Someone on this BB had once suggested this film and it was raining all weekend so I had a chance to watch it.
Let me tell you, I was blown away by it.
The movie is told in flashback by a Czech pilot who goes to England to fly in the RAF after the Czech government capitulates to the Nazis without firing a shot. He is imprisoned by the Communists when he returns to his home country after the war. I won't go into details about characters or plot lines, but suffice to say that this is one of the few war movies where the love sub-plots actually work and work well. The decisions the main character makes really got me to thinking; how he reacts to the losses of his fellow Czech pilots, how he reacts to the women he loves, how he handles the political situations he finds himself caught in. Very well done.
Part of the film dialogue is in Czech and part in English. Subtitles are used throughout. Personally, I prefer subtitles instead of voice dubbing. Using the authentic language makes the film more believable. The worst thing they ever did to "Das Boot" was release the English-language dubbed version on video.
The flying sequences and combat sequences are exceptional. A couple of times, it looked like they were using live ammunition for the tracer effects. The aircraft destruction scenes were very realistic (unlike in most war movies, where airplanes blowing up and/or crashing look like the wooden models they are).
This film inspired me to get some stick time in a Spitfire V over the weekend and I'm having a blast in it. So a "thumbs up" to the film and a "thumbs up" to the Spitfire V.
