Comments by "Ray Purchase" (@raypurchase801) on "THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN (1969) | The Spitfire Squadron Defends Britain | MGM" video.

  1. FUN FACT: Only two Heinkels were brought over to England, to be filmed alongside Spitfires and Hurricanes. The "wide" shots of massed Heinkels were filmed above Spain. The sky looks pretty-much the same everywhere. Cleverly interspersing the shots of two Heinkels with the massed formation makes it look like all the shots were filmed in the same place on the same day.
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  2.  @JamesRichards-mj9kw  Expressing your hatred like this suggests you'd prefer the OTHER side to have won.
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  3. This looks like it was must've been based on an actual incident, but I can't find any reference in the books I've read.
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  4.  @JamesRichards-mj9kw  No. The film was a success, but it had gone over budget and it took a couple more decades to claw back the expenditure. Nothing unusual in that.
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  5.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  THANKS! I'm also curious about the scene where Robert Shaw's squadron leader speaks to the corporal with the German prisoners. "Give 'em a bloody shovel". Like most of the scenes in the movie, it's probably based on an actual incident.
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  6.  @JamesRichards-mj9kw  Movies failing to recoup back their production values is commonplace with epics. Consider the early 2000s movie, "The Alamo". An excellent movie, historically accurate but with too big a budget. Maybe your real gripe is that you wanted the OTHER side to win. As for the age of the pilots, contemporary photos of aircrew show many were old before their time. Hard training, a barely-adequate diet and seeing your friends burned alive will do that to any person.
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  7. The B25 camera plane was also used for "633 Squadron". It can be glimpsed in that movie, supposedly being used as the aircraft being used to carry George Chikiris back to Norway.
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  8.  @BenLewis-ni1zb  There's a scene in the Luftwaffe mess. The bloke with the white jacket was a German who'd been there at the time. He was an advisor and was given a walk-on part.
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  9. True, but if you look at photos of the aircrew taken in WW2, they often looked much older than their years. Heavy strain, the risk of death, being woken at 3am to be ready for 6am raids and a barely-adequate diet will do that to you.
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  10.  @MulbeeryDeer  Agreed. During the BoB, the 109 and the Spitfire were closely comparable. The 109 had the advantage of fuel injection for -G bunts, but otherwise it was honours-even. The 109F was marginally superior to the Spitfire V. The Spitfire IX matched or was superior to the 109 and the 190. Lots of special Spitfires for high or low altitude, which were superior to the 109 at those levels. The later Spitfires were superior in virtually every regard to the best 109s and 190s available. Only two aircraft were in front line service from 1939 to 1945: The 109 and the Spitfire. Whereas in 1945 the Spitfire remained superior to everything it met, the 109 was at the end of its design-envelope.
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  11.  @TheNickt1  Funny how there are always trolls who claim the 109 was better than the Spitfire. History has demonstrated otherwise. End of discussion.
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  12.  @MrVolvobloke  Well Done for opposing the myth about Hurricanes targeting the bombers whereas the Spitfires targeted the fighters. A myth so frequently repeated, it's become accepted fact.
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  13. Agreed. Definiterly.
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  14. Nah, but I expect Lucas watched "633 Squadron" and "The Dambusters".
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  15.  @azimisyauqieabdulwahab9401  Agreed. The remake is a mess.
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  16.  @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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  17. 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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  18. 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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  19. "Achtung - Spitfire!"
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  20. Two different battles. That battle was won and we saved ourselves. In the current battle, we're deliberately committing suicide.
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  21.  @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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  22.  @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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  23.  @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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  24.  @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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  25. Yes, I read that book as a kid. Still got it somewhere.
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  26.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  And here you are again!
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  27. "Spitfire...wasn't superior to Me 109". History has demonstrated otherwise. End of discussion.
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  28.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  Nerds like us know a HUGE amount about a very tiny sliver of the world.
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  29.  @kniespel6243  You know too little about this subject to discuss it here.
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  30.  @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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  31. The scene in the movie, about a direct hit on a slit-trench full of WAAFs, really happened.
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  32.  @josephstevens9888  "You can teach monkeys to fly better than that!"
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  33. Your English is OK! Many German and British veterans advised in this movie.
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  34.  @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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