 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Look, okay, it's a book by Brickhill, it can be remade ad infinitum, but the original is a classic. Also, in the UK there's been a lot of revisionism for a long time now about the Ruhr Dam raids and their effectiveness. A lot of civilians and many slave-labourers were massacred and drowned in that attack (Gaza anyone? ... 'funny how the mess is never on our OWN doorstep) and production was back up within a coupla' weeks anyway.
Recently there's been a lot of revisionism re the work of Bomber Command. For years they were quietly not highlighted, because of Harris, and the fire-bombing etc., etc.. Yes, they were brave, no-one will deny that, and they deserve celebration, but it's a funny time to be remaking this film. It doesn't NEED it anyway. I'm sure, without being catty, that Fry feels deeply for young men shot out of the sky. Why I even don't doubt he also feels for the thousands of civilians killed in that raid. Probably not as much though if you get my drift. DO I sound catty? Well, Stephen likes that doesn't he, a bit of Wildean cattiness, he'll understand.
Why not make Brickhill's 'Reach for the Sky'. a universal story that still works?
I dunno, it seems not quite right, though it'll be successful.
While it's very sad that slave laborers died, one must wonder if it is not a better fate then being worked to death.
as for civilians. If you are talking about German civilians, they were all guilty anyway. There were few to none who didnt support Hitler's reign of terror and therefore deserved death.
Remember that Germany was let of far too easily after the war ended and emphasis shifted to the Soviet threat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Yeah, make The Dambusters, it doesn't have to be a re-make, just another version of the events, celebrating perhaps the greatest feat of flying ever - the low level flight to the dams with pilots from all over the world (I believe one of the pilots that scored a hit & made it back was American). And a more accurate portrayal of leader Guy Gibson, who was the real thing, a proper hero, but not as approachable & friendly as the likable Richard Todd played him, & in fact only one of his crew volunteered to stay with him for the raid, the rest of the squad was just those available, not "the best", anyone who hadn't been shot down was thought of as the best. I don't get William's point at all - "Yes, they were brave, no-one will deny that, and they deserve celebration" - but William wants to forget about it - oh weren't we nasty, killing all those people. It was an all out war & we had plenty killed in this country (my mother who was a young girl during the London blitz saw some very nasty sights), & between 30,000 & 50,000 French civilians were killed during D Day, so no films about that please!
I have to admit that I like a good war film, but like westerns, we seem to have forgotten how to make them. And maybe Peter Jackson should stick to trolls, & why hire Stephen Fry to write the screenplay, he's only written one, Bright Young Things, which he directed...& it died the death. He should stick to QI & generally being witty & cleaver.
The one I'd like remade is The Great Escape, how it happened, & not some fantasy like the 1963 film (but a great & enjoyable movie), but it would need a series like Band Of Brothers & The Pacific to do it justice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Aug 2, 2014 - 5:54 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Grecchus
(Member)
|
The spitfire, Battle Of Britain and Dam Busters never cease to attract historians with a new angle on events. Dowding and Park must have got the balance right during that horrible struggle, so credit where credit is due.
The Dambusters, in hindsight, was more a propaganda coup. It did quite some damage though, and over the course of a five year war, the criticality of even one day's loss of war production is not insignificant. Then there's the people cost. If only one life is lost what does it matter? Well, from the perspective of that life, it's the end of the world.
In response to CinemaScope - it would be nice if Jackson does a little bit more than is usual to acquaint the audience with a personally immersive look at flying the mission - regular updates on instrument readings and pilot's eye view over managing the Lanc with other peeks at navigation as well as spectacular shots of the planes zooming low over sea and landscape. I'd prefer that to the more traditional lightweight approach used in general. Something with a bit more documentary style, with the grit of Saving Private Ryan. Just that little something extra to make people realise how gruelling it was to undertake a sortie. You know, 12 O'Clock High with a little bit more, besides.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The spitfire, Battle Of Britain and Dam Busters never cease to attract historians with a new angle on events. Dowding and Park must have got the balance right during that horrible struggle, so credit where credit is due.
The Dambusters, in hindsight, was more a propaganda coup. It did quite some damage though, and over the course of a five year war, the criticality of even one day's loss of war production is not insignificant. Then there's the people cost. If only one life is lost what does it matter? Well, from the perspective of that life, it's the end of the world.
Apparently Churchill was in America at the time & was able to announce the success of the raid (& they needed a success at that point), & someone asked Churchill, what if it had failed, & he said, in that case no one would have heard a thing about it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
..i think it best we keep it on track on the films rather than straying into historical politics.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If they really do get around to remaking Dam Busters, I wonder what they will call Guy Gibson's Labrador?
My guess is that he'll get airbrushed from history.
Or Digger.
I saw the film a few weeks ago on Channel 5 ( I think? ) and the name was left in. I saw it about 10 years ago and I think the name was indeed over-dubbed with 'Digger'.
They must have been busy, the word is said about twenty times (could almost be a Tarantino movie), & that word is nigger, that's NIGGER. Guy Gibson wouldn't have meant it to be insulting calling his black dog that, even in the early sixties you could buy clothes in nigger brown & no insult was intended, & I can't remember anyone walking out of Blazing Saddles.
But it probably won't happen, it's not even a Marvel superhero story.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A remake of THE DAM BUSTERS might become a good movie, But I challenge them to come up with as good as march theme as they did in the original.
|
|
|
|
|
|
A remake of THE DAM BUSTERS might become a good movie, But I challenge them to come up with as good as march theme as they did in the original.
I have the original on blu ray. That's good enough for me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
... funny how the mess is never on our OWN doorstep
Never, William? My mum might disagree with you, having had to be bodily flung into a meagre bomb shelter as a ten-year old in Leeds in 1941. We had it very light in relative terms, losing only 70 or so Loiners to air-raids, but those in London, Coventry, Liverpool and other places might also wonder about your definition of doorstep. I don't think those citizens would have refused a pint to any member of Bomber Command.
'Never saw this until now.
You could have mentioned Belfast there, TG, no-one ever does, but it was heavily blitzed as a shipyard and contender in the N. Atlantic war. Actually, most of the general staff in N. Africa were Anglo-Irish officers and Monty himself was born in Donegal.
There needs to be a distinction made between the interceptor work of Fighter Command in the BoB and the mass fire-bombing. They didn't pack in until Adolf topped himself. It's wrong to ignore the reservations that many had at the time. It's probably equally wrong to ignore that the BoB turned out right in the end largely because of Adolf's idiocy and decision to open a second front. It's worth remembering that Dowding etc. were relieved that the bombing had moved from the airfields to the cities, enabling time to regroup and repair.
The thing here is that whereas the sheer guts of the bomber crews is undeniable, it's a hard one to celebrate fully. Thousands of men, women and children did perish. When barbarism gets out of the box, it spreads.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
as for civilians. If you are talking about German civilians, they were all guilty anyway. There were few to none who didnt support Hitler's reign of terror and therefore deserved death.
Remember that Germany was let off far too easily after the war ended and emphasis shifted to the Soviet threat.
C'mon, you don't even believe that yourself.
Are we saying that, say, a little German girl or a little German boy, burnt to a crisp, let's say three years old, was complicit in Adolf's racket? Or that the fact that similarly innocent British children of the same age were similarly killed means they deserved it somehow?
The debate remains about whether Harris's methods were necessary. And it will never be fully resolved, because, as always, too many deaths, either of airmen or of civilians would need atoned for if the case fell against Harris.
As regards Germany being let off too easily, well, 'The Mouse that Roared' says it all.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
