I must tell you up front that I have a prejudice towards this film, as I love airplane movies--particularly WWII air films. So, when I saw this on the queue for Netflix, I thought I had to see it--especially since I am familiar with the famed fighter-bomber, the Mosquito. It was an amazingly able and agile plane--one of the best of the war, though it's seldom talked about today.
David McCallum stars in this film. If the name isn't familiar, he was one of the stars of the 1960s show "The Man From UNCLE". Unfortunately, he really wasn't given a personality in the film--he was there, but not much more.
The story is about a Mosquito squadron. Their job will now be to bomb a rocket production facility. However, it will take absolute precision bombing using very odd bouncing bombs--much like smaller versions of the ones used to blow up the dams in the Ruhr Valley (for more on that, see the excellent film "Dam Busters"). But there's a hitch---the Germans are anticipating it and have moved all the shot down Mosquito crews to this location--daring the Brits to carry out this raid and kill their own men.
The action is generally good, but due to a lack of availability, the German fighters are actually slow-moving transport/observation planes. At times, some of these planes are models and move in impossible ways.
And, considering how much better the flying sequences were in "The Battle of Britain" (also 1969), I could see how this film might have been overshadowed. There also is a bit of predictability towards the end--with a few clichés among the escaped prisoners. Overall, a decent movie that's worth watching but also one that is far from a must-see.
David McCallum stars in this film. If the name isn't familiar, he was one of the stars of the 1960s show "The Man From UNCLE". Unfortunately, he really wasn't given a personality in the film--he was there, but not much more.
The story is about a Mosquito squadron. Their job will now be to bomb a rocket production facility. However, it will take absolute precision bombing using very odd bouncing bombs--much like smaller versions of the ones used to blow up the dams in the Ruhr Valley (for more on that, see the excellent film "Dam Busters"). But there's a hitch---the Germans are anticipating it and have moved all the shot down Mosquito crews to this location--daring the Brits to carry out this raid and kill their own men.
The action is generally good, but due to a lack of availability, the German fighters are actually slow-moving transport/observation planes. At times, some of these planes are models and move in impossible ways.
And, considering how much better the flying sequences were in "The Battle of Britain" (also 1969), I could see how this film might have been overshadowed. There also is a bit of predictability towards the end--with a few clichés among the escaped prisoners. Overall, a decent movie that's worth watching but also one that is far from a must-see.