Dambusters remake is on, says Peter Jackson

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18 years 2 months

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Whilst not a Star Wars geek, my understanding was that part of the original Lucas pitch included footage from both the Dambusters & 633 Squadron, with the Death Star attack in the first film replicating the Mosquito attack on the rock overhanging the heavy water plant at the end of the fjord, hence my previous comment. That said I'm happy to be corrected!!

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24 years 2 months

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633 was the movie that made George Lucas sit up and decide what he wanted to do when he grew up... he has always praised it.

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20 years 9 months

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DazDaMan wrote

But some of the dialogue from Star Wars is loosely based on that from The Dam Busters.

Not sure I can remember Richard Todd ever saying "Why, you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder!" :highly_amused:

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20 years 7 months

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Ah, that was in the director's cut! ;)

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6 years

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Will they be filming at Scampton i wonder. I think personally if going to start removing bits here & bits their from the new film, then just keep with the original!!

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20 years

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Meaning what ? If PJ does not slavishly make a frame- for- frame reproduction of the original film, he should not bother at all ?

It is a story, interpreted in 1955 by Michael Anderson, and now P. Jackson wants to film his take on it, with his own interpretation.

Surely the point of any creative pursuit is that it is a personal expression of one's own sentiments, not just aping something that came before.

Visually, there is no good reason to shoot at Scampton, as it does not look like a 1940 grass airfield. Hemswell was used in 1955.

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17 years 10 months

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A lot of Upkeep was still secret when they filmed the Dambusters so hard to be accurate

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17 years 7 months

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I just hope with this build up, it isn’t a let down like Dunkirk was

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24 years 2 months

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I'd suggest the biggest problem will be that several generations believe the 1955 film is a documentary, a dramatisation of what happened, rather than an entertainment and 'feel good' post-war movie which is based loosely around the Chastise operation. If the new film seems in any way different from the old it will be called lacking in authenticity rather than a different take on producing some two hours of entertainment for a 21st Century audience.

Moggy.

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14 years 3 months

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I sympathize with the dissapointment over Dunkirk. I thought the aerial scenes were good. I thought the soldiers story was a let down, as if they tried to do something unexpected with that. Hopefully with Dambusters, the story of what happened is more fixed. It would be nice to not just have Wallis and Gibson as the key elements. Perhaps have Gibson's bomber-aimer Fred Spafford as a third star. Lower ranks, not a toff or a Brit. See more of the issues affecting the crew and perhaps someone ordinary people could connect with?

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17 years 7 months

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I know many were in raptures about the Spitfire flying sequences in Dunkirk but as a film I think it fell short of telling the story properly. The old version with John Mills is I think better on that point.

I imagine there is probably more known about the raid since the original film was made and I hope it comes good, and please not like Pearl Harbour

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19 years 5 months

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To expand on Moggy's comment about people thinking the first film was 100% accurate...

The film, more so than the mission itself, has become a defining image of the war, any deviation from the established canon will be looked at with suspicion, if not outright hostility. Witness the period outcry from "A Piece of Cake" .

In other words...and to quote another film...
"When the legend becomes the fact, print the legend".

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17 years 11 months

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That could work..617 squadron did a fair bit more than just attack the dams.

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18 years 4 months

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The idea of a series allows for more drama regarding personalities,it is a tricky challenge once you move away from documentary style.What ever is created it will always annoy someone.

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20 years 9 months

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...and could a TV series be called "Enemy Coast Ahead"?

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16 years 2 months

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Original film on Ch4 now. Announcer warns viewers that 'language of the era some may find offensive'.

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19 years 5 months

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My tongue in cheek comment (where I joked that in the first draft of Star Wars, Chewbacca was a black lab) made in reference to posts 60-65 (comparing the Dam Busters to Star Wars) seems to have mysteriously vanished...

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14 years

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Just finished watching it for the first time in maybe 30 years: it still looks like a very good attempt and considering the constraints of secrecy still surrounding Upkeep at that time, very well done. It's as I remember it. which doesn't apply to many things re-viewed after 30 years or so. OK the special effects could be improved upon, but the availability of several genuine Lancasters more than offsets that.

To the present: a 'Band of Brothers' type of treatment for 617 would work very well and I hope it happens. Plus it would allow the production crew plenty of room to give more insight into individual members.