Battle of Britain making its way to DVD has been a long time coming. It’s one of those rare, classic war films that never gets old or loses its impact no matter how many times you’ve seen it. Being well over 30-years old, it remains timeless and covers a very well known and defining event from World War II that literally changed the outcome of the war.

Germany was on the march and had their eye on Britain. The British were somewhat weak and weary from countless battles supporting their allies over …he years and it seemed that they was an easy target for Germany to overtake. The Germans planned on surprising the Brits and in turn, wiping out the RAF (Royal Air Force) while still on the ground and thusly, giving the Germans air superiority over the British skies.

In the early stages, it seemed that the German plan would work, but the British managed to keep many of her planes flying and against insurmountable odds, the RAF managed to turn back wave after wave after wave of German Luftwaffe fighters. Then, in a shocking move, the Germans made a huge miscalculation that would literally change the outcome of the war.

Battle of Britain contains some of the most realistic and action-packed dog fighting sequences ever put on film and contains an all-star cast that any director would be proud to have working on their film (Harry Andrews, Michael Caine, Trevor Howard, Curt Jürgens, Ian McShane, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivier, Nigel Patrick, Christopher Plummer, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Robert Shaw, Patrick Wymark, and Susannah York). It’s an absolutely magnificent bit of cinema that’s very deserving of the DVD treatment it has received from MGM and I simply cannot recommend Battle of Britain highly enough.

Audio

MGM has provided Battle of Britain with a nicely done Dolby Digital Mono track in … according to the DVD case, English and German. There’s enough German spoken in the film that the studio felt it was worthy of sharing top bill on the audio track listing. You see, the principals behind the film decided to go for the authentic route and they had the actors playing German roles actually speak in German. Contrary to popular belief, Germans didn’t speak in broken or badly emoted English – they actually spoke in the native tongue and the principals involved with Battle of Britain realized that fact. (Don’t fear however, the German portions of the film are properly subtitled.)

Being a monaural soundtrack, there’s really not a whole lot to say about it, as the surrounds remain pretty much dead for the entire running time of the film. The track is definitely limited by its source material and lacks any sort of impressive dynamics or fidelity, although the track has been cleaned up to the point where there was no discernable hiss or background noise heard in the track at any time (as is sometimes the case with older audio transfers). Dialogue was obviously anchored firmly in the front channel and there were never any problems with harshness or intelligibility noted at any time. The film’s score sounded nice, but lacked any real punch when put up against any recent soundtrack or score – effects suffered the same fate.

While not the most impressive mix in MGM’s stable, Battle of Britain sounds very authentic for the time and fits the material at hand like a glove. MGM has also included English, French, and Spanish subtitles to supplement the viewing of the film.

Video

Battle of Britain comes from MGM in a brand new, anamorphically enhanced widescreen version of the film in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and Freddy Young’s impressive cinematography has never looked better. Considering that the film is well over 30-years old, MGM is to be commended for such a fine transfer. Being as old as it is, the transfer does display some occasional flakes and flecks, as well as some slight grain throughout the over 2-hours of running time. There were also a couple of instances of ringing and edge-enhancement, but thankfully, these anomalies are non-distracting and rather minor considering the age of the film.

The detail on the image was quite strong all things considered and Battle of Britain maintained a rather bold and lush palette throughout. The skies over Britain were a brilliant blue, while the explosions burst from the screen with fiery intensity. Everything was properly balanced and contrasted, with the transfer erring on the side of softness rather oversaturation or bleeding. Black levels were appropriately deep and strong and although they weren’t quite as bold as more recent films, shadow detail and delineation were spot on and allowed Battle of Britain to maintain a very film-like appearance.

Special Features

Unfortunately, the only extra included on Battle of Britain is a Theatrical Trailer, but who cares? This glorious WWII film has finally seen the light of day on DVD and that’s all that matters to me. Kudos to MGM for doing such a fine job on the other aspects of the film.

Parting Thoughts

This is one of those films that has been screaming for DVD treatment for years and thankfully, MGM has handled the transition marvelously. Battle of Britain is the film that Pearl Harbor or Windtalkers wished they could have been and it has only gotten better with age. This is a great film and any self-respecting film fan who claims to enjoy the war genre ought to have this in their collection the millisecond it streets in late May – if not, turn in your card at the door. In a nutshell, this film comes highly recommended and I can sum it up in three little words – BUY THIS FILM! The price is set to move these discs off the shelves and you’d be foolish not to pick one up.

Special Features List

• Theatrical Trailer