Crappy film

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Seeing movies about World War II we are always informed that the glamour service was the Air Corps. A bit of a carryover I suspect from World War I when you had those small biplanes with individual pilots acting like knights of old. That was not the mission of the Air Corps in World War II.In fact people in the Air Corps were the first to see combat in both Europe and the Pacific. Before the invasion of North Africa the only blows against the Axis were struck by the people in the skies. The Americans and British had differing ideas about what to do which is discussed somewhat in Memphis Belle and also in other air films like Twelve O'Clock High for instance. The British believed in night bombing, fly high avoid the anti-aircraft, drop your load and let it do whatever damage it did wherever it landed. The Americans believed in what you see here, daylight bombing to try and limit damage to specific military targets. Casualties were greater that way.So when a B-17 like the Memphis Belle completes its run of 25 missions with the same crew it is a miracle of chance that Captain Matthew Modine and his crew have gone through with the same bunch for 25. After that the tour of duty is up.An eager Army Air Corps publicity guy John Lithgow wants to get them all on a war bond tour when that 25th mission is in the books. But the commander David Strathairn is just treating them like any of the rest of his crews. Not for the least reason that these guys have enough psychological pressure.The crew is a cross section of Americana, white Americana to be sure as the armed forces were segregated at the time. Standing out in the performances are Eric Stoltz and Billy Zane and Harry Connick, Jr. To say that last mission was a rough one is putting it mildly.The battle scenes are well staged, especially inside the plane which was one small contained area. I had never seen it portrayed so well before in a film about the war in the skies. Howard Hughes would have been proud of the staging.This fine film is dedicated to those who fought in the skies in the 2nd World War. I could do no less with this review.

World War II flying films are just my thing. Battle of Britain (1969), the Dam Busters (1955), Reach for the Sky (1956), Twelve O'Clock High (1949)... even The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944) – I can't get enough. And so I came to Memphis Belle (1990) generously disposed and both hoping and expecting to like it. Spoilers follow.Firstly, open your book of stock characters: one virgin, one fatalist, one phony, one inept and uninspiring leader, and deprive them of all inner depth. Next, when bringing them together as a team, rather than having them gel into right stuff, the best of the best, just make them a panicky, disorganised, undisciplined, incompetent and self-defeating rabble. Finally, ask your audience to believe that this collection of human detritus was the very best that VIII Bomber Command had at its disposal.There are positives. In spite of the clichéd speech he has been handed, David Strathairn makes us feel the weight of many lives upon his shoulders, and John Lithgow has good moments (when away from the aircrew) as the PR man, but his character seems to be written just as the anti-Strathairn. Actually, much of the characterisation and dialogue has the feel of a school project we didn't have time to think through, so we went with the first idea that came into our head each time. Easily checked errors (use of modern phonetic alphabet and CPR, etc.) can be forgiven when the movie has already drawn us in, but here they just add to the sense of "the dog ate my final draft."The aircrew actors are largely fine and, given the script, could not have been more. Eric Stoltz is the best of the group while (is it just me?) it is hard to get past Courtney Gains channelling young 'Lizabeth from the Waltons. Jane Horrocks in a minor role serves to remind us that good things can be done with only moments of screen time.The in-flight filming ranged from disappointing (tens of identical Airfix planes motionless relative to one another, not quite pointing in their direction of travel and illuminated to not match their background) to excellent (especially the shots of action looking into the airframe from just outside). A crewman screaming into the radio as his doomed craft falls to earth was straight out of Dr. Strangelove, except that here it was not intended to be comedic. Or perhaps I am wrong, perhaps this was a comical interlude, as we are surely not to believe moments later that the ball-turret gunner had actually reached through solid metal to grasp the plane while blessed with the foresight that his turret would very soon fall off. (Don't worry, turret fans, it will re-attach itself in time for them to land with it.)I wanted to like it more. 4.5/10

It's 1943. B-17 bomber Memphis Belle and her crew goes on their 25th and final mission over Germany. They are aiming to be the first squad to finish 25 missions ending their tour.The actors playing the crew include Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney, Billy Zane, Sean Astin, and Harry Connick Jr. The movie tries to give all 10 members of the crew individual characteristics and their own screen time. They are mostly well-acted but generally uncompelling.It's an old fashion kind of war movie. The flight is fictionalized from many bomber war stories. There are a lot of minor inaccuracies. At least, its heart is in the right place. It is nice to see some real bombers at work. The effects is reasonable for the times although it's a bit old fashion. It's a dramatization rather than a documentary.

I have to confess that when I first saw this movie, the term 'Memphis Bull' came into mind. Here was the USAF carpeting the krauts with schmaltz bombs.However, after watching it a third or fourth time, I've begun to 'lighten up'. It's so easy to forget just how young these aircrews really were. Most of them were just kids carrying a profound and terrifying responsibility way beyond their years. Taken in this light, the acting is quite believable, though I find the whining self-absorption still a little tiresome. It's something you don't see in a British air-war movie (I'm particularly thinking about 'Dambusters' here) and maybe that's a cultural thing. But then Britain hasn't really made any war movies for years. We made enough during the decade after the war to last us a lifetime. However; that was a different generation. For this reason I wonder if the behaviour of these young actors from the 1990's is actually authentic for the period. Perhaps there's a survivor out there who can tell.Combat sequences are extremely well done. The sense of precarious vulnerability in a flimsy fuselage has never been made so manifest. Likewise, the deafening clatter of machine guns and empty shell-cases and the intimacy of suffering in a confined space were things quite tangible. It was extremely gripping stuff. But that mawkish sentimentality seemed to undermine their impact.This is a movie that would have benefited from a bit of British stiff-upper-lip. Even if the emotional excess of the actors really was true to form, we certainly didn't need to have it so heavily emphasised with that overloading orchestral schmaltz-fest of incidental music. In my opinion, the intensity of the movie was such as to render incidental music quite superfluous. The sound of the wind and the straining engines, and the suffering and relief of the fliers were more than enough to carry the message home and land it safely - albeit on one wheel. Here again, the makers of 'Dambusters' were wise enough to confine its bombastic theme music to the credits, and let the action and actors do the talking.To sum up then; it's well worth a watch (but less of a listen). American Airforce crews suffered terribly during WW2, and at least one movie to honour their courage and contribution was needed. I just think they would have been better served with a greater emphasis on truth and action (this work certainly does that) and less of the emotional baggage.By the way; this movie also boasts one of the best wartime jokes I've ever heard. I won't try to tell you it - it's too long.