If you are going to make a film paying tribute to the South Africans that volunteered and fought in WWII then at least make an attempt to do it well.
The film opened well enough, with a CGI dogfight over the Channel but it plummeted downhill from there. The CGI used wasn't a problem for me, it saves money and there aren't many WWII planes left to play with. The film was so full of holes it took away any sense of respectability.
The first problem was the acting, particularly the pub scene. Lots of wood speaking with very strange accents and it didn't endear me to the cast as it was supposed to. Then we had an RAF bombing raid flying during the day. This was the job of the Americans, the RAF went at night. They went with no fighter escort and the side gunner hanging out of the side opening was ridiculous.
After the plane went down, the crew broke all the rules of getting home, they traveled by day and slept at night, no one keeping watch, all sleeping. They also used a barn on a farm in Germany in an area they knew they were being hunted. It just got more laughable. Two go out to rescue a captured mate, taking a short cut given to them by the farmer's wife, and manage to run through and catch up to a motor vehicle and overpower it. They manage to shoot a German with a revolver while a German soldier with a machine gun missed them from the same distance. OK. This is now showing the Allies were great and the Germans useless. There was also an SS Captain who was every comic book cliché an SS man could be. There was a lot more to criticize but let's just say I was willing the SS to catch them quickly and put an end to the film. I really didn't care about the most unlikeable aircrew I've seen in a film.
All in all. Bad story, badly done and I've seen better acting at AmDram. Forget it.
The film opened well enough, with a CGI dogfight over the Channel but it plummeted downhill from there. The CGI used wasn't a problem for me, it saves money and there aren't many WWII planes left to play with. The film was so full of holes it took away any sense of respectability.
The first problem was the acting, particularly the pub scene. Lots of wood speaking with very strange accents and it didn't endear me to the cast as it was supposed to. Then we had an RAF bombing raid flying during the day. This was the job of the Americans, the RAF went at night. They went with no fighter escort and the side gunner hanging out of the side opening was ridiculous.
After the plane went down, the crew broke all the rules of getting home, they traveled by day and slept at night, no one keeping watch, all sleeping. They also used a barn on a farm in Germany in an area they knew they were being hunted. It just got more laughable. Two go out to rescue a captured mate, taking a short cut given to them by the farmer's wife, and manage to run through and catch up to a motor vehicle and overpower it. They manage to shoot a German with a revolver while a German soldier with a machine gun missed them from the same distance. OK. This is now showing the Allies were great and the Germans useless. There was also an SS Captain who was every comic book cliché an SS man could be. There was a lot more to criticize but let's just say I was willing the SS to catch them quickly and put an end to the film. I really didn't care about the most unlikeable aircrew I've seen in a film.
All in all. Bad story, badly done and I've seen better acting at AmDram. Forget it.