Dr Barnes Wallace was possessed with a seemingly crazy idea - the creation of a bouncing bomb, designed to destroy the Ruhr dams and paralyse the enemy's industrial nerve centre. He fought persistent scepticism and disbelief that such a feat was possible. Through the matchless skill of RAF Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his squadron, the mission succeeded. viewer's comments: - "I Might Almost Say Fantastic!" In the spring of 1942, the English design engineer, Barnes Wallis, is working on a revolutionary new bomb, capable of breaching Germany's hydro-electric dams. This film, with its unforgettable "Dam Busters March" by Eric Coates, recounts the story of the development of the bomb and the devising of special tactics for attacking Germany's industrial heartland. It is also a tribute to the genius of Wallis and the courage and skill of the men who made the concept work. The great dams of western Germany, harnessing the energy of the rivers Moehne, Eder and Sorbe, were an important power source for the Nazi war effort. If the dams could be breached, then the loss of electrical energy and the collateral flooding would, it was hoped, cripple German industry and shorten the war. As the film opens, Wallis is pondering the one central problem associated with bombing a dam. Any explosion in the water (and direct hits on the dam wall are too much to expect) is cushioned by the fluidity, and no structural damage results. We see Wallis eagerly experimenting in his back yard, surrounded and assisted by his adoring children. His brilliant idea is this - if a bomb can be delivered at the correct shallow trajectory and the right high speed, it will 'skip' along the lake's surface like a pebble on a pond, strike the dam and slide down the wall. A depth-sensitive trigger could then detonate the bomb where it would do maximum damage. The idea is a daring and imaginative one, and predictably enough, the various government departments are slow to see its merit. Wallis spends many disheartening hours waiting to speak to unsympathetic civil servants. In a lovely piece of ironic humour, a Whitehall mandarin points out to Wallis the difficulties inherent in obtaining a Wellington bomber for tests, and Wallis quietly suggests that his own role as the creator of the Wellington might be of some assistance. Wallis is constantly being told that resources are scarce, that the communal effort requires sacrifices, and so forth. There is, he is told, "a very thin dividing line between inspiration and obsession". However, the eccentric genius persists, and eventually Churchill gets to hear of the idea. From that moment on, the project gathers momentum. 'Bomber' Harris, the chief of Britain's Bomber Command, sets up trials. The 'bouncing bomb' is at last a reality. Major disappointments accompany the trials. The casing of the bomb has to be drastically re-designed, and it transpires that the aircraft will need to approach the dam considerably lower and faster than had been envisaged. The RAF's standard altimeters are useless at heights of 50 feet, and the resulting danger to crews of flying blind at almost zero altitude are unacceptable. At this point, Commander Guy Gibson, the pilot who will lead the raid, has his own flash of inspiration. The spotlights in a variety theatre give him the idea of two converging light beams, shining downwards from aircraft to water, which will fix the plane's altitude precisely. If this all sounds a little 'Heath Robinson', it is nothing compared to the viewing gadget which is cobbled together to enable crews to align on the twin towers of the dam. The climax of the film, the actual attack on the German dams, is rather a disappointment. Anti-aircraft tracer coming up from the German defenders is superimposed on the photographic matrix in the most amateurish of ways. The sound of the ground batteries is unrealistic, staying at a constant pitch and volume however the aircraft manoeuvre. The explosions are the poorest efforts of all, being no more than scraps of film and drawings, patched unconvincingly onto shots of a model dam. Michael Redgrave does a commendable job of 'creating' Barnes Wallis for the screen, quintessentially English and understated, with his runner beans and his cricket jokes. The man's boyish enthusiasm comes across. In this respect the bathtub in the yard, the setting for his primitive experiments, serves two cinematic purposes, showing us the simple, unprepossessing genius of the English people, and explaining in visual terms exactly how the bomb will work. Good use is made of genuine Air Ministry film of the bouncing bomb tests. If the ultimate effect on Germany's war capacity is exaggerated, this can be forgiven. Richard Todd is terrific as Gibson, the tough little leader of the mission, the emotional man who is able through intense self-discipline to keep his feelings in check and do his duty. The powerful ending is almost too much to take, with the empty seats in the officers' mess, and Todd striding off in stiff-upper-lip fashion to 'write a few letters'. No English heart can fail to be stirred by that marvellous theme tune. - Great Flick! Sometimes the right type of insanity helps... There are actually only a few movies which I was fascinated by as a teenager that I still like today(for the record, I am 54). `The Dam Busters' is a remarkable exception. Michael Redgrave's portrayal of the mercurial, almost legendary `boffin', Dr. Barnes Wallis is perfection. The same can be said of Richard Todd's portrayal of Guy Gibson. Since 1994, I have worked the computer/IT field as a network engineer and support technician. Consequently, technical projects are my mainstay and this film is most remarkable to me today as an elegant description of the development of any new `thing'. The stages are all here-1) the grandiose initial concept, a 20-ton bomb to be dropped on the Ruhr dams from an eight(!)-engined `Victory' bomber; 2) the creation of an utterly new method for attacking the dams-it is initially so `far out', that Wallis doesn't want to discuss it with his supervising committee until he has `fleshed it out' a little; 3) the plodding work, done here in some huge experimental water tanks over a period of months; 4) the characteristic `last minute setbacks'; 5) the critical test-operational use; and, 6) the elation of success and, in this wartime example only, the overwhelming guilt about the human costs that have had to be paid. Getting back to Dr. Barnes Wallis-this was not to be the last example of his genius. He originally developed the intricately braced `geodesic' structure mentioned for the unsuccessful R100 airship in the 1920s, then adapted the basic concept to the wooden structures of the later Vickers Wellington during the 1930s. An unexpected snap roll of a Wellington prototype had thrown test pilot `Mutt' Summers through the cockpit roof(he parachuted to safety). Post-war, he developed an advanced design for wing sections(while promising, to date it hasn't seen much use) of supersonic aircraft. What is the central lesson of this film? Now that the Nazi's are gone and the men who fought them are well along in years, here is how I see it today. Sometimes, when confronted with impossible problems, someone with the incredible determination of a Barnes Wallis or a Guy Gibson simply decides that `failure is not an option' and succeeds when no one entirely in his or her right mind could. - "Bomb gone!" In 1942 Dr Barnes Wallace struggles to develop a unique bouncing bomb, with the aim of destroying the huge dams that lie east of Germany's industrial heartland, the Rhur. The resultant floods, should the dams be breached, would seriously damage Germany's munitions productivity. This is one of British cinema's true classics. It excells in recounting a remarkable true tale in gripping, unsentimental style. The writing, directing, cinematography and performances are all first rate. Michael Redgrave in particular, is totally immersed in the character of Barnes Wallace; the slightly eccentric and near obsessed inventor of the bomb. Richard Todd also convinces as Wing Commander Guy Gibson; the man chosen to put together 617 Squadron for the daring raid. Look out for a young Robert Shaw as Gibson's co-pilot, and British viewers should spot a young Richard Thorpe (Alan Turner from Emmerdale) as Squadron Leader Maudsley. The last couple of times this has aired on British TV, I have been annoyed by the removal of all references to Gibson's dog's name. It was a black labrador named Nigger. This wasn't some name dreamed up by a screenwriter intent on a racial slur. It was simply the animal's name at a time before Britain became the multi-racial society that it is today. Taking that fact into account, to remove any reference to the name strikes me as political correctness gone mad! Also, the version just screened on Britain's main terrestrial commercial station had been "trimmed" to fit a timeslot (the channel in question are notorious for this practice). However, the above criticisms are of the way that the film was broadcast, not of the film itself. Even though it is now nearly fifty years old, and obviously contains no modern special effects, it remains a gripping tale and a fitting tribute to the men of Bomber Command, who played a vital role in maintaining the freedom that we enjoy today. - The best war movie ever made, bar none. It's been a while since I saw the movie but I recently read the book by Paul Brickhill which qualifies IMHO as the best book of the Second World War. It convinced me that 617 Squadron and Barnes Wallis helped to shorten the war in Europe by a year and saved thousands of lives. Up until the development of Wallis's bombs many civilians had been killed by so-called carpet bombing. Wallis perfected bombs which could be dropped far more precisely on military targets, provided the weather was better than average. - Supremely watchable British WW2 movie I just want to correct a few points I've read in some of the other comments... and add a few views of my own ... Gibson wasn't a Group Captain, he was a Wing Commander, which was the usual rank for the commanding officer of a bomber squadron in WW2. Slightly confusingly, the rank of "Squadron Leader" (which equates to a navy Lt Commander or an army Major), although usual for the commanding officer of a British fighter squadron at that time, is one lower than Wing Commander. Gibson had three Squadron Leaders reporting to him. The rank of Group Captain, one higher than Wing Commander, would have been held by the station/base commander. Gibson didn't die in an air display. Immediately after the dams raid, he was considered too valuable to lose and was grounded. He spent some time in the USA in an ambassadorial role, and later had an RAF desk job, but eventually convinced the RAF to let him fly again. He led one more raid, using the "Master Bomber" techniques developed for the dams raid, but then contact was lost. Whether he was shot down, or his aircraft developed a malfunction, is not known. He crashed into a low hill in the Netherlands and the Dutch buried him there. Leonard Cheshire didn't fly on the dams raid. He wasn't a member of 617 Sqn at that time. By the time he did take over command of 617 (some months after the dams raid), he had originally risen to Group Captain, but took a temporary rank reduction to Wing Commander. The comparisons with "Star Wars" are, I think, valid, and the comment about the fictional war movie "Mosquito Squadron" is also valid. However, a much better comparison for "Star Wars" is with the final scenes of another fictional WW2 movie, "633 Squadron". In that film, the Mosquito aircraft have to fly down a narrow Norwegian fjord before 'hurling' their bombs not at the target itself, but at a large crop of rock above the target. With regard to the quality of the movie itself, well, it's just one of those films that you can happily sit and watch any time it's on - and that's enough for me. Yes, the special effects aren't that special, but come on, it's only 1956. The acting is second to none. Gibson's choice of name for his dog is unfortunate - you wouldn't do it now and he ought to have known better at the time - but it's history, it's actuality - deal with it, don't obscure it. The film has inaccuracies compared to the (much more wide-spanning) book, and even the book has its flaws, but does it stand up as a film? You bet. Issue it on DVD. I'd buy it. - More than almost perfect I have seen this movie at least 5 times. I am a 72 year old female who lived during WWII but this and Sink the Bismarck are 2 of my favorite war films. I do wish Michael Coy had not revealed so much in his critique, altho it was a very good one. It could spoil it for a new viewer. - A Dam Good Film I have read all the other user comments before putting electronic pen to cyberspace.Most are critical of the 1954 "special effects" especially what should have been the climax i.e.the broaching of the Mohne & Eider dams.Could not they have built models of these dams then blown them with a charge in slow motion?.This would have looked more realistic.That said this is a classic British war movie featuring Michael Redgrave as Dr Barnes Wallis and Richard Todd as Group Capt. Guy Gibson who led the raid.I don't want to repeat what has already been said by the other reviewers rather, I want to add to what has been said. My wife's late father, Squadron Leader Douglas Swain, actually met Guy Gibson in 1945 and told us that Gibson died in a flying accident at a display that year while not on active duty.Presumably he was taking a long overdue vacation.A documentary shown on TV attempted to explain the effectiveness of the breaching of the dams.The German spokesman stated that more collateral damage would have been done had the RAF concentrated on breaching the Sorpe dam (compared to the Eider) which was targeted but not successfully attacked.If you go up to the Lake District in Cumbria and visit the Derwentwater dam it is still the same as shown if the film where they practiced dummy runs and there is a small exhibition commemorating this event.Most young boys have experimented by throwing flat stones at a low trajectory on still water then watching the stone "bounce" before it gradually loses kinetic energy.This must have been known to Admiral Horatio Nelson because he found in certain conditions he could get more destructive capability by firing his cannon balls in this fashion.Therfore Barnes Wallis freely admitted it was not his completely original idea!. If you like stiff upper-lipped British war movies based on fact, then this film is definitely for you. - War movie that inspired George Lucas. Great WWII aviation film, very much factually based. Unless an avid War film buff like myself it may be slow viewing. Like most specialized combat missions it's 90% preparation and 10% execution and the movie spends it's run time in that proportion, BUT OHHH THAT 10%! I've heard that George Lucas of "Star Wars" fame got inspiration for the "Death Star" bombing mission at the end of "Star Wars" from this film's dam busting film scenes , with it's ferocious flak and tight confines to maneuver in (I can see that inspiration, but I think he also was inspired by the end scenes of the fictional war film "Mosquito Squadron" where the rolling bombs had to land inside a small tunnel.) The ending was VERY moving and definitely immortalized the brave Men who lost their lives to help save the world from the tyranny of the Nazis. I gave this film an 8, highly recommended if a WW2 film buff. cast: Michael Redgrave .... Dr. Barnes N. Wallis, C.B.E., F.R.S. Ursula Jeans .... Mrs. Wallis Charles Carson .... Doctor Stanley Van Beers .... Sir David Pye, C.B., F.R.S. Colin Tapley .... Dr. W.H. /Glanville, C.B., C.B.E. Frederick Leister .... Committee Member Eric Messiter .... Committee Member Laidman Browne .... Committee Member Raymond Huntley .... Official, National Physical Laboratory Hugh Manning .... Official, Ministry of Aircraft Production Patrick Barr .... Captain Joseph (Mutt) Summers, C.B.E. Edwin Styles .... Observer at trials Hugh Moxey .... Observer at trials Anthony Shaw .... R.A.F. Officer at trials Basil Sydney .... Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, G.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C. Runtime: 120 min Country: UK Language: English Black and White
