swjg The opening sequence shows a Spitfire in cloud and the radio is out. Struggling just to keep the plane upright the pilot literally stumbles into a German bomber which he takes a shot at.Flash forward to 88 year old Geoffrey Wellum standing on a small pier telling it like it was. "Of course I remember what it was like - how could you forget" Flashback to May 1940 and reporting to the Adjutant: "My name is Mac - fought in the last mess - how EXACTLY old are you son?" "Almost 19 sir" "Exactly how old?" "18 years and 9 months sir" After a hellish night at the pub getting hazed with booze by the other squadron members the next morning finds 'Boy' Wellum performing cockpit drill with the fitters who strap him in and let him take a first flight in a Spitfire.The adjutant and squadron leader watch the take off."God help us" The docudrama then follows Wellum - beautiful aerial footage cut with shots of the 88 year old Wellum describing how it felt.With minimal training the squadron leader calls him in and announces "You are to report for ops at First Light" - knowing that unless Wellum is extremely lucky - he has just handed out a death sentence "If you could survive three weeks - you had a chance of making it to six or longer". Casualties are wiped off the chalk board without comment. Mac the adjutant writes a letter.As ever - footage from the 1969 Battle of Britain movie is used for the mass aircraft scenes - but some digital remastering and new special effects give it some verisimilitude.On his first op Wellum gets a German bomber but only just makes it home with the remains of his Spitfire after getting jumped when fixating on his target.The constant strain of fighting through the summer of 1940 - smoking aircraft, the constant ring of the scramble bell, overturned chairs and chess pieces, his roommate slowly cracking under the strain are portrayed against the backdrop of period music.Based on Wellum's own book - a very personal account of his feelings, fears and a desperate desire not to let anyone down.

TheMegaCritic2000 . Some of the comments in the other reviews for this movie are laughable. One buffoon, decrying its failure to remake the Battle of Britain movie even thinks Wellum is a fictional character and that it was an actor playing the part of a fictional old fellow looking back.This is an excellent production all round. Because Geoff Wellum was involved in the production, I would think its a pretty accurate version of events. It shows a side of the Battle of Britain that is glossed over in other movies: the constant stress, fear and grief that the pilots suffered. Wellum was only 18 when posted to 92 Squadron. He had never even flown a Spitfire. He had to ask his ground crew chief to show him how to start the engine for his first flight! Yet he could have been sent up to fight immediately, had his squadron leader not made sure he was kept off ops until he at least racked up a few hours of flying time.All the cast put in excellent performances. The aircraft are a joy. The flying scenes are much better than others allege, too, although this is about the PEOPLE more than the aircraft. It is thoroughly worth watching.

mikepamcoloton I'm not much for war movies. I watched this because I wanted to see some of Heughan and Lewis's earlier works. I was impressed with both actors performance. The movie wasn't so much about Spitfires as it was on the affects the fighting had on the pilots. It was well produced for a TV movie. Heughan does a great job playing the part of a young inexperienced Spitfire pilot. Lewis also performs well as the "father" to all the pilots. I like the voice-over inserted into the film of the actually pilot Heughan played. All in all it was a good TV movie. There s strong language so I would not recommend it for children under 16. It would be a good film for a hight school history class.

tdcheck I have always had a thing for Spitfires. They are my all time favourite plane. I'm lucky enough to live quite near a small airfield and one flies over quite regularly. The sound of the engine is so recognisable - even to a total non expert like me. The pilots of these amazing planes were heroes, no getting away from that, and although I've seen war films before,(Reach for the Sky being one I have watched many times!) I found this film to be a bit of an eye opener. Having seen it was based on the journal of the pilot himself - makes it all more realistic. Thought Mr Heughan did a first class job playing Wellum. And the rest of the supporting cast were good too. Would liked to have seen a little more of what happens to the characters after he left, but at least there was a small write up on this before the credits go up! An enjoyable film.