Don't listen to the negative reviews

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

1943. The air war over Germany is at its zenith. In the 8th Air Force is a B-17 bomber whose crew are about to complete their 25th mission, the first to do so. After this mission they will be rotated back to the US on a marketing drive. However, their 25th mission is far from a milk run and they will need all the skill and luck they can muster to back it back alive.Great WW2 drama, based on a true story. Loosely based, I might add - the actual story is immortalised in William Wyler's 1944 documentary "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress". Some license has been taken with the details but it still makes for a gritty drama.Broad plot is straightforward, with a few Hollywoodisms. However is very engaging, as you get to meet and understand the characters who make up the crew. You see the dangers they face and the high chance of not making it back.Quite intriguing too, as nothing is certain.Great aerial and action scenes, and this is where the movie truly shines. Using actual B-17s makes for a wonderful level of authenticity.Solid performances all round from a decent cast: Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, DB Sweeney, Harry Connick Jr, Billy Zane, Sean Astin, David Strathairn and John Lithgow, among others.Riveting viewing.

From other reviews I was expecting something of an experience, but I found it pedestrian, formulaic and unconvincing. It is understandable that 1990 technology can't match that of today (2015) but that doesn't fully explain the problem.Compare this with earlier productions such as "Battle of Britain", "The Dam Busters", "The Wooden Horse" and "The Cruel Sea" and you should see the point. Even "The Great Escape" was better entertainment, if less convincing.The general idea that very tight procedural disciplines can disintegrate under actual battle conditions is interesting, but is hardly innovative.

In a standard tight formation I have always wonders how the side gunners avoid shooting other bombers while under attack by fighters. They are shooting 50 caliber machine guns which can shoot a mile. Fighters are zipping between the bombers. It appears to me like there would be tons of "Friendly Fire" hits on the other planes. They would be killing each other. Why don't we see or read more about this happening? Anyone please comment on this. This has troubled me for years. Thanks in advance. By the way this is a great movie. I love old bomber movies, to think that we put young men in there 20s in such a stressful situation.

For people of my generation childhood afternoons were often composed of spending Sunday afternoons watching Second World War movies where English speaking heroes gave stupid Germans a lesson in biting off more than they could chew . This gave a a somewhat erroneous view of history for the baby boomer generation . Americans were bullet proof apart from the one bloke who was engaged to get married who'd always snuff it in the final reel , the entire British military would be composed of John Mills and that other bloke while the Germans were invariably stupid and lousy shots . For my own part I became an aficionado of military history and redeemed myself by studying the war and came to the conclusion that Nazi Germany ( A regime that waged war as ruthlessly and effectively as it murdered undesirables ) was defeated by " British courage , American money and Soviet blood " in the words of Winston Churchill . Watching MEMPHIS BELLE I'm reminded how old fashioned everything is Somewhat typically for a film that was made in Britain by a British production team and a British director it's financed by American money and therefore is made for an American market so revolves around an American aircrew flying a B-17 . Fair enough but couldn't the characters have mentioned that WW2 was a joint operation ? Watching this you'll be left thinking America was fighting alone . There's even a scene where the only British male character , a farmer , needs rescued by the American airforce As for the cast they're almost unknown at the time . John Lithgow would be a recognisable face as would perhaps Matthew Modine . Some of the cast would become well known but this leads to a problem when the crew of the aircraft take their places . It's difficult to tell who is manning which position in the plane and you do feel perhaps that a better known cast would have improved things . Not to the point of A BRIDGE TOO FAR or THE LONGEST DAY type star vehicle , but enough to make you perhaps care a bit more for characters that end up faceless The crew are on their 25th and final mission over Europe which means if they survive the flight they can go home . Being their final mission means all sorts of artistic license is involved to keep the audience on tenterhooks . Despite being a relatively close target in Bremen their fighter escort of P-51 Mustangs have to turn back to base for no other reason than it makes the bomber crews situation more perilous even though in reality a P-51 can indeed provide escort to Bremen and back again . Everything else that can go wrong does indeed go wrong but perhaps the most ridiculous scene is where Captain Dearborn misses the target and decides to lead the bomber wing towards a second run because he fears hitting a school . Would it be too callous to state allied aircrews wouldn't have been too bothered about bombing a school ? After all the children in a school would be working in a German factory contributing to the Nazi war machine in a couple of years anyway . All this makes MEMPHIS BELLE a little bit overdone with western allies being goodies and Germans being faceless enemies In conclusion MEMPHIS BELLE is a technically competent war film but not much else . It does show the courage involved by bomber crews during the second world war but also feels incredibly old fashioned . So much so that you'd have no problem believing that the screenplay was written while the war was still being waged