Battle of Britain

Director: Guy Hamilton Guy Hamilton

Overview

"Guy Hamilton's Battle Of Britain (1969) was the first major failure for producer Harry Saltzman, who had enjoyed success for most of the 1960's between the James Bond movies (co-produced with Albert R. Broccoli) and the three Michael Caine-starring ""Harry Palmer"" spy movies. This disc is the best presentation that the movie has had since its year of release -- there was a letterboxed laserdisc edition released around 1990 that looked decent, but the new transfer runs circles around that laser set in clarity and detail as well as brightness and color. The fields of France as depicted here never looked greener, nor have the details of the planes ever seemed more enticing to the eye -- and when the action takes to the air, the viewer does almost get the feeling of being aloft, the picture is that sharp. The 2.35-to-1 letterboxed image captures the original Panavision picture and the black area below has been used to support the subtitling for the sequences involving the Germans in conversation. Daylight scenes or darker interior shots, there's a vast amount of picture information here to take in, and this is the kind of disc that could swing lingering skeptics over to the format. The audio is mastered well also, particularly the climactic ""Battle In The Air"" sequence, where the music is essential. None of this alters the fact that the movie is incredibly dull and slow-moving for much of its length. The 132 minute running time seems excessive, and director Guy Hamilton takes forever to get where he is going -- the fact that the 20 chapters are adequate to that running time is indicative of the pacing problems with the picture. Additionally, there is no annotation to speak of -- not even a paper insert with a list of chapters. The makers have left out some obvious supplementary material that could have been included -- Battle of Britain, like most other major United Artists productions of the period, was the subject of a 15-minute featurette that used to appear regularly on New York television (usually to fill time after baseball games that ran short or long), detailing the movie's production with extensive behind-the-scenes footage. Its inclusion would have made up for the lack of even the most basic essay about the film's history. The low price makes this disc attractive -- it retails for less than a third of what the laserdisc used to cost -- but the flaws in the original film, coupled with the perfunctory treatment of the disc extras negate some of that appeal. In terms of actual play, the disc opens automatically to a very simple two-layer menu with the ""Play"" option in the default position. The only bonus feature is the original five-minute trailer."

Product Details

Release Date:	05/20/2003
UPC:	0027616885760
Original Release:	1969
Rating:	G
Source:	Mgm (Video & Dvd)
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	2:12:00

Special Features

Origional theatrical trailer; Origional theatrical english/german mono; English, french and spanish language subtitles

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Laurence Olivier	Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
Robert Shaw	Squadron Leader Skipper
Michael Caine	Squadron Leader Canfield
Christopher Plummer	Squadron Leader Colin Harvey
Harry Andrews	Senior Civil Servant
Trevor Howard	Air Vice Marshal Keith Park
Curt Jurgens	Baron von Richter
Ian McShane	Sgt. Pilot Andy
Kenneth More	Group Capt. Baker
Nigel Patrick	Group Capt. Hope
Michael Redgrave	Air Vice Marshal Evill
Ralph Richardson	British Minister in Switzerland
Patrick Wymark	Air Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Susannah York	Section Officer Maggie Harvey
Michael Bates	W.O. Warrick
Isla Blair	Andy's Wife
John Baskcomb	Farmer
Tom Chatto	Willoughby's Asst. Controller
James Cosmo	Jamie
Robert Flemyng	Wing Cmdr. Willoughby
Barry Foster	Squadron Leader Edwards
Edward Fox	Pilot Officer Archie
W.G. Foxley	Squadron Leader Evans
David Griffin	Sgt. Pilot Chris
Jack Gwillim	Senior Air Staff Officer
Myles Hoyle	Peter
Duncan Lamont	Flight Sgt. Arthur
Sarah Lawson	Skipper's Wife
Mark Malicz	Pasco
Andre Maranne	French NCO,l'officier français
Anthony Nicholls	Minister
Nicholas Pennell	Simon
Andrzey Scibor	Ox,Ox
Jean Waldon	Jean-Jacques
Wilfried van Aacken	Gen. Osterkamp
Karl Otto Alberty	Luftwaffe Chief of Staff
Alexander Allerson	Maj. Brandt
Dietrich Frauboes	Feldmarschall Milch
Alf Jungermann	Brandt's Navigator
Peter Hager	Feldmarschall Kesselring
Wolf Harnisch	Gen. Fink
Reinhard Horras	Bruno
Helmut Kircher	Boehm
Paul Neuhaus	Maj. Foehn
Malte Petzel	Beppo Schmid
Manfred Reddemann	Maj. Falke
Hein Reiss	Reichmarschall Goering
Rolf Stiefel	Hitler
Nikki Van der Zyl	Voices,Dubbing
Christopher Mayer	le lieutenant Harvey
Jean Wladon	Jean-Jacques
Wilfried von Aacken	le général Osterkamp
Trevor Wayne Howard	Keith Park
Ron Goodwin	Composer
William Walton	Composer
Malcolm Arnold	Composer

Technical Credits

Wilfred Greatorex

Derek Dempster

James Kennaway

Derek Woodward

Benjamin Fisz

Wilford Greatorex

S. Benjamin Fisz	Producer
Guy Hamilton	Director
Cliff Richardson	Special Effects
Glen Robinson	Special Effects
Harry Saltzman	Producer
Wilfred Greatorex	Screenwriter
Derek Dempster	Screenwriter
James Kennaway	Screenwriter
Derek Woodward	Screenwriter
Martin Body	Special Effects
Gordon Everett	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Teddy Mason	Sound Effects
Gordon K. McCallum	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Jim Shields	Sound Effects
Ron Butcher	Sound Effects
Ray Caple	Special Effects
Nosher Powell	Stunts
Benjamin Fisz	Screenwriter,Producer
Cliff John Richardson	Special Effects
Wally Veevers	Special Effects
Wilford Greatorex	Screenwriter
Harry Slatzman	Producer