Late night TV in Bulgaria and Russia, at least in Soviet times, involved war movies. Or rather, tank movies. (A tank crew, lots of tanks crossing fields, usually B&W but occasionally colour.) In a similar vein, I guess the best German war movie involves a submarine (Das Boot), the best American war movies involve infantry and platoons (Patton) and the best French war movies involve civilians and occupation (Le Dernier métro, Une affaire de femmes). And the best British war movies involve airplanes.
I first saw the "Battle of Britain" in Toronto's 2000-seat Carlton Theatre (where an organist rose out of the stage at intermission). The movie was a blockbuster with a cast of all Britain's who's who. But as a kid, I was impressed instead by the planes (particularly the Spitfires) and the scene with the pilot's reconstructed face.
Well, I recently bought the widescreen DVD in a bargain bin to see how it holds up. It doesn't really. It's a war movie without a plot. Or rather, it's a well-made tank movie. In colour.
I first saw the "Battle of Britain" in Toronto's 2000-seat Carlton Theatre (where an organist rose out of the stage at intermission). The movie was a blockbuster with a cast of all Britain's who's who. But as a kid, I was impressed instead by the planes (particularly the Spitfires) and the scene with the pilot's reconstructed face.
Well, I recently bought the widescreen DVD in a bargain bin to see how it holds up. It doesn't really. It's a war movie without a plot. Or rather, it's a well-made tank movie. In colour.