To me, this movie is perfection.

Good start, but then it gets ruined

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Good telling of the final (and only) sortie and sinking of Germany's most powerful warship of WW2. The naval scenes are actions are very realistic and historically accurate. A few liberties are taken for dramatic effect, but this does not detract from the quality of the movie.What is irritating to a degree, however, is the significant (deliberate) inaccuracy and liberties taken with regard to the central characters. The Director of Naval Operations during the Bismarck battle was not Captain Jonathan Shepherd - the name is entirely fictional. Even the First Sea Lord's name is fictional! The whole creation of these characters was there to add a human and emotional drama element. I would much have preferred the historical characters were used, and accuracy preserved.Another irritating thing was how stereotypically the Germans were portrayed. Most German soldiers and sailors were not the Hitler- loving fanatics the movie portrayed them to be.

Celebrated American reporter Edward Murrow appears as himself seemingly recreating his wartime radio broadcasts which add urgency and a documentary style setting to this film. In 1941 the British Navy was stretched to breaking point as they were engaged in the Mediterranean and protecting the North Atlantic convoysGermany launched its naval pride, The Bismarck named after the unifier of modern Germany. In just a few days the Bismarck was sinking Royal Naval ships and causing havoc.The film show the Nazis fighting for the glory of the third Reich and you know there are in trouble when the German admiral describes the new ship as unsinkable. You see the cat and mouse strategy at the Admiralty, as orders are relayed to the few ships over the Atlantic as they engage with the Bismarck. However the film is let down by the miniature sets, you never really believe the Bismarck is this giant warship in the open seas.The film is based on true events but some of the characters such the one portrayed by Kenneth More is fictitious. I had to double check to find out when this film was released, at one point it looks like a wartime propaganda film with Murrow's commentary adding tension and its black and white setting.Yet the film was released in 1960, fourteen years after the was finished yet it seems so old fashioned with its stiff upper lips and rather starched attitudes. I found it rather hard to believe that with Britain on the verge of revolution in its cinema, the rise of the working class actors and kitchen sink dramas that this film turned up as a relic of a bygone age with a plainly old fashioned script and added propaganda. The film The Cruel Sea released in 1953 had more realistic characterisations.Director Lewis Gilbert probably sensed this, a few years later he directed Michael Caine in Alfie, set in swinging London of the mid 1960s and in the mid 1970s he went on to direct one of my favourite James Bond films.

SINK THE BISMARCK – 1960 Another well made war film from that great 1950 to 1966 era, when more than a few excellent war time films were knocked out. This one tells the tale of the German battleship, Bismarck. Bismarck was the first battleship built by Germany since the First World War. Because of several ocean raids made earlier in the war by GRAF SPEE, SCHARHORST and GNEISENAU. The British were worried that Bismarck could wreak havoc of the Atlantic convoys.When Bismarck and the cruiser Prinz Eugen, made their break to reach the Atlantic, the Royal Navy sent every ship they could to hunt them down. First honours went to the German Navy, when they sank the star of the R.N. the Hood, and heavily damaged the Prince of Wales.Later on, Bismarck's luck ran out when a lucky hit with a torpedo dropped by a Swordfish aircraft, damaged her steering gear. Unable to escape the rest of the ships in pursuit, she went to the bottom under a hail of shells and torpedoes. Prinz Eugen escaped and made it to German held France.The film itself is told from the British headquarters managing the pursuit. Kenneth More plays the officer in charge. He is supported by a slew of British character actors like, Geoffery Keen, Laurence Naismith, Michael Horden and Maurice Denham. Pretty Dana Wynter supplies the female content.Shot is black and white, the film features some excellent model work, and top notch battle scenes. The director, Lewis Gilbert keeps this one moving at a steady pace with nary a slow moment on screen.Even 50 plus years after being made, this one stands up very well and is worth a look.

Sink the Bismark! (1960)A smart, steady as she goes WWII film in stately, wide screen black and white. There is little to flaw in it, and equally little to lift it above its quiet perfection. I don't mean it's a perfect movie, but that it manages perfectly to hold its tone, from the war rooms to the sea battles, from the English side to the German, with intelligence and historical accuracy. The terror the large, high tech battleship caused is legendary among those who lived through it. It was a symbol of German military and engineering prowess. When it knocked out (sank) Britain's largest and best ship early in the war, it looked invincible. And the prime minister made a point of saying, in a key early moment, that they had to do whatever it took to sink it. And so risks were taken and more lives lost and until, eventually, it was sunk.Not to give away the end, but this is history, and war is serious. As a sign of how the movie remains sombre through it all, there was no cheering and really not even a smile among the British when they saw the Bismarck finally go underwater. Which is admirable, the stiff upper lip thing, but it's also a little unbelievable. Indeed, the German boat leaders are constantly shown to be arrogant and cocky, worried more about letters from Hitler than the fact they are leaking oil. I suppose it might be true to some extent, that the British were all good chaps and determined to win and the Germans were all ruthless and tireless and determined also to win.Such is war.But this is maybe the largest tilt the film makes in the wrong direction. It is filmed with great control, and it mixes a little existing footage with the new shooting really seamlessly. The acting is first rate, with no heroes in the Hollywood sense, just a large cast of focused talent. As for accuracy, it seems that scholars find it quite good in the large picture but riddled with little errors, including the portrayal of the German captain as a cocky Hitler worshiper. There is some question about whether the Germans scuttled the ship themselves or if it was sunk, and there was apparently no Norwegian spy involved. Some of the errors have to do with the use of updated ships for the filming, but most of this is too fast to worry about. There is the hinted at turning away after the sinking, without picking up Germans in the water, and apparently the rescue effort was minimal, so a hundred Germans died in the water. Great detail is found at the Wiki entry for the movie (as well as the entry for the ship). Another page to pursue is at www.kbismarck.com.The main character, Captain Shepard, and his son on a navy ship, are fictional. The wreck was discovered in 1989 by the same team that discovered the Titanic, and James Cameron made a documentary on the ship (and its wreckage) in 2002.