British war movies

I picked up a collection of British War movies at the library.

I've only watched Went the Day Well, but it was surprisingly good. It concerns a group of Germans disguised as British soliders who infiltrate a British village. Their mission is to serve as landing point for a broader invasion. The movie was made during the war and was presumably meant to scare the crap out of the British (and to reduce the influence of appease the German types found on the aristocratic right, as late as 1940.) For the time it was rather brutal. This one would do well with a modern updating.

Another one in the collection is Dam Busters, which is apparently an exciting movie about engineering. You see there was this dam the British needed to bomb and it proved a real challenge as to how to do it. Apparently the final scene was the inspiration for the Star Wars trench scene, down even to dialogue. I so hope there is a portly fellow who says "Stay on Target...Stay on Target." The big controversy with the film, which is one reason fewer people see it, is the name of the dog. Thanks to his black coat, he is named after the n-bomb. And thanks to his tragic death, his name is repeated endlessly. It rains n-bombs like f-bombs in a Tarantino movie. Or n-bombs for that matter. Anyway, today's audiences would likely be shocked, much like the black face in Holiday Inn. It's a true story and I bet the name of the dog will be changed in the Peter Jackson remake. He is like the Santa Claus of movies, that guy, bringing happy gifts for all.

There are three more movies in the set including the Cruel Sea, which is Das Boot for the British, the Ship that Died of Shame, and the Colditz Story.