Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6613 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-07-04
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Synopsis
It's spring 1941, and Great Britain is the only country in Europe yet to be defeated by the Nazi army, but all of that could change soon. The Nazis have launched their juggernaut battleship, the Bismarck, to close off British supply lines and ultimately invade England. A counter-strike is ordered, and with an arsenal of ships at their command, Royal Intelligence officers Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More) and Anne Davis (Dana Wynter) fight desperately to destroy the Bismarck. Director Lewis Gilbert delivers a heartfelt docu-drama about the courageous men and women of the British navy. Featuring actual war footage and a roller-coaster plot, the film is an unforgettable document of world history.

Customer Reviews

Tense, well done story of a decisive WWII naval battle
I've always liked this British film, which tells how the Royal Navy went after and finally destroyed the German super battleship Bismarck in the spring of 1941. The Bismarck was newer, faster, more heavily armored and more powerful than any single ship the British could throw against her. Her job was to destroy convoys, and it was the convoys that were keeping Britain alive and in the war. As the movie points out, the Bismarck could stand off and sink every ship in a convoy and never take enemy fire herself. The British find out that the Bismarck and her accompanying battle cruiser have broken out into the North Atlantic. The task of the Admiralty is to locate the Bismarck, bring naval resources to bear against her, and then take whatever risks they must to destroy her. She is powerful enough that, in the first battle when she is engaged by the British battleship HMS Hood, Bismarck blows the Hood out of the water. From a crew of 1,500, only three survived.

The human face of the drama is in the operations of the Admiralty's War Room, led by the chief of operations Captain Jonathan Shepard (Kenneth More). Shepard is a by-the-book officer, smart but up-tight. He had his ship sunk out from under him in the Mediterranean and he lost his wife to German bombs during a London raid. His only son serves in the air wing assigned to HMS Ark Royal, which soon will be assigned to the chase.

In the course of the movie we witness the maneuvering to locate and then bring the Bismarck to decisive battle. There is the first naval engagement in which the Hood is destroyed and the Bismarck is slightly damaged, but now has a slow fuel leak. There is the air attack with torpedos that manages to damage the Bismarck's rudder, slowing her down and making maneuvering impossible. There is the second air attack and the convergence of British ships which finally pound the Bismarck into scrap metal before sinking her. This is one of those movies where the end is known, but the getting there is so engrossing that it carries you along.

I like several things about this movie. It always is made clear as the action progresses what the strategic choices the British had. We can grasp the limited naval resources available, the calculated risks which had to be made concerning where the Bismarck might go and what it would take to, first, slow her down, and, second, to concentrate enough ships and planes against her to destroy her. The movie's battle scenes are well handled. We get a good look at what it takes to bring a ship of war to battle and then to engage. The movie also refrains for the most part in making the Germans caricatures. The center piece of the movie, the role of Captain Shepard, is very well handled by Kenneth More. More was an actor who excelled in playing energetic, optimistic, decisive characters. He is subdued here, but brings a strong dose of dedicated competence to the role.

The movie's one big weakness, and by no means a fatal one, is the role of Second Officer Ann Davis played by Dana Wynter. The movie makers seemed to feel that the basic story wasn't enough and that a warm character and a hint of romance was needed. Davis is a WREN officer who always seems to be about, but whose main jobs seem to be carrying files, serving tea, making sympathetic observations, and looking at Captain Shepard with increasing admiration. The character is always immaculately groomed. Not off-putting, but perhaps not necessary.

In my view, this is a solid, intelligent war movie. The DVD picture and audio are just fine.

Sir, HMS Hood has blown up
This is based on C.S 'Hornblower' Forrester's novel and gives people who were in the battle fictional names. The film starts with Captain Shepard (Kenneth More) taking command of the Ops room in the Admiralty. Shepard lost his destroyer at Narvik at the hands of Admiral Karl Lutjens.
The film wastes no time in getting to the chase as it were and is full of excellent action scenes and performances. Kenneth More steals the film in my humble opinion supported ably by Dana Wynter and Geoffrey Keen (the Minister from James Bond). More is effectively 'reunited' with Laurence Naismith who played Captain Smith in "A Night to Remember" alongside More.
The film uses exact replicas of the Bismarck, Hood, Prince of Wales for the battle sequences and is used excellently when the Swordfish attack.

An added bonus is that Ed Murrow himself appears in brief scenes 'replaying' his "This is London" broadcasts.

Excellent!
As a former member of the Royal Navy,and an amateur historian, I found this to be an excellent portayal of what transpired during the Second World War.