Battle of Britain

As Andy and Skipper exit the white cottage, we see a modern-style plastic doorbell button, an up-and-over garage door and a 1960s exterior lamp.

Set in 1940, the German army's convoy in Nazi-occupied France contains at least three Mack B-Series trucks, which were only built from 1952 to 1966.

The Germans are also shown riding in US half-tracks.

At the beginning of the film, an Me109 strafes a Hurricane.

The 109 is over the Hurricane before the bullets strike the ground and airplane.

At the end of the movie a list showing all of the non-UK pilots flying for the RAF is shown.

At the end of the list they mention one Israeli pilot flying for the RAF.

Israel was not formed until 1947, and in fact the pilot in question was from British Mandated Palestine.

The one Icelandic pilot flying for the RAF in the Battle of Britain is not mentioned, neither are the pilot from Egypt, one from Austria nor the two from Jamaica.

Though tarmac runways at the bombed Duxford airfield show black areas, actual explosions take place on grass surfaces only.

German bombs somehow 'skip' the tarmac runways.

During the dogfight sequence when Canfield is shot down by German fighters, the shot of his aircraft exploding in mid air as it is heading for the ground is not a Spitfire, but Canfield flies a Spitfire during the film and during this all important scene.

He is seen taking off in one immediately prior to this sequence.

When the Germans first start the daylight bombings of London, a group of boys is seen playing in the river.

As the German bombers approach, two boys start to argue about the type of aircraft approaching.

One boy says "Messerschmitt" and the other says "Heinkel".

However, the subtitles translate it as "Iron Cross".

In the scene of Heinkels taking off, you can clearly see the painted Spanish Air Force roundel on the upper surface of the wing, under the "German" paint scheme.

Many of the female extras have 1960s hair styles.

On "Eagle Day" the Germans begin their bombing raids and Air Vice Marshal Park orders the squadrons to scramble.

The clock in the command center doesn't change, even though Park admits that several of the squadrons took "six or seven minutes," to scramble.

When Goering is being addressed, the English subtitles translate "Reichsmarschall" (Marshal of the Reich) as Vice Marshal.

'Harry Andrews' (qv)' character is seen seated at his desk, wearing glasses, reading Dowding's letter to Churchill.

As Dowding enters the room Andrews turns to speak to him and his glasses are now absent.

The timing of the scene precludes him removing them as part of the action.

In the scene where 'Kenneth More' (qv) is talking to 'Susannah York' (qv) and the Germans start to bomb the airfield; the blast from the first bomb landing in the distance is heard at the same time as the blast occurs.

Both actors react to the true sound seconds later, making them look rather slow on the uptake.

When Hitler is giving the speech about the bombing of London in retaliation of that of Berlin, he is incorrectly translated.

He talks about 'kilograms' of bombs being dropped, the translation gives only 'number of bombs' and not the correct number at that.

During scenes shot in the British cockpits it becomes obvious that many of the British aircraft have been painted on the inside of the cockpit canopies.

All the real aircraft are seen to gently rise and drop through out the scene, but the aircraft painted on the canopies stay put in their positions.

Sometimes a distant aircraft will partially overlay the closer real aircraft.

The cast credits are stated to be in alphabetical order and are actually presented in three groups in alphabetical order within each group, but in the second group the name 'John Baskcomb' (qv) is mis-alphabetized, and so is 'Alf Jungermann' (qv) in the third group.

In scenes within Bentley Priory, the map of London shows the GLC boundary as it would have been after 1967 and not the LCC boundary as it was in 1940.

During the Stuka raid on the radar stations, the guidance wires are clearly visible as one Stuka crashes into the ground.

The subtitles on the screen incorrectly translate a German fighter pilot as saying, "Indiana break left.

" What he actually says is "Indians, break left," Indians being common Luftwaffe fighter code for enemy aircraft.

When the German convoy is headed toward the Channel, we see the barges numbered #123 and #237; these barges pass in front of the camera three times.

In the attack from Norway, when the lead aircraft is attacked head on, it's clear that the camera viewpoint - supposedly that of the German pilot being attacked - is turning with the fighters as the Spitfires are maintaining a steady distance and the background sky is moving, rather than closing fast with a steady background as would be the case with a real head-on attack.

A Spitfire gets bombed during a take off run and crashes into a truck which explodes.

The stuntman who runs away from the truck can clearly be seen waiting for his cue to start running.

Audible aircraft tire squealing is heard on a grass field.

The truck also explodes just before the Spitfire actually hits it.

(at around 30 mins) A Polish flight of Hurricanes is flying in formation with Messerschmitt 109s (the 109s at the rear).

The 109s can be easily distinguished from the Hurricanes by their tailplane struts.

After the blitz, a car is seen driving around a side street.

On this street is a concrete lamp post.

That particular design of post did not appear until the 1950s as did the sodium bulbs The white cottage has a modern, 1960s, wooden door.

In one airfield bombing scene, a Land Rover is seen driving on the airfield.

The first Land Rovers did not go into production until 1948.

At the beginning of the final battle sequence the contrail of a jet airliner at high altitude can clearly be seen.

Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering was a famous WWI fighter ace and was awarded the highly regarded "Pour le Mérite" cross in 1917.

Commonly nicknamed "Blue Max", after German ace Max Immelmann, it was Imperial Germany's most important decoration (roughly comparable with the Victoria Cross or the Medal of Honor in British and U.

Armed Forces).

He was a proud holder of the "Blue Max" and should have worn it along with the "Ritterkreuz", hanging from his necklace.

Last recipient of the "Blue Max" was the famous German writer Ernst Juenger (awarded 22 September 1918; he was the youngest ever recipient at 23 and also the last living holder, deceasing in February 1998).

During the Stuka attack on the British radar station one Stuka sustains a hit and crashes into the radar control hut.

The wires suspending the model Stuka are clearly visible.

In one scene where the fighters scramble from Hawkinge, you see them lift off and fly over Folkestone in the distance.

In this shot you can see the large tower block which is the Civic Centre, it wasn't built until long after the war.

Shortly before the plotting room is bombed we see an RAF serviceman standing near the window, he ducks down long before the bomb hits.

During the attack from Norway by Heinkels of Luftflotte 5 (at around 1 min), the Lieutenant flying the lead plane says over the radio "Tomato Eins an Alle, Tomato Eins an Alle, noch zehn minuten bis Ziel".

In some versions of the film on the subtitles the first part of this is translated as "Tomato Heinz to all".

The correct translation is "Tomato One to all, Tomato One to all, still 10 minutes until target".

As the Heinkels approach the London Docklands, the shot from behind the aircraft shows them not moving in relation to each other at all, yet the background aerial view judders about, revealing that this is a group of plastic models being filmed.

- PLOTSgt Pilot Andy never pays the taxi driver who brings him to the London docklands.

As the driver only explains that the route is blacked after he has stepped out, he could not have paid the correct fare inside the cab.

When part of a burning warehouse collapses, the cable pulling it down can be seen running down to the bottom right-hand corner of the shot.

- PLOTWhy would Polish flight T5 have loaded cannons if it is only supposed to be a training mission? At 26m 18s, a burning Heinkel is descending over Admiralty Arch in a north-easterly direction, precisely away from Buckingham Palace, which is about a half a mile to the south-east.

A couple of seconds later, it continues its descent straight over Buckingham Palace.

When Squadron Leader Colin Harvey bails out, his cockpit is clearly ablaze, yet the external shot of him leaving the Spitfire clearly shows only the engine producing smoke.

At 36:48 the young airman moves his bike from the fire bucket stand and several of the buckets swing freely - revealing they are not filled with sand or water, but are empty.

One of the Polish pilots is seen reading the "Dziennik Polski" newspaper.

That particular newspaper didn't go into print until 1945.

Michael Caine heads an all-star cast including Trevor Howard, Christopher Plummer, Harry Andrews, and Sir Laurence Oliver as this Guy Hamilton directed film attempts to recreate the historical account of how the Royal Air Force(RAF) valiantly defended Britain from the Nazi air assault of 1940, which cost the lives of many fine airmen, as well as a huge number of civilian deaths along with Airplane and property destruction that cost England dearly, though which ultimately turned the tide against Hitler's Germany.Though the aerial dogfights between the RAF and Luftwaffe are impressively recreated, this film is otherwise disappointing, as it never creates an involving story with its characters, or any kind of compelling dramatic story, which is strange, since the potential was there.

In the last decade, a number of notable movies about the UK's role in WWII have come out - most recently "Dunkirk" and "Darkest Hour" - so it makes sense to check some of their older movies focusing on the topic. One is Guy Hamilton's "Battle of Britain", focusing on the Royal Air Force's defense of England against Nazi bombardments.

1. Reading the not-too-many critiques of the fling sequences, I still suspect many of the reviewers are unfamiliar with the WWI movie "Wings" which pretty much still stands out as the premiere film dedicated to aerial combat.

This beautifully filmed epic features British actors whose names only be mentioned by their last: Olivier, Redgrave, Richardson for the veterans Caine and Plummer for newer stars. And they are just a few, the male stars, joined in by one lovely British beauty as well (Susannah York).

July 1940. France has fallen and Britain braces itself for the inevitable German onslaught.

When WWII began, the German forces rolled through Europe with little real resistance UNTIL they were unable to persuade Britain to work with Germany rather than against. Thus the Germans came up with the Battle of Britain designed to bring Britain to her knees and, from a historical point of view, FAILED!

Having seen this film before when it was new fifty years ago, I always looked forward to seeing it once again, particularly for one scene, which I waited for expectantly through two hours and, finally it came. It's the final air fight, when suddenly all the noise of the war, the machine guns, the bombs, the exploding aircrafts, the awful din of the war, when it all fades away and, disappears, and all you hear is the great final music score by Ron Goodwin, which tells so much more about the war and its unbearability than all the air fights put together...

It's 1940 and the Allies are retreating. They are forced to withdraw and prepare for the Battle of Britain.

The one thing that I really appreciated about this big-budget war picture (from 1969) was that its story (thankfully) didn't involve the Americans (who always seem to be taking the credit for winning WW2)."The Battle of Britain" (set in 1940) is based upon factual events where the brave men of the RAF defended England against the fierce Luftwaffe air-attacks coming, fast and furious, from Nazi Germany.