The Dam Busters

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The Dam Busters

1955

1h 59m

War

History

Drama

Action

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Popcornmeter

100%

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11 Reviews

84%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

After inventing the "bouncing bomb," which can skip across water until it encounters a dam to explode, Dr. Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) struggles for years to develop his new device for use in World War II. Once the bombs are ready to be tested, Wing Commander Guy Gibson's (Richard Todd) squadron must be specially trained to drop the sensitive weapons on Germany's Ruhr Dams. Based on true events, this British film features a legendary grand finale of special effects.

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Jean Yothers

Orlando Sentinel

Michael Redgrave is fine as the dedicated scientist who invents the bomb, and Richard Todd is lust right in the role of an RAF wine commander.

Sep 27, 2021

Full Review

Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

So while some social norms, as well as ideas of what cinematic action sequences should entail, have evolved, The Dam Busters remains a well-crafted portrayal that does justice to the memory of its heroes.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 6, 2023

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Neely Swanson

Easy Reader (California)

It is a great example of a story told chronologically that remains interesting throughout.

Mar 23, 2021

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The length is felt.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 18, 2020

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Clyde Gilmour

Maclean's Magazine

An exceptionally good war-in-the-air drama from Britain, based on the true story of the RAF's 1943 low-level raids on Germany's Ruhr dams.

Oct 28, 2019

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MFB Critics

Monthly Film Bulletin

The film is over-long (the flying sequences include some repetition) and the music score is, regrettably, very blatant; but despite these drawbacks, a mood of sober respect is maintained.

Feb 17, 2016

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saul e

What I love about this movie (despite the dogs name) is that it really a 100% accurate war movie. I don't think the film is dated and still an enjoyable war movie

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/10/23

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Audience Member

Fantastic film. Fairly close to alot of the events and a fitting tribute to Barnes Wallis.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

It's a classic, about an important raid of ww2. Abit dated by today's standards perhaps but it's an important part of the history. Although it doesn't exactly posses that star quality. There are other ww2 films that you could watch that are much better. Like 'The great escape' But it's not a bad watch to see how they did it. Although not all the information is in this film and when it was made much of it was still classified The music and the damn busters theme is probably the most notable part of the film. All in all, it's not a bad film.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

andy f

One of the greatest world war 2 movies. It avoids too much sentimentality and brings to life not only the spirit of these great men, but if also vividly captures the tension of the mission. Exceptional.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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William L

Going through classic films, I often find myself agreeing with critics in most circumstances, but not so with The Dam Busters. While beloved in British households, the film has aged very poorly and is an absolute slog; I can only imagine a shared sense of patriotism was responsible for buoying the film's reputation to the modern day. Slow, unengaging, and unexciting, the films seems to have a winning premise (the development of a technological advancement that few believe in, and the clandestine training of a specialty unit to deploy it against the Nazi war machine), but develops little empathy for its characters and focuses far too much time on individual scenes than necessary; fifteen minutes or so could have been shaved off relatively easily. The special effects may have been strong for the time, and can hardly be criticized in that regard as the production team did the best with what was available, though they are noticeably antiquated. Can hardly call this one a film for the ages. (2.5/5)

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/31/20

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Audience Member

Although there is no denying that there is a great story to be told here and some genuinely thrilling moments, this movie has not aged very well.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

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Michael Anderson

Director

Richard Todd

Wing Commander Guy Gibson, V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C

Michael Redgrave

Doctor B.N. Wallis, C.B.E, F.R.S.

Ursula Jeans

Mrs. Wallis

Stanley Van Beers

Sir David Pye, C.B., F.R.S.

Raymond Huntley

Official, National Physical Laboratory

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Synopsis

After inventing the "bouncing bomb," which can skip across water until it encounters a dam to explode, Dr. Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) struggles for years to develop his new device for use in World War II. Once the bombs are ready to be tested, Wing Commander Guy Gibson's (Richard Todd) squadron must be specially trained to drop the sensitive weapons on Germany's Ruhr Dams. Based on true events, this British film features a legendary grand finale of special effects.

Director: Michael Anderson
Producer: W.A. Whittaker, Robert Clark
Screenwriter: R.C. Sherriff
Production Co: Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)
Genre: War, History, Drama, Action
Original Language: British English
Runtime: 1h 59m

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