Comments by "Ray Purchase" (@raypurchase801) on "Amazon MGM Studios" channel.

  1.  @kdrapertrucker  There's a sequence in "Reach for the Sky", where Bader inverts his Hurricane to demonstrate his airmanship. You can see the puff of smoke as the engine coughs for a moment. The audio track is dubbed in later, without the splutter.
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  2.  @siypic  Reminds me of a closing scene from this movie. DOWDING: "If we're right, they'll give up. If we're wrong, they'll be in London in a week". We're still waiting. Sadly, we've allowed a different kind of invasion instead.
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  3.  @stevekaczynski3793  This movie is very fair to the Germans. There's more anti-British nonsense in the movie "Patton" than there is anti-German nonsense in this movie. Lots of German advisors assisted and got it right.
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  4. Wouldn't be allowed a general release today. Too many w height people. No subplot about transgender aircrew seeking acceptance in a homophobic environment.
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  5.  @sandeepr2087  Sailor was regarded by those who fought at his side as the greatest BoB leader of them all. In North Africa and the Med, the South African Pat Pattle was regarded by his men as the greatest leader. Both men were contemptuous of the British class system. Robert Shaw's character in this movie is based on Malan ("Cut out the 'sir' "). Pattle ensured his sergeant pilots and officers all messed together, contrary to RAF regulations. I recommend the Wiki biography of Keith Park, the New Zealander who started as an Army private and received his commission in the field at Gallipoli.
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  6.  @martinboycott-brown1994  Good thinking.
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  7.  @njd2342  I can't find the bit where Michael shouts, "Oi! Stop chuckin' them bleedin' spears!"
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  8. It's actually very beautiful. Both the visuals and the soundtrack.
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  9.  @williampaz2092  True. Watch the movie "Reach for the Sky". There's a sequence where Bader demonstrates his flying skills to his new squadron, A puff of smoke during the roll reveals the Merlin cut out for a moment. The audio track was added later and lacks the splutter.
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  10. Nerds like us notice it, but other people don't.
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  11.  @markhancock7527  I recommend the special edition DVD, with the audio commentary, explaining why certain things were filmed this way. For example, Michael Caine hadn't yet learned to drive. So in the scene where he's driving away from the flying club, the car is being pushed by several film-hands and the engine's audio track was added later.
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  12. As spoken by Douglas Bader during the Battle, but he used a different F-word. According to Bader's biography, the word got him into trouble because it was overheard by the many WAAFs on duty.
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  13. "Achtung - Spitfire!"
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  14. "Reach for the Sky"? Sorry, I'm a nerd as well.
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  15.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  THANKS!
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  16. Two different battles. That battle was won and we saved ourselves. In the current battle, we're deliberately committing suicide.
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  17.  @bradleydavies4781  No. Ten Hurricane squadrons went to France. Spitfires flew from England over the beaches at Dunkirk. A pair of Spitfires flew with Churchill's small airliner during his visits to the French government, and landed to refuel. Other than that, Spitfires weren't stationed in France.
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  18.  @wideyxyz2271  Incorrect.
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  19.  @colinbarron4  All true. The USAAF preferred Thunderbolts to Mustangs for ground-strafing in '44 and '45,. Mustangs had vulnerable cooling systems and many were lost.
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  20.  @NOWOKEXYZ  Compare with a similar roll in "Reach for the Sky", where Bader demonstrates his flying skills to his Canadian squadron. You can see a puff of smoke when the Hurricane rolls. A different audio track was dubbed-in afterwards.
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  21. FUN FACT: The letter shown at the 7 minute point is the actual letter written by Dowding, retrieved from the archives for this shot.
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  22. This movie can't be improved upon. A remake would involve Idris Elba playing Dowding. Plus a subplot about a transgender person seeking acceptance within an uncaring homophobic RAF.
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  23.  @TheNickt1  Exactly. The Spitfire had a greater wing area than the 109, allowing it to out-turn its opponent. The greater surface area also meant it was slightly slower than the 109, which could also accelerate more quickly into a dive. Every marginal advantage possessed by the 109 or the Spitfire was countered by a marginal disadvantage. The 109's significant advantage was that it could nose-over in a -G bunt without a cough-splutter, but this only applied up to the end of 1940.
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  24.  @MrVolvobloke  The rate of development during this era was very rapid. A combat aircraft could become nearly obsolete in just one year.
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  25.  @richardsimpson3792  A similar discussion took place in the Luftwaffe a couple of years later. The aircrew and commanders all agreed they wouldn't shoot a man in a parachute.
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  26. "You're gonna need a bigger bomber".
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  27. Only ten times?
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  28.  @ommadammo  York played a commissioned WAAF officer. Warwick was a warrant officer, the highest non-commissioned rank.
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  29. I didn't know that!
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  30.  @davegoldsmith4020  Jet Provosts, Short Belfasts and Rock Apes carrying SLRs. We will not see their like again.
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  31.  @rogueriderhood1862  I didn't notice for 50 years, until I read a comment about this on a different video.
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  32.  @slbm  100% true.
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  33. Correct. Compare with the scene in "Reach for the Sky", in which Bader performs aerobatics for his Canadian squadron. We see the puff of smoke, but the audio track doesn't match the visuals.
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  34.  @jimwalsh8520  No. The Polish claims during the BoB were at first disbelieved by the RAF top brass. So a senior RAF officer flew with them to observe. He came back and confirmed the manic ferocity of the Polish attacks, and verified their rate of kills.
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  35. No, getting close was VITAL with .303 machine guns. The prewar RAF developed special tactics for fighters to attack bombers. This involved maximum-deflection shots in tight formation from a great range. The tactic was useless in combat, and RAF squadrons dropped the tactic as soon as they realised its ineffectiveness. Older commanders like Bader, who'd trained on biplanes and missed out on the training for the new tactics, gave this advice to his pilots: "Get as close as possible before opening fire. When you think you're much too close, get even closer". The Polish tactic of closing to very close range was exactly what was required.
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  36. Yes, I read that book as a kid. Still got it somewhere.
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  37.  @Sam_Green____4114  True.
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  38.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  And here you are again!
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  39. "Spitfire...wasn't superior to Me 109". History has demonstrated otherwise. End of discussion.
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  40.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  Nerds like us know a HUGE amount about a very tiny sliver of the world.
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  41.  @kniespel6243  You know too little about this subject to discuss it here.
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  42.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  You might like to read the Reply (see herewith) from kniespel. I assume it's visible to you. The effort required to explain stuff to trolls is rarely rewarded.
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  43. The scene in the movie, about a direct hit on a slit-trench full of WAAFs, really happened.
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  44.  @josephstevens9888  "You can teach monkeys to fly better than that!"
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  45.  @Flanel_  No, socialist Labour Prime Minister Attlee made the decision. Churchill was out of office.
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  46.  @krzysztoflewandowski1875  The Bob was won as soon as Chain Home RDF became operational. The RAF could've received higher casualties and inflicted fewer kills, and it would still have won.
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  47.  @rogueriderhood1862  All true. In fact: Precisely as described in the movie.
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  48. Your English is OK! Many German and British veterans advised in this movie.
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  49.  @kirkp7470  It was intended to invite the South African ace "Sailor" Malan, but he was very ill and couldn't come. The special edition DVD has lots of interesting commentary. The person wearing the white jacket in the Luftwaffe mess scenes was himself a veteran of the Battle. He was an advisor and was given a walk-on part.
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  50. I recommend the special edition DVD. The audio commentary tells you what REALLY happened when Goering's train pulled out of the station.
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