First of all, it's a pretty darn good depiction of the factual events of Britain's destruction of German hydroelectric dams in WWII, including the sometimes single-handed efforts of Dr. Barnes Wallis, engineer, scientist and visionary, to convince British high command to implement his plan. Second, excellent footage of the AVRO Lancaster, Britain's premier heavy bomber of the war, at times yanking and banking at extreme low level. Third, it's a very good depiction of the combat crews and their emotions before and after the missions. Fourth, it's just a damn good movie, no pun intended.

The main plot is to develop a means of destroying the three main dams that power most of Germany's war industry in the Ruhr Valley, and then executing the plan. Sir Michael Redgrave's rendition of Wallis treats the audience to the same enthusiasm, exhaustion, disappointment and triumph that the man himself must have felt. A very interesting part of the movie is when, after finally winning over bureaucratic lethargy and getting his plans for the destruction of the dams approved, he now realizes his pet project will put young men in danger, and many, even possibly all, will die.

Richard Todd and a competent cast play the Lanc crews with a minimum of schmaltz. All depictions of the Lancasters are live footage with the exception of the few crash scenes, which are done using miniatures. Legend has it that George Lucas used footage and even duologue from this film for his Star Wars movies.

Warning: Todd's character, Wing Commander Gibson, has a black Labrador Retriever named "Nigger." In fact, they use the dog's name as a code word indicating success. Obviously, the word means something much different in the US today. The US version of the movie and the one seen on TV had "Trigger" dubbed in, but the DVD version uses the original duologue. It take a bit getting used to, and may be a distraction for some.

Look for future greats Robert Shaw and Patrick McGoohan in bit parts.

In much the same way as Group Captain Douglas Bader,Wing Commander Guy Gibson has been de-mythologised in recent years.Middle class war heroes are no longer required in Cool Brittania.Once the last second world war veteran has gone to his grave it will no longer be "helpful" or "relevant" to recount their deeds or recall their sacrifice. In our glorious Mockney-speaking leader's classless society we look only forwards.To see him at the Festival of Remembrance the other evening looking piously on as millions of poppies drifted down from the ceiling of the Albert Hall was an unedifying spectacle. Fortunately fifty years ago we were made of sterner stuff and a movie like "The Dambusters",lauding the imagination and determination of our scientists and the courage and skill of our aircrews could be made to great acclaim.There was no moral maze,this was total war.Innocent people died."Non - Combatants" they were called.There's never been a weapon of war that could differentiate. "The Dambusters" contains my favourite Michael Redgrave performance. He presents Barnes-Wallis as a rather large enthusiastic schoolboy,a less self - conscious Magnus Pyke.With his raincoat and bicycle clips he is very much the donnish figure,but he has a steely streak and pushes his ideas up through the ranks of the War Office right to the desk of "Butch" Harris,head of Bomber Command. Based in the bleak Lincolnshire fens,Wing Commander Gibson is tasked with assessing the feasibility of using Barnes-Waliis's revolutionary "bouncing bomb" as a water-borne weapon to breach the Mohne and Eder dams. Richard Todd,has,rather unfairly,been saddled with the stereotypical middle-ranking officer image which to a certain extent blighted his later career.Certainly he is very effective as Gibson,a man determined at all costs to successfully complete his mission and assuming in his men the same kind of stubborn courage he himself exhibited. It has since been alleged that he was arrogant,cold and as careless of the personal safety of his crews as he was of his own.Tragically those are amongst the qualities needed to wage and win total war.Being nice isn't notably prominent amongst them I'm afraid. 76 men died on the "Dambusters" raid and very little damage was done to the German War Effort.But as a propaganda exercise at a transitional stage in the war it a priceless victory. Nowadays wars are fought on - I nearly said "for" - the nightly TV news.Every casualty is announced by grim - faced presenters with weeping widows and orphans in the next shot.If that had been happening during the second world war we would have been suing for peace after Dunkirk. Bomber Command made a huge contribution the the defeat of Nazism at the cost of 55,000 aircrew.Men like Guy Gibson and Barnes-Wallis represented the curiously British talent for putting the most unlikely people together at just the right time to achieve the desired result. Each respected and recognised the other's eminence in his particular field.This apparent gift for the serendipitous combination was of great help in other theatres of operation as the war progressed. Lessons learned on this raid were built upon until the RAF had air supremacy.In the context of the Air War in general,this was just another raid.In the post-war folk legends it is up there with the Battle of Britain. We were given the afternoon off from school to go and see "The Dambusters" eleven years after the war had ended.That was how "big" the movie was.Sadly very few people now see it as it was meant to be seen,at the cinema.They miss the magnificent sound recording of the unmistakable Rolls Royce Merlins,the evocative shots of the Lancasters flying low cross the fields are wasted on the small screen and,most of all,the wonderful music flooding the cinema at the end.You can imagine the effect it had on me as a fifteen year old.As I came out into the afternoon sunlight onto Brighton seafront I checked my mirrors for ME 109s and raced for home with nothing on the clock but the makers' name.

"The Dam Busters" is a true story about a most peculiar raid on German dams in the Ruhr Valley in 1943. The movie mostly concentrates on the efforts of Barnes Wallace to convince the British high command that such a raid was possible--when conventional wisdom was that the sheer width and strength of the dams made them pretty much indestructible. However, Wallace felt that a specially-shaped globular bomb could be skipped across the reservoirs--and could be set to detonate at a designated depth in order to breech the dams. It's all very fascinating from a technical point of view, though some who watch the film may object to the film's emphasis on the testing and training leading up to the actual raids. As for me, I actually wished they had given more details, but back in 1955 apparently much of the technical information on the raid was STILL top secret and so certain details needed to be suppressed (such as how the bombs were spun before they were released).

In addition, the final third of the film shows the raids themselves. In some ways, these portions are a combination of the good and the bad. Good in that the flying sequences were pretty exciting and it was neat seeing the bombers being flown at such low altitudes. Not so good in that the special effects, to put it bluntly, sucked. Even by 1955 standards, the explosions looked pretty shabby. Still, with such an exciting and interesting story, I can look past this.

One final note is that the film is incomplete. You learn that the raids were successful and that 56 (actually 57--the film said 56) were lost in the raids. However, despite the success, no further such raids were completed. Perhaps they felt the cost wasn't worth it or there weren't any likely targets, but whatever the case, the raids on 1943 were an aberration, not the norm. Still, you have to hand it to the men--it was an incredibly brave raid by a group of highly skilled and patriotic men.

Very good and understated acting, very good direction and somewhat indifferent special effects, despite the film's shortcomings, it's still one of the better WWII films. I have also read that Peter Jackson is working on a remake of this film--I personally look forward to it--especially with today's dramatically improved effects.