly is fascinating, and you do get a real idea from the film of what it was like inside one of those beasts. If you are interested in this sort of thing, then the movie is worth watching at least once for this alone.
Otherwise...I'm afraid it's cheesy. The fact that the B17 had such a large crew works against the film-makers, because it is hard to give all the crew members space and make the men individual characters. To compensate, they each end up with their own gimmick, whether it is the wireless op with his camera, the navigator with his drinking, or the waist gunner with his holy medal. (Harry Connick, as the tail gunner, naturally sings.) Despite this, they all remain as types, and it is hard to really empathise with or care for any of them as individuals. This is not the fault of the acting, but the fault of the script, and, to a lesser extent, the direction.
Naturally, everything goes wrong with the Memphis Belle's final mission to Bremen. Though ghastly things did routinely happen on bombing operations (one of the worst moments in the film shows a crippled German fighter slicing a B17 in half--you can see a photo of a real-life, similar incident in the recent book "Eighth Air Force", by Donald Miller) the way the crew surmount one disaster after another does rather stretch credulity. It's also highly doubtful that the plane could ever have dropped its bomb-load accurately on a factory instead of a neighbouring school, as that sort of accuracy just could not be guaranteed with the technology that was around at the time. About the only thing you can say is that the Eighth Air Force at least pretended they were trying to hit targets whereas the RAF just bombed everything indiscriminately: the results, unfortunately were much the same for those on the receiving end of the bombs. Which leads me to another cynical observation, that It's noticeable you don't see any bombs going off on the ground in this movie. In fact, while people get blown up, or sucked out of aeroplanes, this film is remarkably violence free--the most blood you see is from a tin of tomato soup.
It's long been my observation that people who went through the war are sometimes nostalgic, but seldom sentimental about it. It was an emotion that simply could not be afforded at the time, and after the event it became an ingrained habit. Old war movies, made soon afterwards by men who were often former combatants, reflect this attitude, but Memphis Belle was made long enough after the events it purports to depict that sentiment creeps in. Ultimately, this movie is a 90s version of events that happened 50 years previously. Despite the technological advantages the filmakers had, perhaps that is one of the reasons why in the end it doesn't quite convince.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
The Memphis Belle
Added 1/6/2009
GREAT! I love this movie and now I can love it forever! Thanks!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
What do the critics know?
Added 11/2/2009
I remember when this movie first came out, the critics panned it for having "unrealistic" scenes of crew interaction while the Memphis Belle was on its last mission. As a former aircraft commander of a bomber crew, I can tell you that the crew interaction and banter between the crew members is the most realistic part of the movie! I highly recommend this movie not only as an example of what our young men sacrificed for our country at that time, but also a terrific story - even though it is not the real story of the Belle's last mission.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Concise Review
Added 10/23/2009
Everybody seeems to love this movie, including those who aren't usually that into war films. One of the main reasons for this is the charactors. Offering up a very typical group of young men as the B-17's aircrew, I can't think of a more fitting reason to like this film. Hollywood aside, it needs to be remembered that while we hear the tale of these missions recounted by aged men now, in most cases they were just high school aged boys that braved unimaginable danger on a daily basis to serve their country. It's hard to realise fully what it takes for a young man to experience such a mission, hopefully make it back to base to see how many of your friends didn't make it, sleep, dream of home and family that you miss so much, get up the next morning and go do it all over again. A brutal, impersonal attrition of numbers that as parents, we could not imagine subjecting our "children" to. So, if there is one thing to be gained from watching Memphis Belle it should be a real appreciation for what many choose not to think about. Sure, it takes it's liberties but like The Battle of Britain, it's a great look back at important history that is beautifully presented with real aircraft...something that unfortunately will not happen many more times. Fabulous musical score by George Fenton puts the iceing on the cake.Memphis Belle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Their Last Mission
Added 2/3/2009
In the summer of 1943 the Allied Air Force bombers attacked Germany, the US by day, the British by night. This is the story of a bomber crew created for the 1990s. [You can compare it to "Command Decision".] Was daylight bombing the only way to win the war? Some say this bombing delayed a cross-channel invasion in 1943 and an earlier end to the war. The last B-17 to land explodes for a dramatic effect. Bombers dropped surplus bomb in the Channel before they landed. That idea of a chain of restaurants was anachronistic. Would those men talk about their mission to civilians? Would they drop all those balloons at a party? Rubber was a scarce resource. That box camera would have underexposed film. The sale of film was rationed in Britain.
The assembled crews get their orders: Bremen, the aircraft factory. Strategic bombing picked the critical targets (like ball-bearing factories) to do the most damage. [Didn't they have alternate targets if the main target was clouded over?] Weren't the planes spaced far apart to prevent collision? They are attacked. A "lucky rubber band"? Some letters remind us of the real war. Anti-aircraft fire greets them as they approach the target. Was there such conflicts among the men as shown? The film shows actual film from the war to show bombs exploding. A dangerous maneuver extinguishes an engine fire. The damaged bomber makes it back to England. There is drama in the landing, but we should expect a happy ending.
The credits roll at the end, a lot of people are named. While the details of the story seem authentic, the tone of the story does not match the culture shown in the films of the 1940s. Overall, its worth watching as a dramatic story. There was a real "Memphis Belle" whose crew toured America to help sell war bonds.
The B-24 could fly higher, faster, and further than the B-17. It was not as user-friendly and all models were demolished for scrap at the end of the war. "The Wild Blue" by Stephen E. Ambrose has the story.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
