Guy Hamilton

(On Cable TV, June 2019) I thought I’d seen most of the big ensemble WW2 movies out there, but I had missed at least one landmark: 1969’s Battle of Britain, a lavish recreation of pivotal WW2 events. Featuring a near-complete list of late-1960s British actors, the film feels almost as fresh fifty years after first appearing on-screen thanks to a big-budget colour treatment where the money is all visible on-screen. Presenting a few years of events in slightly more than two hours, director Guy Hamilton hits almost all of the high points from dogfights, character moments, a Nazi rally, the spectacular destruction of an airfield (with terrific pyro and stunt work) and London bombing reactions in between the requisite discussions between British higher-ups. It’s really a remarkable achievement and it does put even a familiar moment in British history in perspective. Its influence is crystal-clear on later movies such as Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. However, it’s interesting to note that its perspective on war is closer to an earlier generation, presenting a quasi-reverent take on a national point of pride—right as the mood of wartime movies would turn sour in reaction to Vietnam. Some of the special effects are a bit dodgy, but never mind—the aerial sequences are spectacular and the film is still a capable spectacle today. I’m ranking Battle of Britain an essential WW2 film.