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Piece of Cake
The lives and loves of the men of RAF Hornet Squadron who are transferred to France at the outbreak of World Wat II in September 1939. For the most part the men are competent fliers but there is little action in the first several months. The men wile away their time with some engaging in dangerous stunts while others woo some of the local lasses. The phony war comes to an end in April 1940 and the Battle of Britain begins. By September that year, few of them are left and despite their success, few see themselves as heroes. (6 episodes)
Release : | 1988 |
Rating : | 8.1 |
Studio : | London Weekend Television (LWT), Holmes Associates, |
Crew : | Director of Photography, Costume Design, |
Cast : | Jeremy Northam Nathaniel Parker Tim Woodward Boyd Gaines George Anton |
Genre : | Drama War |
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This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
The ME109s used in the series have a hidden irony. They were Hispano Aviación HA-1112 M. 1. L "Buchons" which had the "body" of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the "soul" of a Spitfire. They were powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin engine! This required significant modifications to the 109 fuselage. Look closely at the ME109s in the series and you can see the exhaust line at the top of the fuselage and the air intake under the spinner. The DB 601A used in Luftwaffe ME109s were mounted inverted. The exhausts are near the bottom of the fuselage. Also, there is no air intake directly under the spinner. The Buchons were retirees from the Spanish Air Force.
There's plenty to appreciate here: spectacular locations and flying sequences; period costumes, props and sets; and competent writing and acting. However, to enjoy a drama, we need at least one principal who exhibits some qualities that we can like or admire. In this bunch of catty snobs, we found only one character who is at all likable a hapless enlisted man in a fleeting peripheral role as their helpless victim. From the reviews here, it is clear that we are completely out of step, but we did not find their malicious-schoolgirl behavior amusing or entertaining. Even the dog is detestable. We threw in the towel after two of the six episodes, so you should discount these observations accordingly, but what I could find written about this mini-series gave us no cause to expect character transformation or redemption.
Watched on Masterpiece Theatre years ago. Outstanding show. If only I can remember the catchy tune that opened the show each week. A true adventure and tear jerker that everyone can enjoy. This is the kind of show that has made Masterpiece Theatre a staple of PBS.
Forgiving the various historical inaccuracies (Spitfires instead of Hurricanes, aircraft colour schemes, etc) this is a very enjoyable piece of TV.Though it may be hard to choose one truly great character in the programme, as there are so many, I really have to admire 'Moggy' Cattermole. Moggy gets the best lines, without a doubt, and he is undeniably the one we'd all want to be. Unbelievably charming, absolutely dashing and the definition of wit itself, Moggy steals the show on the ground. But it is the aerial content that I wanted to watch in this - the fight scenes are well done, and the way in which the whole thing is brought together (well explained in a very informative and thought provoking book, 'How They Made.....') is quite remarkable.Throughly enjoyed over and over on video, too.