I wasn’t sure why the name Guy Hamilton seemed so familiar, but it did. As the main titles ran across the screen I had this intense feeling of regret for not being able to place the name. It wasn’t until I hit up IMDB that I gave myself a swift slap across the forehead. Hamilton helmed four James Bond films — three of my favorites: Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, and The Man with the Golden Gun.
Alas this discovery didn’t quell the sour feeling in my stomach after having endured a painful recreation of the Battle of Britain for a total of 132 minutes. How could one of my favorite Bond directors have gone so wrong, and delivered such a pithy war film?
In truth, I’m not sure there is ever a good answer to that question. Sometimes, good directors go wrong… or they just make poor decisions.
“Battle of Britain” is one such decision. It is easily the worst WWII film I’ve ever had the displeasure of viewing. Seriously. Nowhere in the entirely all-too-bloated running time was there anything remotely redeeming — the exception being Laurence Olivier, Robert Shaw and Michael Caine’s performances. Unfortunately for us, all of them are underused and under served given the lackluster script material. As you might expect, the film crumbles under the drive to split the screen time up evenly amongst the big name actors that populate the narrative. The result is a mishmash of worthless side-stories and trivial character development — none of which makes for a pleasurable or engaging film viewing experience.
In the film’s defense, it is a touch old, given its 1969 release date, but that doesn’t excuse it entirely. It’s not hard to envision the story of the Battle of Britain being a compelling drama, perhaps in the form of a far more focused, modern remake.
So little was made of the fact that London was the underdog — the biggest mishap of the film by far — and the aviators that littered the skies were so pompous and cavalier you would have never guessed that the situations presented in the film were as grave as they were in real life. In other words, there was no sense of danger, whatsoever, and in a war film, that’s a recipe for disaster no matter how you slice it.
Taking all of the film’s misfires and mistakes, I can’t help but give this film a very generous “1.5 Star rating” for the film. The reason? The exceptional cast. Without this, I can’t imagine anyone would still be talking about the film today, aside from how dull it truly is.
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