Search - The Dam Busters on DVD

Excellent Movie, Very Good DVD

Sure Thing | San Diego County, CA United States | 03/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Anchor Bay Entertainment did an excellent job of transferring this British WWII classic to DVD. Scratches and blemishes in the picture are virtually nonexistent. And it IS Region 1, so it WILL play in just about any DVD player in the US and Canada (for those of you in the US and Canada).



If all you care about is having a good copy of this movie, then I highly recommend this DVD. If you also want special features like trailers, "Making of" documentaries, deleted scenes, etc., then you may want to wait until someone puts out a "special edition." All this DVD offers apart from the great transfer is scene selection (that missing star is actually half a star for not having more in the way of special features).



In the meantime, I recommend also getting Paul Brickhill & Guy Gibson's books ("The Dam Busters" and "Enemy Coast Ahead," respectively) upon which the movie is based along with the DVD of the PBS documentary "Secrets of the Dead: Bombing Nazi Dams" (which incidentally uses footage from this movie though uncredited). If you can find it, you might also want the audio cassette version of Brickhill's book read by the film's co-star, Richard Todd."

TRUE LIFE WW2 ADVENTURE

Seen Them All | SoCal Desert | 08/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a review of the movie only but past experience with Anchor Bay tells me the quality will be pretty good. This is the story of the planning and execution of the raid that led to the destruction of the Ruhr Valley Hydroelectric Dams during WW2 by the RAF. Very well acted and details the incredible engineering that went into the design of the bombs and the flying skill of the aircrews to be able to complete the mission. Outstanding WW2 movie. Semi-documentary in style but none the less a great piece of history. Don't miss this one."

This is the one to buy...

A Reader | 10/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As with the Congress Entertainment DVD, this is a straight dub of the 1954 British film, including all the original video and audio. The story is very interesting, historically important, and well acted. I saw it not very long after its original release and enjoyed it then, and still do.



Given the very high regard the British have for Wing Commander Gibson, who was awarded Britain's highest military honor (Victoria Cross) for this raid and died in action just over a year later, I'm sure that - in 1954 - they were being very careful about accuracy, and left in historically accurate details which some will find offensive.



By "modern" (pre computer graphic animation) standards, the special effects are a bit primitive, but quite well done for 1954. Unlike the Congress Entertainment DVD, the audio and video quality are excellent, and the presentation is quite professional. Both may have been taken from the same original, as they both have a momentary frame freeze at one point."

The Dam Busters

John A. Lee | Maryland | 11/03/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This movie was shot in b/w in 1955 and uses real AVRO Lancasters taken out of storage. It is generally historically accurate, with a few embellishments made here and there.



Viewers may be put off by Wing Cmdr. Guy Gibson's choice of name for his black Labrador retriever, "Nigger". "Nigger" winds up being a major plot device in the movie, so you find yourself cringing at the prolific use of the word. It is a historical fact and supposedly the dog's grave is still marked on the Air Base where the actual raid was launched from. You just have to consider the lack of political correctness at the time this took place.



The movie is exciting and the special effects are pretty decent for the time period, although some scenes using aircraft models are a little hokey. The test and evaluation scenes in which the dambuster bomb was developed is interesting and actual footage is inserted fairly seamlessly.



It's a must-have for collectors of WWII movies filmed in or shortly after the war."