Best movie of this year hands down!

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Simply A Masterpiece

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This movie depicts "Operation Source" the Royal Navy's secret operation to destroy the Tirpitz. This is probably the best movie depicting midget submarines and chariots. Sir John Mills in fine form, and made in the mid 1950s, depicts gear, uniforms and setting not too far from the era. Plot line, it actually follows the basic facts of the real operation, and an earlier operation involving chariots. Some tense moments in the mini subs, and it says a lot for a film where a lot of drama can occur just in one set. Germans are all speaking German and don't come across as 2 dimensional which is always good - though no subtitles (they didn't get used in film before the 1960s). Only problem I would say is the film doesn't make it clear what the results of the mission were, but a minor point.

I have just seen the film for the umpteenth time and of course the facts as portrayed in the film are not always a true reflection of the actual reports of the raid. Incidents that are shown as the interior of a submarine that was destroyed can be nothing other than fiction. Some of the episodes were factually correct therefore I find that the comment by mailmartinbuckley regarding the scene where Donald Sinden fends off a mine with his feet was misplaced. It was a recreation of the incident where Lt.B.C.G Place from X7 did exactly that. If he refers to bbc.co.uk/history and enters "Tirpitz" he can read the account of the raid by Dr.Eric Grove, a naval historian

"Carry on chappies, let's lerd that high explersive into the berts". Very stiff-upper-lipped John Mills et al in a very "Boys Own Annual" movie. A lot of variety, and an interesting plot, let down terribly by dreadful special effects (a view from the top of a five-foot periscope looks DOWN at the decks and mast of a battleship!!!!); and an atrocious lack of continuity. Had the characters been portrayed with even a fraction of realism, rather than looking, talking and acting like animated cutouts from war propaganda posters, the movie may have ended up with a shred of credibility. Even worse than say "Battle of River Plate".

One or two spoilers : Another reasonably true to life British film depicting the daring, skillful and often claustrophobic conditions that the British mini-sub crews endured to attack the large German battleship Tirpitz ( sister ship to the great Bismark ) which was hidden deep in Norwegian fjords. With the Tirpitz lurking in Norway, the British were forced to keep a substantial force of ships in readiness in case she broke out to attack convoys. If she could be disabled or destroyed, this would free up the badly needed British warships for other duties. A daring plan was devised to pilot miniature submarines into the fjord where Tirpitz lay and deposit large underwater mines beneath her,timed to go off after the sub crews hopefully escaped. Well shot in B&W and starring competent actors John Mills and John Gregson the background of training and the eventual attack is very absorbing. Well worth a look.