Advantages: Great aerial photography, stirring score, fine all-star cast
Disadvantages: Some subplots are a bit dire....

...to stand in for their 1940 forbears. Nor do I find fault with the now outdated visual effects; yes, some of the explosions (particularly of crashing planes and the big bombing raid on London at night) look cartoony, but, again, this film was made in 1969, not 2005...or even 1999. The MGM 2003 DVD release is a bit lacking in the critical areas of sound (it's okay but not exactly earthshaking) and extra features, since the only such offering is the original theatrical trailer. Heck, it doesn't even bring a chapter list or one of those trivia-filled booklets such as those in the MGM Home Entertainment DVDs of The Great Escape and A Bridge Too Far. Nevertheless, its restoration to widescreen places The Battle of Britain's DVD version head and shoulders above the fullscreen VHS videotape edition.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Real Aircraft, Stunning Photography
Disadvantages: Marital sub plots

...I bought this DVD some months ago mainly because the kids were doing WW2 as a project at school and I remember it being a good film of my youth. Needless to say I rediscovered the quality of the film and as a bonus the kids loved it which kept them quiet for a couple of hours. The all star cast is outshone by the quality of the aerial photography and the fast paced, all action story. The Battle of Britain is not just the story of the battle but is also a peek into the private lives of the pilots themselves reminding us all exactly what the pilots were fighting for. I have to say the side plots of marital problems lacked quality but thankfully they only took up a minor portion of the film. The real stars of the film are the (now) vintage aircraft, remembering that this is years before CGI so what you are seeing are real... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A good five star film
Disadvantages: none

...The Battle Of Britain is an absolute wartime classic. Even to this day, it acting, music, special effects and story are unbeaten. The film starts in France. The British are retreating to Dunkirk and a RAF tempory base is evacuated as the German offensive continues. Meanwhile, Sir Hugh Dowding (head of the RAF) advices Churchill that no more RAF forces should be sent to France as it would weaken the home defenses. With Germany in control of France and the British refusing to surrender, Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to take control of the skies in preparation of invasion. So the RAF are outnumbered and outgunned and must bare the brunt of the Luftwaffe attacks. But will the RAF be able to hold out against the Luftwaffe and prevent a German invasion of Great Britain. The story for the film of the battle of Britain is extremely... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Historically accurate campaigns; massive air battles, can fly as a gunner on the German bombers
Disadvantages: Performs poorly on old high-end PCs; no pilot career mode

..."Never in the field of human game conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few." If Winston Churchill were alive today -- and a gamer -- he might have had this to say about the debt PC flight jockies owe Rowan Software, instead of the debt Britain owed its pilots for kicking the ass of Hitler’s vaunted Luftwaffe in WWII. This small development house has produced a steady stream of deep and gratifying hardcore games over the years, including MiG Alley, our Flight Sim of the Year for 1999. Now Rowan turns its eyes to the most storied air campaign in history and produces a comparable sim -- though no big leap over MiG Alley. In addition to flying 28 stand-alone historical missions, you can play a campaign covering all four of the Battle of Britain’s phases (convoy, radar, airfield, and city attacks... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: dramatic recount of dog fights
Disadvantages: none for me

...AIR BATTLES OF WORLD WAR TWO This DVD is another great documentation from battles fought in world war 2. This DVD features some dramatic dog fights over Britain, fought between British and German pilots during the Battle of Britain. And the Japanese Zeros versus the American Hellcats and corsairs over the pacific. And the USAAF raid on the ploesti oilfields in Romania. The DVD contains an Interactive menu, scene selection, previews on other war files titles. Having had family who fought in WWII it fascinates me to see the kinds of things that they had to go through. It is great being able to learn more about our history, as during my whole time in school all of our history studies revolved around Russia and Germany. Which even then just did not seem to make sense to me. And so I embarked on my journey of learning about... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Stunning aerial sequences, great score, entertaining account
Disadvantages: Too many cooks

...The 1969 all-star big budget extravaganza 'The Battle of Britain' is recently arrived to DVD, albeit on region 1 only for the moment. Never fear though, it's an MGM release, and region 2 releases are never too far behind. It's arrival on DVD is extremely welcome, as a buffed up widescreen print finally allows one to be totally smitten with the flying sequences. Presented as intended, and making full use of the scope process, the air battles are naturally 'The Battle of Britain's greatest strength. Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger, The Ipcress File) brings the same effortless flow to the film that he used succesfully in his 1964 Bond outing. In recounting the heroic efforts of both the RAF and the Luftwaffe, he never lets the action overwhelm the story, while equally he never lets historical fact bog down a 133 minute production... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Stunning graphics, realistic battles and amazing effects
Disadvantages: Not for the novice, difficult to master

...This flight simulation takes you back to the summer of 1940 and into some of the most significant battles of World War II. The Battle of Britain started on July 10th 1940 and it was the beginning of a campaign by the Luftwaffe to destroy the defensive capabilities of British Fighter Command. There are twenty-eight quick flying missions which you can take part in or your can take on the role of a Commander (either British or German) and follow the entire campaign from July 10th to September 15th which is from the beginning to the end. The quick missions are designed so that you can jump into the virtual cockpit and fly. It is here where you learn the basic training which includes learning to take off and land (which isn't as simple as it sounds!) as well as taking part in dog fights with other aircraft. Whereas taking... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Hilarious performance, lengthy bonus features.
Disadvantages: No backstage scenes

...This DVD encapsulates ,as a finale for me, what little Britain was all about. You will find a night of comedy excellence where all the best known characters appear in original and all ready featured sketches. From David Thomas to Ting Tong the style of comedy is only enhanced with an interactive and up for anything audience in Blackpool, Las Vegas of the north. The DVD contains a small video of Lou and Andy in Blackpool before they go and see the show, so being part of the show themselves. Extra features also includes the different versions of the sketches in different venues across the U.K.,as the main attraction of the DVD is only filmed in Blackpool so you really get a sense of the overall creation of Little Britain live across the country. What was also good to see was the 2 hour film-documentary on David Walliam... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Funny because its real and relatable
Disadvantages: Sometimes annoying, very polically uncorrect

...When I moved to uni almost a year ago, I knew I wasn't going to have a television so my relatives were nice enough to buy me various DVDs to take for watching. Little Britain season one was one such gift. I'd seen a few of the shows on TV and shown a mild interest in it, but I wasn't hooked on it or fussed either way. The first time I watched the season through I was in hysterics. Each of the characters brings something different and you can follow their situation through the episodes. If you can't follow the many individual characters by watching episode to episode, there is a feature on the DVD that allows you to play all the skits with a particular character. They mostly have their own catchphrase too, which has a strange way of being able to bring strangers together, 'yeah I know', 'yeah but no but yeah but…' and 'eh eh eh... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Hillarious!, Funny, Amazing
Disadvantages: None!

...The third and final series is released on DVD, Little Britain the multi award winning show has been running for four years. They have had three DVDs, 2 radio series and are currently on tour around the U.K. And they still have the live DVD to come out on November 13th. Little Britain is a fantastic program all round and this DVD is a nice little way to wrap up the package. *-*-* Disk 1 *-*- You may have guessed from the subtitle disk 1 there are 2 disks in this set. Disk 1 is the episodes and Disk 2 is the extras. This is disk 1 and on it all 6 episodes from the series. The series welcomed back the characters such as; Andy and Lou - 'Yeah I know' One of my favourite sketches from the program. Lou is Andy's carer (he's disabled) well meant to be disabled everyone thinks he's disabled when he's not and often comes out of his... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful