Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25569 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-05-24
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen, Dolby, Digital Sound
• Original language: English, French, German, Polish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 127 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite its manipulative grandiosity, this film is completely irresistible, for several reasons: it recounts the greatest air battle in history, creating the greatest aerial battle scenes in film history; it has a terrific cast (Harry Andrews, Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Curt Jurgens, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Patrick, Christopher Plummer, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Robert Shaw, Patrick Wymark and Edward Fox); and it's technically very well made, thanks to the Bond team of producer Harry Saltzman and director Guy Hamilton and the great cinematographer Freddie Young. --Bill Desowitz

DVD Description
Featuring a stellar cast, including Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Michael Redgrave, Robert Shaw and Susannah York, Battle Of Britain is a spectacular retelling of a true story that shows courage at its inspiring best. Few defining moments can change the outcome of war. But when the outnumbered Royal Air Force defied insurmountable odds in engaging the German Luftwaffe, they may well have altered the course of history!

Special Features

• Restored William Walton score (Dolby Digital 5.1)
  
• Battle For The Battle Of Britain documentary
  
• Authenticity In The Air featurette
  
• A Film For The Few making of featurette
  
• Recollections of a R.A.F. Squadron Leader featurette
  
• Images From The Sky animated photo gallery
  
• Audio commentary with director Guy Hamilton and crew
  
• Original theatrical trailer
  
• A Bridge Too Far Special Edition trailer

DVD Technical Information:

• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS Surround (English)
  
• Subtitles: English for the Hard of Hearing
  
• Region Code: 2
  
• PAL
  
• Running Time: 2 hours 7 minutes
  
• Colour
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1/16:9 Widescreen

Customer Reviews

OUTSTANDING!!!!
To say that the release of this film on DVD is long overdue, in my opinion, would be a gross understatement!

This is truly the definitive movie about the Battle of Britain. Ok, CGI technology can make a film look good, but after all said and done, it still isn't real is it? The aircraft in this film are, and again in my opinion, the real stars of this classic film. Once assembled for filming, the aircraft were the 35th largest air force in the world!

This truly is a masterpiece, the list of stars in this film is almost endless, Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Christopher Plummer, Curt Jurgens, Susannah York (what a babe!) Edward Fox and the always-excellent Robert Shaw, to name but a few. A very young Ian McShane (of Lovejoy fame) also stars as a young Flight Sergeant, who loses his family in horrific circumstances.

Added to that, the movie has been digitally re-mastered, so the picture quality and sound quality is as clear as it was when it was originally released back in 1969 (I was a wee 4yr old!)

There is also the added bonus that the original sound score, by the great Sir William Walton has been added back into the film, making it all the more gripping, and incredibly moving.

Being an ex-soldier, and having seen action, I have a rough idea what war can be like. Coupled to that is the fact that my late Grandfather who was a Canadian, flew and fought in the Battle of Britain, sadly he lost his life in 1944. I never got to know him, but the sense of pride that I have in him, and for all RAF pilots for what they achieved in those 19 hard weeks, in the summer of 1940, will stay with me, until my dying day.

The second disc is the one with all the amazing extras. There is an absolutely brilliant documentary about the Battle of Britain, and the making of the movie, narrated by Sir Michael Caine. This is the original documentary, which was shown on television in 1969 to coincide with the release of the film.

There are also some other extras on the second disc too, but if you want to know what they are... GO AND BUY IT! Why are you still sitting there eh?

What this all boils down to, is an excellent two disc DVD. The fact that it cost £16.99 in my opinion is well worth the money. If you are a WWII movie buff like myself, you will be falling over yourself to get this and add it to your collection.

GET IT!! I promise you will not regret it!

A great film restored to it's full glory (Special Edition)
I have always been a fan of this film and have been impatiently waiting for a DVD release for some time. When I found out that MGM were releasing this film on DVD, I was delighted followed by some irritation when I found out the RRP (£19.99), as the film was out in the US for $8. Yet another special edition second disc of bits and pieces with a hiked up price tag.

I hereby apologise to MGM for such unkind thoughts, because this edition is superb. The US version is in mono, where this release has 5.1 & DTS (it is excellent) and for fans of William Walton (they only used about 5 minutes of his score in the original film, Ron Goodwin supplying the rest), the soundtrack with the full Walton score as an alternative. The picture has also been restored and has a full anamorphic 2.35:1 picture.

It is a well worn cliché, but in summer 1940, Britain stood alone, facing the might of the Luftwaffe and the German army which had swept all aside. The Battle of Britain is one of the pivotal moments in the history of this country, and I believe that this film does it justice. The cast are excellent but particularly Laurence Olivier as Hugh Dowding and Robert Shaw as Squadron Leader Skipper. The film has been well researched and manages to weave all aspects of the battle into the film.

Some of the special effects are a little bit dated, but this was made 35 years ago, and they do not detract from the story. But what makes this film convincing are the real aircraft used to make it. Various reports suggest that when assembled, the aircraft were anywhere between the 11th and 35th biggest air force in the world. The aerial battles are just excellent, and the shots of bombers and fighters in formation over the real life locations in 1940, give a powerful sense of authenticity. When I think about scenes like the flight of Me109’s breaking to attack a flight of Spitfires, and compare it to the awful unrealistic Battle of Britain CGI scenes used in Pearl Harbour (which was an awful film in itself), I cannot help but think that this film is something special. I have read reviews from some “rivet counters” who state that the German Bombers are not authentic. This is true as the aircraft were built by CASA in Spain for the Spanish Air Force after the war, but you do not notice.

I cannot recommend this film enough and at last the DVD version lets us see it in all its glory.

Stunning Widescreen epic still awaits widescreen release!
Why oh why is this, probably the biggest movie ever made in Britain, one with a growing and loyal following, one with some of the greatest aerial photography ever filmed, still not available in Widescreen? Why do MGM keep releasing it in pan and scan on VHS when it's fans want it in widescreen? It even says filmed in Panavision on the video box cover! Even a widescreen VHS version would be something. Better still where is the DVD with extras such as the alternate score by Sir William Walton? If you are a fan of beautiful aircraft, a great score, superb and unmatched aerial photography, and the kind of A list cast the likes of which can never be repeated or equalled, then buy this movie. The events of 1940 have been rightly documented and commemorated in many subsequent programmes. This movie has a massive story to tell. Watch it as much as a dramatised documentary as a drama but admire it for it's scope and remember that when it was made most of the aircraft featured had to be lovingly restored to get them back in the air in the days before there were so many airworthy historic aircraft available or the interest in preserving them. Come on MGM make my and many others day, lets have another version to admire. If "A Bridge Too Far", "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and last year's 'Pearl Harbor' are good enough for a widescreen release, surely "Battle"'s DVD widescreen debut is long overdue!