I heard that Steven Speilberg was interested in remaking the dambusters but i dont want that to happen. Antoher clearly plain biritsh movie turned into something totally different to the true story. does anyone else agree??
The original will always be the best!xxx
If he did, I'd have to kill him and then turn the gun on myself - A world with a Dambusters remake isn't a world I want to live in ;)
shareExactly what i thought!
shareGod Forbid!!!
I had quite enough of Speilberg's total dismissal of the British contribution to the war in Europe in 'Saving Private Ryan'! He clearly has some sort of agenda in this regard (only the US and French flags fly at the reunion at the cemetery at the start of the film, and his sneaky put-down of Field-Marshall Montgomery in the dialogue was very pointed)....
In light of this, it's hard to see how he'd approach the telling of a story that was essentially British from its very conception to its conclusion! Maybe he'd take the opportunity to elaborate on the fact that the raid, though successful up to a point, didn't have anything like the effect that was expected. The Germans had rebuilt the Mohne Dam in a few months, and their war-effort wasn't noticeably compromised. It was, however, a much-needed morale-booster at a time when Allied successes were few and far between.
Let's hope he leaves the subject well alone!
Roger Rettig
I heard it was Mel gibson who was thinking of a remake ... and if he isn't anti-Brit in his films I don't know who is!
To be fair I think Speilberg was a little bit over put upon about SPR considering it is correct that the only soldiers on that beach would have been those portrayed (though I do take note of your specific points and accept them ... though lots of people put down Monty I dare say; he was certainly at loggerheads with the US brass quite a bit!).
Anyway, if anyone remakes it they can't (shouldn't!) miss out the importance of the death of Gibson's dog and they're going to have a bit of a job not mentioning his name aren't they ...
What i heard... Speilberg wanted Mel Gibson to be Guy Gibson. please no!!!
'And there are voices that want to be heard, so much to metion but you can't find the words...'
I am British and have lived in the US for 17 years and I love it however how many Brits living in the US have heard someone say to them "If it wasn't for us you all would be speaking German? My old boss said that to me once while speaking ENGLISH! such is the level of ignorance among a small minority of Americans (by the way if it was not for us you would all be living in Teepee's / Wigwams and sending smoke signals....see works both ways!).
share"British contribution to the war in Europe"
Kind of like the way the British never mention Canadian, Australian, and New Zealands contributions?
---------------------------
Him ða Scyld gewatto gescæphwile
felahror feranon frean wære.
tell me about it.Canada played a huge part in both world wars and is rarely mentioned by the british and u.s.
shareIf you really think that then I suggest you take another look at the Dam Busters and, for that matter The Battle of Britain because you are incorrect. British never understate the contribution made by the Commonwealth forces but they do understate the contribution made by their own countrymen. You are simply not paying attention.
E.g. the scene in the Dam Busters where Gibson and his CO (forget his name, might have been Harris but I don't think so) are cherry picking from available units. First out of the blocks are Ausies, Kiwis, South Africans, even Yanks and then Gibson says (I am paraphrasing) 'all good choices but lets not forget the English (he actually meant British but that is the biggest oversight in my book, mistaking English for British overall because that 'is' innaccurate).
Dudes, the Brits do not forget their allies in their story telling, their allies forget them. Either that or they marginalise their contribution so do me a favour and get it straight will you?
Thanks.
[deleted]
[deleted]
"I had quite enough of Speilberg's total dismissal of the British contribution to the war in Europe in 'Saving Private Ryan'! He clearly has some sort of agenda in this regard (only the US and French flags fly at the reunion at the cemetery at the start of the film, and his sneaky put-down of Field-Marshall Montgomery in the dialogue was very pointed)...."
First, it was a fictional movie based upon a real incident that occurred in the U.S. Army after D-Day, though the real incident was no where as dramatic. Second, the scenes filmed at the cemetery were in fact in the U.S. Military Cemetary overlooking Omaha Beach in Franch. That is why you wouldn't see the Union Jack. I do believe the British also have a cemetery dedicated to their war dead in Normandy and I believe if I visit that next summer (which I plan to do) I will see the British and French flags, not an American one since it is a BRITISH cemetery.
As far as Field-Marshal Montgomery goes, that, according to my uncle, who served with the 12th Armored Infantry in France was the feeling among many Americans at the time. I'm sure there were some unkind words said by Tommies and Canadians about Patton or Eisenhower. A grunt bitching about something is a happy grunt.
Instead of complaining about Spielberg, why are not some good British movie makers not filming a story about British efforts in the war? I loved Band of Brothers and I would love to see a like show about a British unit done in the same way. After all, you have from 1939-1945 to mine for ideas. Just a thought.
Hi,
a remake of the dambusters would be pretty good i think, but not by spielberg, maybe by that guy who did LOTR though, he seems to know what hes doing.
apparantly though im not 100% sure...
the dambusters (or a film about a bomber command squadron) was going to be made back in 1990, but instead they made the film memphis belle because it was feared that the film wouldnt get much publicity over in USA because it didint invlove the yanks so they had to make a story about an american bomber instead, hence the memphis belle,
That's the tale I heard, that Peter Jackson may be doing a remake. When he was over heer for the King Kong launch he was lining up Lancaster bombers and filming them in flight. And the romour started there. Whether it's true or not, time will tell.
share
I've been to that cemerty. And you are quite correct there is no Union Flag (British)
spot on about monty,he was an arse. MOst yanks would have bitch about him , he was so damn rude for starters
I think the only place where there could be brits in the film is the landing craft Overlord was a Royal Navy staffed op.
Where speilburg did leave out a brit was the choice of a USA P51 instead of a RAF typhoon. Which were far far more common over normandy in june
Well that's just so American Audiences didn't get confused when the Brits came into save the day. The Typhoon was a superior tank buster in comparison to the USA P51.
Anyhow it wasn't like it's been the first case of over writing history in war films, in the film Memphis Belle the scene where the fighter escort shows P.51's escorting the B-17's when at that period in time it would of been RAF Spitfire's, hence the reason they didn't have fighter cover all the way to their target and back.
[deleted]
For the record, only U.S. and French flags fly at the Normandy cemetery because it's a U.S. cemetery. The largest British WWII cemetery in the area is in Bayeux, where, presumably, only British and French flags fly.
shareso the brits were the actual dam busters? damn. i'm glad they helped us (yanks) out a bit. i've also heard the russians were involved in some small way.
shareSince Speilberg is making an American film about an American subject and with American units in it, I don't see why anything the British did in World War Two would have anything to contribute to the film. It's not documentary for Pete's sake!
If it upsets you so much that the Brits aren't acknowledged in every film that so much as mentions WW2, then get your own film makers to make some more totally British films!
[deleted]
yes, the Brits where fighting from the beginning. the u.s only entered after pearl harbor. those Brits fought till the bitter end. Damn! what a great country
Lawyer:You sir are a moron
Homer:A Mormon,but I'm from earth!
The Dam Busters was a unique film. One can't improve on perfection.
shareI happened to pick up a 1951 pan paperback edition of "the Dam Busters" by Paul Brickhill which is the book that the original film was based on and which Jackson now has the rights to.
It's a great read and very interesting. If you can find a copy I'd urge you to read it. Written in 1951 it's still not able to divulge precisley how the bombs worked i.e bouncing !
Some people may also be unaware that Gibson hand picked 2 American pilots amongst the New Zealand, Canadian, Australian and UK pilots. "Dinghy" Young (Californian) and Joe Mccarthy (from Brooklyn).
It's interesting which parts of the book made it into the 54 film. There is quite a bit about the security blanket that was imposed on the Squadron, and also an interesting section on how the Civilian in charge of one of the Dams kept warning his German Military superiors that such an attack could occur. He is met with indifference, similar to that which Wallis had to fight.
[deleted]
[deleted]
If anyone did ever remake the dambusters it could never ever have the same effect. All the effects would be computer generated or over exadurated. Plus the dambuters in colour, how wrong.
shareI hate remakes, which is one reason I'm not going to see King Kong and just who would he cast as Guy Gibson, probably Tom Cruise or some other American actor. Let's keep the original!
shareI thoroughly agree with you bensham - absolutely.
On a European self-drive trip in the ninety's I visited the Mohne See (Zee - dam) on a sunny afternoon, so peaceful with yachts and all. My mind was replaying the "Down, down, up a bit, up a little bit more ..." transcript,- with that four Merlin roar ringing in my mind's ears!
It was a fascinating experience !
I also doggedly searched, found, and stood by Guy Gibson's grave in a small Dutch town near the coast. Buried next to his Mosquito navigator; they were struggling home from his final, fatal Master Bomber trip much later. Very stirring.
The town has much memorabelia in some streets.
This link, if allowable, will take you to my graveside pic.
< http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/5c3d8/6fa71/ >
Wouldn't it be great to find the Lancaster "out-takes" (sorry) from the cutting room floor ! The Lancasters looked rather pregnant compared with actuality!
Yes, a remake would be more than sacrilege!
BTW I'm a True Blue Aussie with many R.A.A.F. Lincoln bomber peacetime passenger hours. Radar/radio tech.
Very fortunate.
Laurie.
Did you guys ever hear about Spelberg's proposed venture into telling the story of the Battle of Britain? It was (is?) going to be named 'The Few' and incredulously was going to centre around an American pilot (rumoured to be - wait for it - Tom Cruise!) who volunteered to fly for the RAF! Now, I know US pilots aswell as other pilots from difeerent countries did volunteer, but the past snubbing of the British contributions during WW2 (i.e SPR) by Spielberg would probably result in this film being a story of how the US won the Battle of Britain - despite the fact it was in the summer of 1940 and the Yanks didn't join the war until Dec 1941!!!
I hope this contemptible film is never made!
He did, it's called Star Wars!!! hahaha!
After he edited out Penis Breath from ET and put radios in the hands of the police instead of guns, I'd hate to think of what he'll do to poor Trigger! How about a Chihuahua named Spickey?
[deleted]
Well apparently Peter jackson is going to remake it.
http://www.black-magic.co.nz/home/?p=129
no kiwi legend peter jackson is going to do a remake. his assistant is in germany this weekend checking sites out. he is going to dedicate the movie to anzac troops who died in the war. he is a war buff and i know he will do a great job
share[deleted]
Anothe page about Peter Jacksons remake:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006210060,,00.html
[deleted]
Ill tell u as much as i know:
Peter Jackson wants to remake, make all fancy. Dont U dare!!!!
Steven Spielberg wants to remake Mary Poppins, Dont U dare!!!!
Ill give him a chance but if Jackson cocks it up i shall remove his skin with a blunt weapon, then procceed to club him to death.
But then again its doubtful that hes even doing anything with the film...in which case his skin is safe
Look at it this way, if the movie is remade, awareness about the daring raid carried out by the brave men in 617 sqn will be brought to the attention of many who did not know about such a raid. Just my two cents
I just hope it stays true to the original, the bravery of the boys of 617 and keeps the fact that the original had no love story like most war films. As it's Jackson (if indeed it is) it'll most likely be 3hrs + long and maybe more detail to the raid and pre-raid build up.
I'm not trying to be funny but maybe Richard Todd could have a bit role? Just a thought
"You can't kill a squadron", Harry Andrews in 633 Squadron
[deleted]
"LORD Of The Rings director Peter Jackson is planning a remake of The Dam Busters.
Jackson, 44, wants to use computerised special effects in a spectacular version of the classic World War II film."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just imagine the dog's death scene with computerised special effects.
To many, I suspect, remaking this British classic and making it a box office hit would not be disimilar to having a shot at remaking "Gone With The Wind". PJ completely failed in his remake of King Kong to convey the primaeval feelings of the beast toward the beauty and in this remake will do it yet again at that poignant and key moment when the labrador *beep* has his name changed to Digger! Most disappointing but true.
shareYou will not be able to avoid special effects by the bucketload in this film.
There are only 2 flying Lancs left in the world. One in the UK, the other in Canada. Both have very very limited flying time left on the airframes, so will most likely NOT be used. Add to that, they are not the right Mark of Lanc used, they'd need CGI anyway.
I'm a huge fan of the orginal film, but I will be looking forward to this version. Firstly, as a Kiwi, I would expect Jackson to not re-write history. There were Candian and US aircrew involved in the raid (one of the pilots was a New Yorker, in the RCAF), the placement of American actors should assuage the US market.
Secondly, do ing this film is probably the only chance to see a film that would give us shots of Lancs thundering along at low level over and over and over again, and for me, that can't be bad!
P.S. I'm off now to watch the orginal.
Yeah, right! Like PJ used CGI for everything. You obviously did not view the documentaries and appendixes of his movies, not everything is CGI. Matter of fact PJ prefers miniatures, and real sets, real props, etc. whenever possible. He knows the limitations of CGI, but he's smart enough to know how to use it well within his movies. Perhaps that gives most people who don't know PJ the idea he's a CGI emphasis director; he's not. Better PJ than somebody who only has a half-hearted interest and only wants to make a name for himself and $$$.
It's been a while since I saw the film, but there's enough a modern film could do that would make a remake worthwhile - for example, Richard Todd was far too old to play Guy Gibson. He was 35, while Guy Gibson was 24 (and the average age of the rest of the squadron was about 20). IIRC the casualty rate was downplayed as well - something like 35% of the aircrew were killed during the raid, and at least one plane was blown up by the blast from its own bomb.
The only difficulty is whether one retains the naming of Guy Gibson's dog.
I just read Peter Jackson was producing a new version of "The Dambusters" and I thought, "thank goodness for that, at least it'll be professionally done." Mel Gibson used to hold the rights to the movie and I was worried about what sort of contrived rubbish he would have come out with.
Now I know that the new version will be great cinema.
Ah!...Now we see the violence inherent in the system!
Mel Gibson would mess the Dam Busters up beyond belief, like he did to Braveheart. What an absolute travesty to the history of Scotland with that ridiculous movie. It's just as bad as the historically inaccurate King Arthur movie that came out a few years ago. It was so poorly done, and the acting was the worst I've ever seen. I can't even remember the name of the director, all that was good was the music score because of Hans Zimmer. Even the score for Braveheart was okay, but Mel Gibson directing Dam Busters, yikes!! Nooooooo!!
shareThat would make sense, he's got more WW1 planes than the Kaiser ever dreamed of having.
share[deleted]
See in the News today that peter Jackson is going to remake this classic British movie
"Jackson said it would be "as authentic as possible and as close to the spirit of the original as possible".
Who should star in this new classic
Barnes Wallis - Michael Caine/Michael Gambon
Guy Gibson - Jude Law !!
Any others
Whatever happens make sure its an all british cast
CM
"authentic as possible"
does this include the dog's name?
Jude Law is too old at now 33. Find some unknown with presence in his early 20s.
shareCLIVEM24, All British cast?? What about the New Zealanders who flew the mission? Be careful, you might be tarred with the U-571 brush if you disregard our involvment in the mission.
share[deleted]
...and here it is, just announced on the BBC website, excerpt:
Peter Jackson will produce the movie, with King Kong animator Christian Rivers in the director's chair. "There's that wonderful mentality of the British during the war - that heads-down, persevering, keep-on-plugging-away mentality which is the spirit of Dam Busters," Jackson told Screen Daily.
The remake is set to use details of the bombing mission which were still classified at the time the original film was made by director Michael Anderson. "So much of it was still secret," said Jackson. "They weren't even allowed to show the bomb itself and had to create a fictionalised bomb."
The project is due to start filming next year, with a budget of $30-40m (£16-21m).
[deleted]
from today's imdb news:
Peter Jackson to Remake 'Dam Busters'
Lord of the Rings film-maker Peter Jackson has signed to produce a remake of classic British war film The Dam Busters. Christian Rivers, who animated Jackson's last project King Kong, will direct the film which the Oscar winner insists will be "as authentic as possible and as close to the spirit of the original as possible".
The 1954 movie told the true story of bouncing bombs that were developed by the British army to destroy German dams during World War II. It starred Michael Redgrave. Jackson, who enquired about the rights to the story when he was making initial plans for his Lord of the Rings movies, could only make the film after Mel Gibson's Icon production company pulled out. He tells film website ScreenDaily, "(My agent) came back and said that Icon had the rights and that Mel Gibson was going to direct and possibly act in it. Obviously that didn't happen."
He adds the new film, which will shoot next year with a $30-40 million budget, will reveal much more about the missions than the original. Jackson says, "So much of it was still secret. They weren't even allowed to show the bomb itself and had to create a fictionalized bomb."
Somehow I can see David Morrissey in the Barnes Wallis role.
I'm just glad Mel Gibson isn't involved. With his track record, he'd probably have the Nazis win.
A remake of the Dam Busters will be done sooner or later, I will be happier if Peter Jackson did it than some of the other names listed in this thread.
It has been reported in the UK media that he wants to tell the story of the raid as it was. It will be intresting to see how he handles Guy Gibsons dogs name (a black Lab), stick to the facts or change a fact for PC reasons.