The Dam Busters remake

[ChristineCB]

From the last tidbit about Peter Jackson's denial that he's doing a remake, is this now the latest 'final word' on this project? That it's not going to happen, and maybe it never was?

Which is OK with me. I'm not certain that a remake could offer that much more, not as a VanSant-ian exercise at least. Well, outside of re-doing the cartoon tracer bullets with something more realistic.

It might be interesting to pull a Letters Of Iwo/Flags notion, and spend a good portion of the film showing the effects of the dam-busting on the population around the structures. There'd be some good night-time FX where darkness could obscure the cartoonishness of CGI-water spray and flooding effects.

Any chance Reptilicus could be unsealed well before its original film, and maybe Gorgo could be called forth to have a tag-team battle?

[orpheum]

I have visited a village below the dam.It was lwiped off the face of the earth.The ruins still stand.It was never rebuilt.Tragically many of those who died in the floods were slave labourers.It has to be said that this raid was a good propaganda victory but in fact it did not actually put the german war machine out of action merely inserted a very temporary spanner.However the Germans did reinforce the air defences of the dams for the rest of the war so that was abit of a result.

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by orpheum It has to be said that this raid was a good propaganda victory but in fact it did not actually put the german war machine out of action merely inserted a very temporary spanner.

At least we came up with a better title than the Yanks though when they had their 30 seconds over Tokyo.
............. The do little raid indeeed..........

[ChristineCB]

The do-little raid, indeed. Still, a great little film, probably just because I like Van Johnson and his foibled smirks so much (also a fan of his BATTLEGROUND with him and his helmut of eggs). "How come you're so beautiful?" One of the great lines.

[penfold]

Originally Posted by orpheum I have visited a village below the dam.It was lwiped off the face of the earth.The ruins still stand.It was never rebuilt.Tragically many of those who died in the floods were slave labourers.It has to be said that this raid was a good propaganda victory but in fact it did not actually put the german war machine out of action merely inserted a very temporary spanner.However the Germans did reinforce the air defences of the dams for the rest of the war so that was abit of a result.

Not exactly....in order to rebuild the dams and repair the other damage a huge amount of yet more slave labourers were directed from other tasks....like building the Atlantic Wall. Come D-Day some of our troops found themselves overrunning half-completed defence works, unfinished bunkers, and so on. Yes, many who died that night were slave labourers ( You do wonder how many of them would have survived the war, given the treatment they received) but in the grisly ledger of war, how many were saved because of the raid making easier the liberation of Europe ?

re. the earlier post someone made about there only being light flak on the dams.....yes, if you were flying at 20,000 feet you would have considered the defences light....but at 60 feet, when you are more or less flying at them, straight and level, one or, later twoaircraft at a time, the guns are practically firing point-blank and can hardly miss.

[Harleybloke]

Originally Posted by penfold Not exactly....in order to rebuild the dams and repair the other damage a huge amount of yet more slave labourers were directed from other tasks....like building the Atlantic Wall. Come D-Day some of our troops found themselves overrunning half-completed defence works, unfinished bunkers, and so on. Yes, many who died that night were slave labourers ( You do wonder how many of them would have survived the war, given the treatment they received) but in the grisly ledger of war, how many were saved because of the raid making easier the liberation of Europe ? re. the earlier post someone made about there only being light flak on the dams.....yes, if you were flying at 20,000 feet you would have considered the defences light....but at 60 feet, when you are more or less flying at them, straight and level, one or, later twoaircraft at a time, the guns are practically firing point-blank and can hardly miss.

I read somewhere that Stalin was impressed by the raid and as Pen mentions it caused a lot of hassle for the Germans. After the Firestorm raid on Hamburg, Speer declared 3 more raids like that and Germany would have to surrender. We can have fun speculating on 'what ifs' but from 'Enigma', to 'Stalingrad','The Battle of Britian' or 'The Longest Day', no one event in my opinion won war. Many were crucial but nothing in isolation did it. Everything was far too interlinked.

[Aaryk Noctivagus]

Originally Posted by orpheum In fairness to Hitler!What a joke i just wish some of the 30 million dead from WW2 could hear that.

I think Marky is only being objective rather than objectionable... maybe a poor choice of words to start his post... but surely we can all be guilty of that.

I think a pretty big crime was that we entered the War because Hitler invaded Poland, and then after the war were a party to giving that nation over to Stalin. Doing that made our morality somewhat suspect.

We claimed the fight for Poland against an Eagle and in the end helped deliver it to a Bear.

[mbowers460]

Hi, does any one know how I can send Richard Todd a letter or get in touch with him, as im writing my fathers story, my father was in the parachute regiment 6th airborne at Pegasus bridge and at arnem (Osterbeek)
My father said to me that he knew Richard todd.
Can anybody please help me seek information!
Many thanks Michael son of an aiborne soldier.

[Dame Starry]

Richard Todd's agent is The Richard Stone Partnership.

Starry x.

[lordtednfs]

I once had the privilege of seeing Richard Todd back in the 1980's at the little known Mayfair Theatre in Mayfair, London. Richard was playing in "The Business of Murder" and I was fortunate enough to meet him after the play and found him to be one of the nicest people I have ever met and thanked us for coming to the show, there were only 50 or so people at the show but he took time out to shake hands with those that waited.

If you are interested "The Business of Murder" is currently doing the rounds of the country and is definetly worth seeing.

Here is a synopsis of the show: Dee, a successful TV writer, arrives at the flat of a man named Stone, having accepted an invitation to discuss a script his 'wife' has written. She is rather surprised when Detective Inspector Hallet, with whom she is having an affair, also arrives, apparently to investigate a matter concerning Stone's 'son' and his involvement with a drugs ring. But where are his wife and son?

After many twists and turns, Stone's intentions become clear as he slowly reveals the precise nature of the trio's relationship. It seems that, in their own way, all three are very much concerned with the business of murder, and the play culminates in another perpetration of the crime.

An excellent evening out, promise

______________________
Hooked off the line

[PS68060]

I have a book on the history of the Parachute Regiment (Men of the Red Beret) which I am sure includes an interview with Richard Todd. He was dropped in the very earliest phase of the D-Day landing to capture the two bridges at Caen.

[anthony chubb]

reply m bowers
richard andrew p todd was born 1919 that makes him 88 he did live in grantham a place called little ponton i remmember a friend used to baby sit for their children in long distance past

[JohnMBreslin]

I meet and saw him a couple times in the last 40ty years and i had a small part in a movie with Richard Todd. named "Dam Busters"(1954).I was a RAF Pilot...
He was always a very kind fellow and a real professional actor.....
I liked his way of performing on stage and on movies.....

Today he lives on his own farm "The Chinham Farm" in Oxfordshire.
I think he is now retired from acting i didnt hear any news of him ???
I think he is one of the last living great and BRILLIANT actors of his time...
A real Legend of british movie history......

[TheLatePeterCook2]

I'm fairly postive about this. As long as they treat the brave airmen with respect this movie will be a good thing, as even if the movie isn't as good as the original, it will bring Gibson and Co back into the limelight and into the hearts and minds of a generation who may know little about the war and the people involved. That's for me the important thing and I wish the film makers well.

[Harleybloke]

I'd heard all plans to re-make the film have been scrapped..............?