633 Squadron

source: 633 Squadron

I saw this movie many years ago, probably when it was released. I wish I remembered my reaction from then. Probably positive! The DVD letterbox version disappointed me. I enjoyed watching the Mosquitos fly, but the special effects, particularly the model work, was so bad that I felt embarrassed to be watching the film. The acting was wooden, the emotions covering a vast range, A-B at most. Harry Andrews, as Air Vice Marshall Davis, was his usual self as a serious, committed, emotionless stiff-upper-lip commander. Cliff Robertson's mode of expression was mostly flexing his jaw muscles. George Chakiris as a Norwegian was so laughable that his unsuitability constantly distracted from the story. Yech!

I had never heard of this film, but I saw it on the shelf at my local public Library and decided to watch it. I love Cliff Robertson's film work a lot, but this story left something to be desired. There wasn't much 'heart' to it. I was actually bored. Maybe I have seen so many War films and I am just jaded. This one was rather flat in plot, and relied on the action too much. I realize that it was the 1960's when this was made, and films about world war two were big because it had only been twenty years since the actual war. I had to shut the DVD off and go back and watch the rest later. Ho Hum. Weak story, sort of wooden acting. The special effects were rather cheesy even by 1964 standards. I wonder what the budget was for this movie? So many great war films were made in the 1960's, but this isn't one of them. I love old movies that were made way before all the bells and whistles of Computer animation, though. I think CG is overdone in a big way these days, and every damned thing is supposed to look so realistic,.... Young people of today can't believe that there haven't always been computer graphics in movies. To many of them, the old movies are boring because their senses aren't being overwhelmed by extravagant graphics and things blowing up every five seconds. So many movies are all 'wham bang boom' and no plot...I guess that's what sells tickets. In the 'olden days' you had to use your imagination....hmmmm..remember your imagination? I think it is lost to so many with all the mindless violence.

I was really excited as a 13-year-old air cadet-to-be when this movie came out - I even got my mom to take to me to it (OK, so I led a sheltered life). I watched it for the planes A friend my parents had been a Mosquito pilot and had told some great war stories, so I already knew about what a great plane it was. Many Mosquitoes were built in Canada by DeHavilland during the war. One of my airplane magazines (Air Classics) did a photo story on how the producers had scratched together the planes for 633 Squadron - apparently they found 8 or so around the world, one, I believe mouldering away in Mexico or Central America. It looks like they only got two or three actually airworthy for the shoot - and I suspect the un-airworthy ones were used for the fiery crash scenes. Seen again recently, the movie has high production values, reasonable technical authenticity (except for that Land Rover hiding in the shrubs in one shot) but is encumbered by the all the Hollywood tripe. And, while I can excuse Me-108s playing 109s, the model work is indeed pretty crappy most of the time. The real pleasure of the movie is the precious few shots of the real Mosquitoes in action, which makes the rest of the nonsense tolerable. Why they couldnt have done a real Mossie story - such as the real precision breaching of a Gestapo prison wall - I don't know.

after watching this film i have been very very un-satisfied ,its got Cliff Robertson (PT-109 , Charly , The Devils Brigade , Escape from L.A) whos got the lead role .anyway the film is boring as hell , cliff and the boys drink beer and see women ,they worry about the mission , the norwegion flys back to norway by england and gets captured , so cliff has to fly over there and bomb the place where he is being held so the nazis wont find out about the plan which was extremely boring , then the rebel forces whom were supposed to destroy the Anti aircraft are killed , but they carry on .. in the end they do blow up the cliff that falls on the factory , cliff goes in 1st and gets pretty shot up but makes it through, then the guy with the hook goes in and gets shot up too but makes it , everybody else gets killed other than the Aussie who makes it out but eventually runs out of ammo and collides with a suppose to be me-109 but it looks like a little crappy plane , the hook guys plane literally explodes on the way out from flak and cliffs plane gets shot up and he crash lands in the norwegion countryside and dies (i think, u only see him pass out)the mission is declared a success. the only thing i found amusing and entertaining about this film is watching all the guys getting killed and getting shot up going into the cliff The Camera Angles are crappy ,the special effects are horrible , there just made out of models when they blow up or crash , the cockpit views absolutely suck do not hire this film 0 stars out of 10 , complete waste of time

The Men of the 633 Squadron of the Royal Air Force have one nasty mission to perform. The Nazis have built a factory deep within a cliff with an overhang on a Norwegian fjord that is making a special fuel for rockets they're developing. The RAF encountered a similar problem in The Guns of Navarone where an overhang protected two large pieces of artillery that was wreaking havoc on allied shipping. They gave up bombing there, but the Norwegian resistance brought in a geological consultant who says if they come in low and hit a certain spot with a fissure the whole thing will collapse and bury the factory under tons of rock. The RAF mission, come in low and drop bombs enough to crack that fissure. It's a nasty mission for Cliff Robertson and his men even with aid from a ground attack planned by George Chakiris with the Norwegian resistance. What's best about 633 Squadron are the special effects where they used vintage Mosquito fighter planes from World War II. It's really done quite well and is exciting. As usual an American actor is brought in via the RAF Eagle Squadron for foreign pilots who enlisted before Pearl Harbor. In this case it's Cliff Robertson although he's a fine actor, isn't exactly box office. Maybe the producers thought he would be as he was just coming off playing John F. Kennedy in PT 109. I'm also not quite sure why the Nazis would locate a fuel for rockets that were to be used in defending the western Europe beach from the invasion in Norway. Maybe they were listening on Winston Churchill who was constantly advocating a Norwegian invasion though American military and his own military told him that wasn't feasible. If it was for a cross channel invasion defense, that would have presented a transportation logistics problem for the Germans. In any event it's nice war film with great special effects.

A WW2 squadron of Mosquito bombers are training for a perilous mission to bomb a cliff face in Norway; with the aim to bring the cliff tumbling down on the German arms factory below it. 633 Squadron may not be a film for the War enthusiast purists? But the work done here to make this film a winner should never be understated. In this day and age it's often forgotten how these type of film's relied on good aerial photography, deft model work, and a stirring score. All of which this picture contains, thus making 633 Squadron more than a wet day crowd pleaser. Sure the intermittent scenes between the training sequences and the actual mission are mere filler, and the subplots obviously halt the flow of the movie (hello romance, hello sacrifice clichés); but what they do do is give a sort of added feel to the proceedings come the mission at the end. We do after all have to have some sort of affinity with the characters putting their lives at risk, and we get that here courtesy of a well written first half. Also boasting (in my opinion naturally) one of the greatest scores used in a War movie, courtesy of Ron Goodwin, the film triumphs because the ending is all that you hope for. In truth it's never in doubt given the build up we are given (and being the normality for many genre pieces), but with little dashes of poignancy and slivers of adrenalin rushes, the impact is akin to a jingoistic chest thudding. Besides which, if you can't get a tingle on your neck watching the Mosquitoes fly over the Norwegian fjord? Well you got no blood in your body say I. 7/10

In the spring of 1944 an RAF Mosquito Squadron are ordered to attack a German rocket fuel plant in Norway. The mission involves flying up a heavily defended fjord and bombing a cliff overhang in an attempt to bury the factory, which is built into the rock. I bought this on DVD in a '3 for £20' offer, as I had fond memories of it from childhood, and it had been around 20 years since I last remember seeing it. I have to say that it's not nearly as good as I remembered it to be. The plot is full of cliches and there's the inevitable love interest for the lead. That said, there are points to recommend it. Cliff Robertson gives another reliable performance as the Wing Commander in charge of the squadron, and there are equally dependable turns from Harry Andrews and Donald Houston. The numerous flying sequences with the Mosquito Bombers are expertly filmed, and it's a real bonus to finally see the film in its correct 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The special effects aren't bad for 1964, and Ron Goodwin's famous score underpins the whole venture. The main problem that I have with the film is that it borrows heavily from 'The Dam Busters' in terms of plot, without ever scaling the heights (no pun intended) of that classic. It may have lush Panavision photography, better effects etc., but lacks the nail biting tension and expertly constructed drama of its predecessor. However, it's perfectly acceptable entertainment, if somewhat abrupt at the end.

I used to love this movie . When I was a child in the 1970s this movie would be shown at least once a year on television and I would always go out of my way to watch it and no matter how many times I saw it I would always enjoy it . It's an exciting war movie involving brave noble men in the RAF and Norwegian resistance giving those cruel Nazis what for . Jolly good show chaps I hadn't seen this movie for years until today but was still interested in seeing it again and was slightly disappointed . Yes it might be exciting to a ten year old child in the 1970s but as an adult my critical faculties was instantly able to notice what's wrong with this movie The screenplay feels rather disjointed as it jumps about from location to location and it almost feels like a storyboard rather than a completed script since the scenes seem to finish and start in an unnatural manner . This might actually be the fault of the editing rather than the screenplay because things might be spliced together in the wrong order . Take for example the scene where the airfield is attacked by the Germans ( The Luftwaffe could launch attacks on English airfields in 1944 ? Highly unlikely ) which then cuts to the bar later that day where everyone is drinking and singing and laughing and where no one refers to the attack . It's as if the previous scene had never happened and is undoubtedly a blunder by the film makers It's by no means unique to this movie but another noticeable aspect when viewed today as an adult is how poor and dated the FX are . Cut to a Mosquito aircraft in mid flight then cut to the interior of the cockpit which is obviously a studio set with some painfully obvious back screen projection and of course there's the very obvious model aircraft which is a common flaw with airborne war movies from this period All this makes a long cherished movie like 633 SQUADRON rather disappointing when viewed today but it's by no means a terrible movie . Ron Goodwin's score still remains impressive and some of the scenes were reworked into a little known film from 1977 called STAR WARS so it can't be all bad . If people are complaining that one of the Norwegians looks Greek then they must try getting out a bit more

I am a great fan of "633 Squadron" and have read a few articles about the making of the film so I can correct a few errors in previous postings. In the original 1956 novel the central character was Wing- Commander Roy Grenville. This was changed to Wing - Commander Roy Grant for the film. The script did make it clear that Grant was an ex - Eagle Squadron pilot. A number of Americans did fly for the RAF during WW2. After Pearl Harbour the Eagle Squadrons were eventually transferred to the USAAF but some Americans stayed in the RAF so it is not totally implausible to have an American leading an RAF squadron. I agree that the Greek American actor George Chakiris does not look very Norwegian! However the casting of these two American actors (Robertson and Chakiris) was done to ensure the success of the film at the American box office. British war films with all- British casts tend to bomb at the American box office. The 1969 film "Battle of Britain" was the most successful film at the UK box office when it came out but it was a financial disaster in most other countries. That was why the American role in "Operation Market Garden" was prominently featured in the 1977 film "A Bridge Too Far". I agree that the ending was ambiguous. In Frederick E Smith's 1976 sequel "Operation Rhine Maiden" it was made clear that Wing Cdr Grant had survived the crash and become a POW - in the film it is not clear whether he had died or just lost consciousness. All the Mosquitoes used in the film were obtained from No 35 Civilian Anti Aircraft Cooperation Unit in Exeter which retired its last Mosquitoes only a few weeks before filming began. These civilian - piloted Mosquitoes were the last in service anywhere in the world. A total off 11 Mosquitoes were used in the filming though only four were airworthy . Three Mosquitoes were destroyed during filming. A few of the Mosquitoes used in the film still exist though none are currently airworthy. The B-25 Mitchell used as the camera plane still exists albeit in a derelict condition at North Weald Airfield in England.