Lancaster Skies [Blu-ray]

If you are looking for an action packed war movie, this isn't it. it wasn't what we were expecting but it was well done as a drama and you can watch it with family without much language and no sex scenes which is unusual for a modern filmed WWII based movie these days. It doesn't have a lot of action in it and the way the flashbacks were done it was strange or some may say confusing at times if you're not paying attention. Overall the acting was decent but the main character is a bit emotionless and monotone. This revolves around a Spitfire Fighter who takes on Bomber Command. Rather than being action packed it's more about the personal lives of a bomber crew. If you look at it being a drama rather than a war movie it isn't half bad. It wasn't raunchy, vulgar or obscene. It would of been nice to see more action for it was a bit on the slow side and only had 2 actual combat sequences. The Pilot has lost his brother due to a drunk driver while he was plane watching. He's never overcome that. You have each of the other crewman who are combating their own demons whether it be loss of a crewman or the guilt of past actions. So know what you are going to watch and don't expect a lot of action. Outside of that, it was worth the watch and we enjoyed it for what it was.

Takes quite a while to find out how the characters are related, and the relationship of things in their lives to their current behavior—and those relationships don't always work. I think this is an "artistic" film. It tries to explore the terrible stress of flying for and working within British Bomber Command. However, it falls short in spite of good acting. It is also set too late in the war to be accurate. Bomber Command's losses were always horrific. (No, they didn't call the head "Bomber Harris." The aircrew called him "Butcher Harris.") But as the attrition of the Luftwaffe began began to tell, it became less horrific. Speaking of accuracy: considerable effort was made at historical accuracy, which makes the mistakes rather glaring. The worst one is at the end of the film. The Lanc was a sturdy aircraft, and landing one with a single engine out was no big deal. On the other hand, losing an engine made the aircraft slower—a straggler very likely to be attacked and destroyed, which is how the film should have ended, which would also have been more effective, dramatically speaking.

This is a very poorly filmed movie that seems to do its utmost to avoid anything resembling action for fear it might drive production costs up even a smidge. Most notable is the obligatory bar fight scene in which no punches are seen to land on screen over it's 15 second run-time. WTF? Couldn't they afford a fight choreography? Then there's the opening "flight" scene in which the "bomber" is returning to base. The crewmen are filmed in silence and the camera doesn't move, nor does the light seem to shift or flicker through their windows. This gives one the impression that the scene is filmed entirely on a rock-steady, unmoving sound stage and that the lighting technician, sound man and DP did nothing to convey the impression of a plane moving through the night sky.Long slow meditative close-ups of pensive (but unexpressive) British stiff upper lips follow. There is almost no mood music to help convey emotion in these scenes. It drags and drags and drags.It's simply abysmal, confirming my overall impression that Amazon's movie review system is about 1 1/2 to 2 stars inflated on every single offering in their library. If it gets less than 4 and 1/2 stars, it's garbage.This is truly plodding garbage.

This not a big hollywood production. It's use of aircraft is very limited. Rather it is the story of the crew men dealing with death. After the pilot of the Lancaster is killed a new pilot is assigned. How they interact is basically the story. While most of the movie is very slow. There are a few scenes I liked later in the movie. Mostly between the women and the crew. So if your looking for another Battle of Britain or Saving Private Ryan look elsewhere. If you want to know the boring day to day life of a bomber crew than check it out.

Good movie but not what I expected, slow getting to the point

Interesting but not what I expected. Story kind of anti climatic and "dry".

surprised that many reviewers dissed this immaculate film. it was beautifully done with characters we care about.. it was tight and thoughtful as we got a glimpse of everyday life of english pilots.;fighting on alone against the nazis. we were spared endless technical and left with a compact presentation that gave us the view that many overdone films lacked.

video is about human interaction and life, not about flying . war is the background to bring the characters together not the point of the movie I gave it three stars it was an OK watch but I am glad I did not pay for it.

I was looking forward to viewing this film; I am ex-RAF and though I have not flown in the Lancaster I did fly in what was to be called the Lancaster MkII, the Lincoln. I was unable to watch this for more than the first 30 minutes, the character building part of the film. However, the characters and the story were so morose that I decided to watch another day. What disappointed me the most was the poor attention to detail, for instance; in the British forces one does not salute if one is not wearing one's hat. Additionally, two officers of the same rank, neither of whom was wearing a hat were saluting each other. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen a military based film with quite so much saluting. This simple mistake destroyed any sense of accuracy and the standard of acting was somewhat wooden. I honestly hope that the next time I try to view it I see something more laudable in it.I am adding more details some months after surviving this awful mess of a film, an insult to those who flew on bombing missions during the war. I tries recently to watch it right through but was so bored and angry by this drivel that I stopped it again just after the point I had reached the first time. It now resides in the bin,

My father was in Bomber command and saw many dreadful things. This movie is very dull with many mistakes. I don't believe in over hyping everything like they did in Memphis Belle. That was so over hyped it is untrue. I saw the original footage that was taken on the actual final mission and there was no drama what so ever. I couldn't warm to the characters in Lancaster skies and found the whole thing dreadful!! I could see no point in making this movie when you can still get realistic Bomber Command movies like "An appointment in London". This was said by the Bomber crews to be the most realistic movie about what it was like, ever made.

I gave this film one star because I couldn't give it zero! The script is appauling, I'm sure a 10 year old could have done better. The synopsis on the packaging sounded really tempting, but the reality was a bitty, dull and boring - 90 minutes I'll never get back. I persevered hoping that the flying scenes might rescue it, but they didn't. I was expecting something on a par with The Dambusters, Memphis Belle or The Battle of Britain, what I actually got was something less entertaining than Dick and Dom farting the National Anthem - and that was bad!So, at the end, the aircraft is returning to the UK, starboard inner shut down, flying controls compromised due to a German Night Fighter.... The Captain orders the crew to make ready to bail out as he doesn't know if he can land it in one piece.... The tension almost builds and the film stops.Drivel.

The Director has produced a super, enjoyable movie on a very tiny budget of £80,000. To be honest, I thought this would have been impossible. However Callum Burn, has pulled the rabbit out of the hat and has made a memorable production. The characters are believable and show the true raw emotion nature of the crew flying a Lancaster into combat.I am disappointed to read some of the very petty comments on RAF saluting protocols not being accurate in the film and the use of model aircraft. Given the limited resources available, and the overall quality of the film, is this really important?

Manchmal hat man zu hohe Erwartungen an einen neuen Kriegsfilm. Vor allem wenn der Trailer eigentlich vielversprechend war.Kurze Inhaltsangabe:Der Name des Films sagt schon einiges über den Inhalt. Es geht um die RAF, genauer das Bomber Command und im einzelnen um eine Besatzung eines schweren Lancaster Bombers in der Endphase des 2. Weltkrieges.Zu Beginn des Filmes wird ein Bomben-Einsatz bei Nacht gezeigt. Der Bomber wird von einem Nachtjäger angegriffen, beschädigt und der Pilot (Skipper) tödlich verwundet.Wieder am Boden muss das Flugzeug repariert und ein neuer Pilot zugewiesen werden. Eine herbeigesehnte Pause für die überlebenden Besatzungsmitglieder. Der neue Pilot ist schnell "gefunden". Er hat sich von den Jägern (Spitfire) zum Bomber Command versetzen lassen. Kühl und distanziert, gewohnt ein Einzelkämpfer im Flugzeug zu sein, muss der Neue im Team sich erst eingewöhnen und in die Besatzung integrieren.In den Tagen bis zum nächsten Einsatz wird getrunken, gespielt, Liebschaften geknüpft, einfach den Krieg und die Gefahr vergessen und verdrängen. Es entsteht eine zaghafte und langsam beginnende Verbindung zwischen dem neuen Piloten Miller und einer RAF-Helferin. Auch die Einbindung in die Gemeinschaft der Bomberbesatzung gelingt.Im Nebenplot des Films wird immer wieder Handlungen des jüngeren Bruders (von Miller) eingeblendet. Man wird langsam an einen dramatischen "Höhepunkt" geführt, welcher auch Erklärung für das Verhalten und seinen Kampfeswillen bieten wird.Dann ist er da, der nächste Einsatz. Miller wurde aufgenommen im Verbund der Bomber-Besatzung. Man startet und fliegt einen Angriff auf Berlin. Der Bomber wird erneut angegriffen, beschädigt und ein Crew Mitglied verwundet. Wird die Besatzung Ihren Auftrag erfüllen können?Meine Meinung zur Handlung:Ich persönlich hatte mir mehr Szenen zu den Einsätzen bei Nacht gewünscht. Vielleicht auch ein wenig Zweifel bei der Besatz, ob die Angriffe Sinn machen, ob es richtig ist Städte anzugreifen wo am Boden vor allem Frauen, Kinder und Greise sind.Dazu kommt die lange Phase im Film zwischen den beiden Einsätzen. Eine neue Liebesbeziehung, dann die Verkettung von dem Tod des kleinen Bruders und einem aus der Besatz. Das ist was, was ich eher in einem Rosamunde Pilcher Film erwarte und nicht in einem Kriegsfilm.Spürbar wird die Angst der Bomberbesatzungen. Diese Angst war nicht von ungefähr. Die Verluste unter den Bomberbesatzungen waren hoch. Jedoch 1944 waren die Bombenangriffe schon gut durch Begleitjäger wie die Mosquito und anderen Typen geschützt.Außerdem werden die fragwürdigen Aspekte der britischen Bombardierungen deutscher Städte, insbesondere in der Endphase des Krieges, verdrängt.Darüberhinaus halte ich (persönliche Meinung) es auch eher für unwahrscheinlich, dass ein erfahrener Jagdflieger zu den Bombern wechselt. Zum Höhepunkt der Schlacht um England (1940) wurde ja alles was fliegen konnte ins Jäger Command gesteckt. (Etwas, was auch in der deutschen Luftwaffe der Fall war zur Stärkung der Reichsverteidigung).Die Kampfszenen, eigentlich die Höhepunkte eines Kriegsfilmes, waren eher Mau. Verglichen mit Filmen wie Memphis Bell auch nicht annähernd so gut. Die Spannung, die während eines solchen Einsatzes vorhanden ist, kommt, allein wegen der kurzen Dauer der Szenen nicht wirklich auf.Fazit: man kann den Film einmal sehen. Hohe Erwartungen sollte man nicht an den Film stellen. Das Positive ist, es ist kein total Epos - Helden Verehrungs - eine handvoll von Soldaten töten die ganze Wehrmacht - Film die man sonst manchmal vorgesetzt bekommt. Die Deutschen werden nicht als totale Idioten dargestellt, kommen sie nur am Rande als vereinzelte Nachtjäger mit Abschusserfolgen vor. Die verwendete Tricktechnik ist eher auf niedrigen Niveau. Bild und Ton sind gut.