Review of Battle Of Britain (Special Edition)

Introduction

"Never in the history of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few". Winston Churchill`s speech on the war for air superiority over Britain during 1940 permeates every moment of this, one of, possibly the most underrated movie to portray the events of the Second World War.

The Battle of Britain took place over fourteen weeks of the summer of 1940, and was supposed to be the opening salvo of Hitler`s invasion of the British Isles. A hopelessly outnumbered Royal Air Force withstood the onslaught of the Luftwaffe and changed the course of the war against all odds.

Made in 1968/9 by Harry Saltzman (and S Benjamin Fisz) as his largest project outside the Bond franchise, the film paints a truly epic portrait of the conflict. Guy Hamilton (Diamonds Are Forever) directs a Who`s Who of British cinema, many in quite startlingly small roles.

Video

Presented on DVD for the first time, restored and shown in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, "Battle Of Britain" has never looked as good as this before. The image is as sharp as a pin, as you would expect from the great cinematographer Freddie Young, contrast is exceptional and colours are bright but naturalistic. Some people complain about the special effects in the movie, but for me they`re as convincing as the first time I saw the picture. Okay, there are a couple of dodgy 007 style process shots, but the team that did a lot of the Bond effects work have worked their magic in this movie, utilising radio controlled models (no motion control cameras back then) to supplement the vintage aircraft utilised in the filming. Remember that this film is contemporary with "You Only Live Twice", and top of the range special effects were only available to people like Stanley Kubrick in 1968. The Axis planes were supplied by the Spanish Air Force and combined, the air power under the command of the production team made the 35th largest air forces flying in 1968. Which presumably means they could have invaded Liechtenstein if they wanted.

Aerial photographers Johnny Jordan and Skeets Kelly contributed to the film. Jordan, who was sadly killed filming "Catch-22" two years later, and who had lost a leg during the filming of "You Only Live Twice" had the dubious fortune of being the only camera operator who would fit into the confines of some of the bomber cockpits as a result of his disability. His sterling work in this movie and his contributions to the Bond films are a great legacy of an outstanding cinematographer.

Audio

This is where this edition of the film excels and sends the R1 version screaming into a power dive. The film is presented in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS - spectacular mixes both with lively soundfields that send Hurricanes and Messerschmitts buzzing around the room. Ron Goodwin`s glorious score - one of his best - is reproduced magnificently in a wide, screen-centric presentation. The R1 version was in Mono.

Aficionadoes of the movie will be aware that when the film was made, a score was commissioned from Sir William Walton. Walton, who had scored Laurence Olivier`s great Shakespearean movies including "Henry V", "Hamlet" and "Richard III" was painstaking in his composition, and ultimately the score he delivered added up to only half-an-hour or so of the film`s total length of 126 minutes. The score was conducted by Walton`s artistic collaborator Malcolm Arnold and recorded at Anvil Studios, Denham by the legendary film sound engineer Eric Tomlinson.

With regret, the production team decided only to use Walton`s score for the "Battle In The Air" sequence, and have the rest of the film scored by Ron Goodwin whose scores for the "Miss Marple" films, "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines", "Where Eagles Dare" and his signature "633 Squadron" had made him one of Britain`s top screen composers. The result was one of Goodwin`s finest scores and a collection of classic marches that are still played regularly today. (The Luftwaffe March - now known as "Ace High" greeted the UK Olympic team at the Los Angeles Olympics).

It was believed that the original recordings of William Walton`s score had been lost, probably destroyed. Then while working with Mr Tomlinson in 1990, James Fitzpatrick was discussing the lost music whereupon Eric went into his garage and produced the 1/4" masters of the recording session. These masters were used to produce the excellent Rykodisc CD reissue of the "Battle Of Britain" soundtrack which includes the entire Walton score.

Anvil Post Production (now part of Technicolor Creative Services and celebrating 52 years in the industry) re-established their involvement with the movie when they created the 5.1 sound mixes for the DVD release.

Much speculation prior to the DVD release was directed at the inclusion of the original score with this reissue of the movie on DVD. Would it be an isolated track? Would it be used at all? There had been no sign of it on the R1 edition.

The entire film is presented with a full, alternative soundtrack in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS, with the Goodwin score replaced with the Walton score. Not an isolated soundtrack, but a complete remix of the film and both mixes sound fantastic. Personally this is better than I certainly could have hoped and MGM and Anvil Post Production are to be applauded soundly for this inclusion in this special edition of the film.

Features

Not quite finished with the sound aspects of the film, along with the two DD5.1 and two DTS soundtracks, there is also a feature length audio commentary by director Guy Hamilton, Bernard Williams, Paul Annett and Garth Thomas.

The movie comes with a dazzling animated menu system with the Goodwin score laid over. This gives the usual access to setup options, scenes, and a bonus trailer for the "Bridge Too Far" SE disc also available.

Disc two offers more multilingual support than disc one. There is a photogallery with music entitled "Images From The Air" presented by Aerial Unit Production Manager Bernard Williams (3`50").

The movie`s four-and-a-half minute theatrical trailer, presented in full anamorphic 2.35:1 is in surprisingly good condition and features a stirring Patrick Allen (Protect and Survive) voiceover.

There are four excellent documentaries, starting with the "Battle For The Battle Of Britain" co-directed by Paul Annett. Presented by Michael Caine this is a 50 minute behind-the-scenes promotional piece for US television explaining what the Battle was, when and where it happened. The opening of the programme includes a vox pop of people coming out of the American Embassy in London and some of their replies demonstrate the sheer parochialism of the US. There is also a reference later on in the programme that Senator Joseph Kennedy (father of JFK) had effectively written off the British Isles, which cannot have endeared him to the UK population of the time. The programme is presented in 4:3 and is a little grainy.

"Authenticity In The Air" is 22 minutes of reminiscences by Aerial/2nd Unit Assistant Director Garth Thomas, and Bernard Williams about the assembly of the world`s 35th biggest airforce for the shooting of the movie.

"A Film For The Few" is a 19 minute presentation filmed with Guy Hamilton and others about the burden of portraying the Battle of Britain without compromising the memory of the people who fought and died in the Battle and the Blitz.

Lastly, there is a lovely little eight minute interview with a wonderful character, Squadron Leader Basil Gerald Stapleton; entitled "Recollections Of An RAF Squadron Leader".

Conclusion

I saw this movie when it came out, and being six-years-old at the time I was somewhat freaked out by the sight of a Heinkel tail gunner having his eyes shot out during one of the dogfights. Curiously, though, I`ve had a soft spot for the movie in recent times to the extent I`ve been one of the disc`s online cheerleaders ever since it was first mooted. To get the review copy to go over has been the icing on the cake and I`m seriously chuffed with the results.

The film is peppered with magnificent character turns by Olivier, Robert Shaw, Christopher Plummer, Susannah York, Ian McShane, Michael Caine, Kenneth More, Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson, Curt Jurgens, Michael Redgrave and Harry Andrews.

Written by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex from the book "The Narrow Margin" by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster, the film is structured in the style of movies like "Airport" or "Hotel", taking vignettes and small stories and weaving them through the narrative. While following the larger story, we touch on the lives of those living those dangerous times. Many of the stories are tragic, but then War rarely encourages a happy ending.

Coming in at 126minutes 47 seconds, the print is the full version of the movie (allowing for 4% PAL speedup). According to the IMDb, there was a 151 minute original cut of the movie shown at its London premiere but I think it`s entirely possible the film may have included an intermission to make up that figure.

If I have one complaint about this set, it`s MGM`s insistence on making the audience sit through the interminable copyright notices that lock up the player controls unless you`re quick on the remote at either the end of the film or the supporting materials on the second disc. They`re on every damn disc every damn studio makes, so unless this is the first disc you`ve ever bought, you`ve already got the message.