633 Squadron (1964)
In the tradition of other Royal Air Force WWII films The Dam Busters and Battle of Britain. 633 Squadron differs in that it's totally fictional. It's also inferior to those films but still enjoyable never the less.
Despite starring Oscar winners Cliff Robertson and George Chakiris, it feels slightly underwhelming early doors as neither quite provides the heroicness required for what is essentially a stirring boys own adventure. Where the film does deliver is in the flying sequences featuring eight De Havilland Mosquitos and some stunning Scottish location photography around the Glencoe area, as well as the stirring theme tune from composer Ron Goodwin, still used in RAF ceremonies to this day.
The final aerial assault on a German armaments factory deep in a Norwegian fjord is brilliantly realised and riveting viewing with the last words spoken "But they're probably all dead. All 633 Squadron", " You can't kill a squadron" being particularly memorable.
Genre actress Maria Perschy, a fave of both Paul Naschy and Jess Franco plays Robertson's love interest. As a final aside, you do get the feeling some fella called Lucas was definitely influenced by the attack down the Death Star trench... i mean, attack down the fjord on the factory.
The Blu-ray from Final Cut (A port of the Kino release) is not the greatest example of high definition. Whilst some scenes look great others seem merely average dvd quality. However i look forward to watching critic, all round know it all and general good egg Kim Newman's views on the film courtesy of one of his regular twenty five minute interviews.
|