Dark Blue World (2001)

What a movie! It is worth watching just for the images of Spitfires flying low over the verdant hills of England, but moreso for the marvellous story of a man who loses everything for his beliefs. From the outset you can identify with the characters as they live life to the full, love and laugh, and then watch it all taken away from them by the Nazi invasion of their homeland. Their frustrations as the British insist upon continued training while they feel they are ready for battle from the outset becomes obvious. When they finally do go into battle their numbers are gradually reduced and their relationships become strained, not only due to the pressures of war but also to jealousies that come to the fore over a woman that none of them can ever have. When the war is finally over the hero makes it home to find everything has changed forever. His friends have all been lost, his girl married and even his dog taken from him. The ironic theme of the movie is that it is told from the perspective of a political prisoner who has lost it all by simply doing what everyone thought was right. The way the Nazi doctor proclaims his righteousness to the downtrodden Czech is a classical piece of perverted hypocrisy. A must see movie, not only about flying and adventure, but also about the indomitable human spirit.

Fmovies: This film is 99% historically accurate unlike the many obvious misreprentations in Pearl Harbor. DBW makes use of real aircraft filmed for the purpose plus some bits from the film Battle Of Britain. The flying sequences are far superior to anything in Pearl Harbor.

Unlike Pearl Harbor there are no dyslexic or stammering pilots. The love interest is central to the plot and Tara Fitzgerald is very convincing in her role.

My only gripe is that the officers and sergeants share the same mess hall. This is something that could easily have been avoided by making both of the main characters officers which would not have affected the sory line in any way.

In short, if you like comic strip type stuff you will prefer Pearl Harbor but for quality and accuracy, Dark Blue World wins hands down.

This is a beautifully-made film, finely balancing the fragile human stories (both before and after 1945) and the indiscriminating combat of war. The use of outtakes from Battle of Britain (a film that does not nearly so well portray the 1940s!) enhances, rather than detracts from the whole. A deeply impressive work, this lived in my memory for the 2 years since I saw it, and I have just bought it to explore the making-of extras.

I highly recommend this film (movie). Like "Aces High", it alternates between viscerally exciting (or scary) air combat sequences, where the viewer might experience actual loss of characters they'd come to care about, but also unpredictable interactions on the ground, where skillful writers and real-life experiences inform some involving and moving events. This also underlines the fact that for many people, 1945 marked not just the end of one conflict but the beginning of another, and even today we still don't recognise the loss, bravery and sacrifice of so many nameless heroes, or even worse we venerate them from a distance without allowing them to be human beings with all the emotional weaknesses that entails - making their sacrifices all the more valiant.

Watching this movie is an experience which will take you from the heights of friendship to the depths of jealousy, and back to love that endures even beyond death. If all war films were like this, we'd never have to fight again.

Did I mention it's worth watching? ;-)

10/10

Dark Blue World fmovies. I missed it at the cinema and have rented it on DVD. If you get the chance I would recommend it as it´s better than nearly everything I´ve seen at the cinema or on DVd this year. That isn´t to say it´s one of the best films ever or anything, it´s just I´ve seen a lot of rubbish :)

Can´t really add to what´s already been said except 8/10

I was "turned on" to this movie by my flight instructor and now I wonder how the heck it was out there for nearly five years before I finally discovered it. If you have any love of flying at all, especially an attachment to the planes of WWII, this is an absolute must see, vastly superior to the pathetic "Pearl Harbor" and up there in rivalry with the famed "Battle of Britain" filmed more than thirty years ago. There are moments when you feel as if you are flying wingman, literally dodging the shell casings of your leader as you roll in on a Me 109 or He 111.

As an historian this film deeply touched me as well for it is about the plight endured by tens of thousands of gallant Poles, Hungarians, Slovaks and Czechs who in 1939-1940 fled their homelands, made it to England, fought with utmost bravery for the survival of western civilization, and then were so callously abandoned by "us" after the war when they were arrested by the communists upon their return to their native lands. I have stood atop Monte Cassino in Italy and was moved to tears by the cemetery for the Polish troops that stormed that mountain that British and Americans could not take. I have traveled as well to Prague (the most beautiful of cities) and studied their history. Their story of abandonment, I believe, should be a lesson to us even today about obligations to gallant allies.

But back to the film. If you love flying, see this. If you are interested in the aircraft of WWII most definitely see it. Without doubt the most brutal, direct, and frightfully swift air combat scenes ever replicated for film. And yes, if you even are seeking a touching romance, there is that as well in heartbreaking detail.

Bill Forstchen Professor of History Co-owner of a WWII replica "warbird" P-51 Mustang "Gloria Ann"

I absolutely loved this movie. Great, realistic looking combat footage for one thing and a touching, genuine story also. The calm, understated manner of the lead character, Franta, makes him very likable. The human relationships in the story seemed so very typical and possible of what you could expect in war time. The bond between Franta and Carel shows the loyalty wartime comrades can have for each other and that is often described in books and interviews with veterans. The subtitles do not detract from the story at all and actually serve to underline the problems the Czech pilots had in the RAF. The postwar storyline is a great reminder that for many the suffering of WW2 did not end in 1945, especially in Russian occupied countries. The cinematography was also very good. Wish I could have seen it on the big screen.