Richard (richreed-1) This movie should be way better than it is, as it is one of the few movies showing the fabulous deHavilland Mosquito. The plot is right out of a "Blackhawks" comic book, and the acting by mis-cast actors is extremely wooden, especially by "Mr. Oaktree" himself, Cliff Robertson. The good part is of course the Mosquitoes, those wonderful twin-Merlin-powered plywood wonders that could out-lift heavy bombers, out-fight fighters on both sides, and in an out-and-out dash, the fastest bloody thing in the sky until jets came along.The bad part is the people, a squadron made up of token characters right out of the aforementioned Blackhawk comic book. There is even a Norwegian Navy lieutenant played by George Chakiris in one of the most extreme cases of mis-casting ever - he's Greek, fer cryin' out loud!This film was shot in the 60's, where the production crew managed to scrape together four flyable Mossies and three more that could taxi under power (and were eventually destroyed for crash scenes). Sharp-eyed deHavilland experts will realize that all but one of the Mosquitoes were actually target-tug (TT) models, with their glazed noses merely painted over and phony machine gun tips glued on to make them look like fighter-bomber (FB) models. But gripes aside, this is probably the finest collection of footage available for this wonderful airplane and is worth at least renting the DVD, if not owning it.

Tweekums This, along with The Dam Busters, is a classic film about the exploits of the RAF in the Second World War although unlike The Dam Busters this follows a fictional squadron. Not surprisingly for a film made in 1964 the special effects seem dated but the sight and sound or real Mosquitoes flying is something a modern film couldn't have.The squadron is given the task of destroying a factory making rocket fuel in Norway, to do this they will have to fly up a well defended fjord and bomb a fault on the mountain above the factory rather than attacking the building directly. The squadron is made up of a mixture of nationalities and lead by an American, Wing Cmdr. Roy Grant, who had enlisted in the RAF Eagle Squadron before the US joined the war. The are assisted by a Norwegian Navy Lieutenant, Erik Bergman, who brings them details of the factory site then later returns with the intention of enlisting the help of local resistance fighters to attack the anti-aircraft guns. There is also a subplot where Wing Cmdr. Grant gets romantically involved with Erik Bergman's sister.Like most British war films of the time this isn't about gung-ho heroics but about the sacrifice involved in warfare. The film was fairly well acted and the flying scenes were great, it is tragic that there are no longer any airworthy Mosquitoes here. Being a fairly old film it is suitable for younger viewers as there is no bad language and there isn't gore, even people shot with machine-guns manage to avoid bleeding. No review of this film would be complete without mentioning Ron Goodwin's excellent score which combined with the drone of the Mosquito's two Merlin engines is enough to give one goosebumps.

stewartsw14 The score is magnificent,and I think Harry Andrews is as great as ever. It not in the same class as "The Battle of Britain" and despite the fact that it deals with an historical subject, the film itself seems slightly dated. I suppose American money is necessary for such a film to be made at all, but I disliked a piece of RAF history and heroism becoming another "How America won the war". Turning an RAF Squadron Commander into a thoroughly unbelievable Yank (even if the Eagle Squadron connection meant it was not technically impossible) surrounded by rather simpering Brits was nothing short of an act of cultural vandalism. I found it hard to take the film seriously for that enormous clanger.

malboocock I've always enjoyed this film, ever since I saw it at the cinema in the sixties. The flying sequences are always thrilling and listening to those Merlins! However, my Father, who was in the RAF (617 Sqn) during the war always pointed out that there were no NCO pilots in the film. There were always Sergeant Pilots/Aircrew in an RAF squadron, even Guy Gibson had his fair share of NCO's flying. I have read some of the comments about Cliff Robertson's character. As far as I understood it, his character is an American who volunteered, before America became involved, flying for the Eagle Squadron. Hence the large American eagle badge on the upper sleeve of his tunic. Some commenters thought that the character may have been a Canadian. Robertson does play a Canadian in another war film (starring William Holden) but not this one. However, he does play an American Officer attached to the Britsh Army in another war film (starring Michael Caine and Denholm Elliot.) So as the Britsh Police would say "He's got previous."