Movie Review: 633 Squadron (1964)
Synopsis: A World War II Royal Air Force squadron led by American Wing Commander Roy Grant is given the task of destroying a German rocket fuel plant in Norway. The plant's hidden location means the squadron can only destroy it by bombing an overhanging cliff until it collapses. Making the mission even more dangerous is the failure to destroy anti-aircraft guns beforehand, putting the No. 633 Squadron at risk of a suicide mission.
Who's in it? The movie stars Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, Maria Perschy, Harry Andrews and Donald Houston.
Review: I ended up picking 633 Squadron this morning much in the same way I picked yesterday's film, it came first alphabetically on my library list. At first, I wasn't too sure what to think about the movie, which featured a fictional mission rather than a real-life event. However, it ended up being an OK choice.
The film is what I would describe as a basic war movie. There is a firm mission and objective established early, you are given enough background on each of the main characters to determine what kind of soldier (or pilot) they are without a ton of other details and there's even a love story thrown in.
To keep things from getting too predictable, a few added obstacles are periodically thrown in, including a mission to kill one of their own before he is tortured into giving away too much information and the sudden arrival of German reinforcements that makes the already difficult mission possibly impossible to complete. As a result of those things, the movie never had any sort of lull, even though a good portion of it was training exercises.
The ending ended up being quite a bit of a surprise as well, with what I would consider mixed results from the mission based on the objective they were trying to achieve and the loss of life that resulted from it. It was one of those endings that maybe technically was a happy one but definitely tempered and a bit solemn as well.
Final Opinion: I don't know if I would consider this one of my favorite war movies, but it was a solid film that had some great action scenes and a plot that wasn't as predictable as expected. I'd recommend it.
My Grade: B
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1964:
Movie Review: Night Must Fall (1964)
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