I have finally finished watching this film and have to say I was very impressed. Black and white I know, and with special effects that are best described as 'quaint'; the film was very much a product of the times (1960) so does seem a little stilted. Having said that, most of the technical detail seemed OK and I was particularly taken with the scene when the Bismarck was first hit in the final battle with Rodney and KGV - the shell burst and a cloud of black smoke came from the funnel as a result of the impact. Sadly the channel 4 screening stopped before the end credits had rolled so I was unable to see who advised on this from the naval view. I would also like to find out the carrier used for the launching sequences as some of the footage seemed real time rather than stock WW2 vintage.
Fleet Commander Lutjens came across as a fanatical Nazi which was not how I perceived him to be but again, I think this was more in keeping with the school of 'Nazi Beastliness' later seen in the Commando comic books - 'Donner und Blitzen, Englander Schweinhund, Gott in Himmel etc being the standard phraseology of choice. I suppose this is an ironic counterpoint to the Noel Coward school of stiff upper Britishness!
I am sure that the DVD will have the full specification in respect of credits and who did what and where and so as a result this is very much on my 'to get' list.
Next up...................The Cruel Sea!
2 comments:
Based on what I've what read elsewhere, the movie had Lutjens and Lindemann (Captain of the Bismarck) reversed in terms of their fanaticism--Lindemann was in fact the go-getter who wanted to stay out and hunt, while Lutjens felt they should retire, but was persuaded otherwise.
Incidentally, your blog has persuaded me to take the plunge: at Historicon I attended a very nice War at Sea demo put on by the company, and was given two boosters as a reward. I found the rules simple and a lot of fun. The guy I then bought a starter from swapped out what I didn't need for what I did: I now have very nice Italian and French task forces, helped by a few German and British units respectively.
Best regards,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Welcome aboard the War at Sea! I usually game at my club using a cloth with 8" squares which is way to big to use at home but looks good. All my models are based and look pretty good - I only wish a WW1 set of models was available - now that would be something!
All the best and enjoy the French and Italians - they have some lovely models in their fleets.
Ogre
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