Memphis Belle (1990)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Michael Caton-Jones

Writer (WGA):

Monte Merrick (written by)

Release Date:

12 October 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

The "Memphis Belle" is a World War II bomber, piloted by a young crew on dangerous bombing raids into Europe...

Plot Keywords:

Crew | Bomber | Bombing | B 17 Bomber | Soup

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Matthew Modine	...	Capt. Dennis Dearborn
Eric Stoltz	...	Sgt. Danny "Danny Boy" Daly
Tate Donovan	...	1st Lt. Luke Sinclair
D.B. Sweeney	...	Lt. Phil Lowenthal
Billy Zane	...	Lt. Val "Valentine" Kozlowski
Sean Astin	...	Sgt. Richard "Rascal" Moore
Harry Connick Jr.	...	Sgt. Clay Busby
Reed Diamond	...	Sgt. Virgil Hoogesteger (as Reed Edward Diamond)
Courtney Gains	...	Sgt. Eugene McVey
Neil Giuntoli	...	Sgt. Jack Bocci
David Strathairn	...	Col. Craig Harriman
John Lithgow	...	Lt.Col. Bruce Derringer
Jane Horrocks	...	Faith
Mac McDonald	...	Les (as Mac Macdonald)
Jodie Wilson	...	Singer

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK | Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:12 (cinema release) | UK:PG (video rating) (cut) | Iceland:L | Norway:10 (theatrical rating) | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (cable rating) | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Imperial War Museum, Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

BSB

Trivia:

Film debut of Harry Connick Jr.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the scene where Danny pulls out the liquor bottle, and Rascal sneaks up behind him to grab it, for a split-second, you can see Danny grin. Eric Stoltz probably happened to see Sean Astin coming in the reflection on the bottle, and without doubt it looked kind of funny to him.

Quotes:

Dennis Dearborn: And if we don't drop these bombs right in the pickle barrel there are going to be a lot of innocent people killed.
Luke Sinclair: What's the difference? They're all Nazis!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fluke (1995)

Soundtrack:

Flying Home

Credit given where credit is due

Memphis Belle is an amazing movie that has an amazing cast where each man fits his character perfectly as you are thrown back into May 17, 1943 as the crew of the Memphis Belle has completed 24 missions and is about to become the first crew of the Eighth Airfore to complete its 25th and final bombing mission over Bremen to bomb a factory.

The movie accurately depicts a mission of a B-17 bomber and all the treacheries the crew of 10 men must face while in the sky. From take off and grouping for formation to the flight across the channel the movie builds excitement as the men head into enemy skies where they will have to face multiple attacks from ME-109 Messershmitt fighters as well as brutal barrages of flak (anti aircraft)attacks, all while trying to maneuver through the skies to make it over the target and drop its payload of bombs. At that point, only half the battle is done, the plane, crew of 10, and all other bombers in the formation must struggle to make it back to their bases and land safely in England to live to fight another day, or if they are lucky enough such as the crew of the Memphis Belle, they will complete their tour of duty (25 missions) and return home to their families or continue on and complete more tours.

The movie really gives the viewer a great understanding for how the American airmen fought bravely over enemy skies of Germany during the daylight bombing raids during WWII.

This movie is by far my favorite movie. I was introduced to this movie one year after it came out in theaters. I was only 5 years old but I already had a growing fascination for the war and especially for the B-17s because of my grandfather. My dad knew about the movie because local actor Eric Stoltz lives here in Santa Barbara, so he gave me the movie in hopes of fulfilling my ever growing curiosities of B-17s.