Mosquito Squadron

Starring:David McCallum, Suzanne Neve, Charles Gray, David Buck, David Dundas, Dinsdale Landen, Nicky Henson, Bryan Marshall, Michael Anthony, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, Peter Copley, Vladek Sheybal, Michael McGovern, Derek Steen, Gordon Stone, Brian Grellis, Patrick Tull, Michael Latimer, John F. Landry, George Layton
Director: Boris Sagal
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

World War II aviation buffs may quibble with details in Mosquito Squadron, but they'll love it just the same. It's an average war movie, capably directed by Boris Sagal, who thrived in television before he was tragically killed by a helicopter rotor in 1981. At the peak of his post-Man from U.N.C.L.E. success, David McCallum plays a melancholy RAF ace, leading his squadron of De Havilland "Mosquito" bombers on low-altitude strikes over Nazi strongholds in Germany and France. His ground-based dilemma involves the grieving wife of his best friend, a fellow pilot presumed dead but later discovered alive with other POWs held at a French chalet where the Nazis are developing advanced V-class bombers. The RAF employs bouncing "highballs" capable of penetrating difficult targets, and the rousing climax doubles as a rescue mission and treacherous bombing run. Explosive action compensates for predictable melodrama, and Rocky Horror fans will enjoy seeing Charles ("the Criminologist") Gray as a stuffy RAF Commodore. --Jeff Shannon

Description

David McCallum ("The Man From U.N.C.L.E.") stars in an epic adventure that perfectly captures the explosive action and emotional torment of war. With its astonishing special effects, stark cinematography and brilliantly choreographed aerial combat sequences, Mosquito Squadron catapults the viewer into the searing heat of battle! As Allied forces struggle against the awesome might of the German Luftwaffe, an even greater threat is posed by the destructive V3 rocket nearing completion at a secret testing center. The Royal Air Force's Mosquito Squadron gears up to destroy the site, but its leader, Quint Monroe (McCallum), becomes conflicted when he discovers that the air strikemay kill hundreds of British POWsincluding the squad's former commander!

Customer Reviews:

Not as good as I remember.......2007-04-06

Hey, I was six years old and this was the best movie I had ever seen on the big screen. So at 43 my tastes have changed a bit and the movie, although still cool, was not as spectacular as I remember. I know I know, you can never go home again can you....

A poor rehash.......2007-01-09

I've seen these scenes in so many different movies that I got bored and
turned it off. It was just a poor copy of other good movies. (Like 633 squadron).

No, No, No, No!!!.......2006-11-27

I don't care what others may say about the capabilities of the director, producer, cast, cinematographer...nothing, and I mean NOTHING is capable of redeeming this sappy production. The scenes utilizing miniature buildings look like they should be under a Christmas tree, with the only good aspect of the film being the flying scenes borrowed from 633 Squadron. David McCallum is an expressionless bore, while the action scenes of the special bombs look more like elderly lawn bowling. Oh no! Look out Dave! When you bank your plane right your left wing is missing! Studio oversight or did they just figure we're all dumb enough not to notice?

I give it 2 stars instead of one only because of the fact the story actually involves the Barnes Wallis designed Hi Ball weapons that were an off-shoot of the bouncing bombs he designed for the Dam Busters, even though they were to be used on water. Laughable at best...skip it.

Great DVD of a Poor Movie.......2006-02-21

CONCERNING THE DVD:

Yet another MGM quickie, containing the film in its correct 1.66:1 aspect ratio with some nicely restored video elements. The footage from other films that was edited in looks poor. The 2.0 Mono soundtrack is in good shape. There are basic subtitles in French and Spanish, scene selections as well as a beat-up trailer.

CONCERNING THE FILM: (from my website, www.angelfire.com/film/eurowar)

The always-overrated David McCallum is one of the few good things in this low-budget World War II adventure piece, yet another quickie from Oakmont Films.

Sometime prior to D-Day - probably early '44 or '43 - a Mosquito Squadron is sent to bomb a V-1 rocket installation in France, when Squadron Leader Scott (David Buck) is shot down and presumed dead. His second-in-command, Quint Munroe (who just happens to be like a life-long brother to him) has to return to England and tell his beautiful blonde wife (Suzanne Neve) the sad news. As one would expect, Munroe and Mrs. Scott slowly fall in love. But when Munroe is chosen to lead a mission to bomb a new V-3 development center, things will chance quite a bit - because Scott is a prisoner held at the target fortress!

From start to finish, "Mosquito Squadron" is a total hack-job - literally. The story is filled with enough contrivances and clichés to drive any mildly serious critic mad. Let us take a brief look at a 1964 film entitled "633 Squadron". In said film, a squadron commander has a best friend shot down over Norway, and falls in love with his sister. Later on, he is assigned to bomb the fortress where his friend is being held. Sound familiar? And that's not all our title film steals! Virtually all of the aerial battle footage is directly lifted from "633 Squadron", while the new footage is comprised almost entirely of horrible-looking miniatures hanging from far-too-visible wires.

The writers have also directly copied another classic war film, "The Dam Busters". The feasibility of Munroe's mission revolves around a bouncing bomb, which will skip along the ground and roll into an open tunnel leading to the V-3 rockets. (I won't even mention how convenient it was to leave a big open tunnel to drop a bomb into). The real bouncing bomb (made famous in 1954's "The Dam Busters") was designed to skip on water to destroy Nazi dams - not the ground as is seen here! The idea of dropping a bouncing bomb on the ground is, simply, ludicrous and impossible. Introduction of this concept kills the storyline immediately.

The low budget shows up in every action sequence: the French resistance force is comprised of a half-dozen men in berets carrying Sten guns, and only a handful of German guards enforce security at the "fortress". The forests are obviously cheaply furnished soundstages, and a face-off with an imitation German "tank" is ludicrously shot. We never really see much of the German-held Chateau, and when we do it never looks as though we're inside some high-tech development center a la "Operation Crossbow". The scenes set in England fare somewhat better, with some excellent scenes set at airfields and a rather rowdy officer's club.

David McCallum and the cast of little-known English actors do a fair job, even though the no-frills script doesn't give them much to do. McCallum is a fair actor, nowhere near as great as his fans hail him to be, though. He was better suited for television than cinema, and that comes out in every scene. He often looks uncomfortable and awkward, but delivers his often banal dialog convincingly and with conviction. His scenes with Neve are often touching, even though audiences have seen this dozens of times before. There aren't any other actors worth mention among the ensemble, besides perhaps Charles Gray who would go on to play Blofeld in the James Bond film "Diamonds are Forever" a few years later.

Oakmont Productions financed a number of cheap British war films in the late 1960s and early 1970s: "Attack on the Iron Coast", "Hell Boats", "The Last Escape" and "The One Thousand Plane Raid" among them. These quickies were best suited for TV viewing instead of theatrical release, but United Artists picked them all up and put them on the big screen. Anyone expecting a classic here - or in any of the aforementioned pieces for that matter - is in for a big disappointment. Check out "633 Squadron" instead.

I Need To Learn To Read The Reviews First!.......2006-01-01

I bought this on the fly (no pun intended)at a local store, then watched it , then ran to Amazon.com to read the reviews. Yup, it's all been said before. This is a clone of 633 Squadron, even down to the plane crash and the hook-handed pilot.

The two-pilots-love-same-woman reminded me of Pearl Harbor.

Still, some good acting and good flying footage. Worth a view if you can buy it cheap.

Average customer rating:

Not as good as I remember
A poor rehash
No, No, No, No!!!
Great DVD of a Poor Movie
I Need To Learn To Read The Reviews First!

Mosquito Squadron [Region 2]
Starring: David McCallum , Suzanne Neve , Charles Gray , David Buck , and David Dundas
Director: Boris Sagal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

633 Squadron
The Dambuster Raid
The Hunters
The Dam Busters
The Blue Max

ASIN: B00008V6XZ

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Not as good as I remember.......2007-04-06

A poor rehash.......2007-01-09

I've seen these scenes in so many different movies that I got bored and
turned it off. It was just a poor copy of other good movies. (Like 633 squadron).

No, No, No, No!!!.......2006-11-27

Great DVD of a Poor Movie.......2006-02-21

I Need To Learn To Read The Reviews First!.......2006-01-01

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Fast and Furious 2-Movie 2-Pack Collection (Widescreen Editions)

Sin Dejar Huella

FA Cup Final 1964 - West Ham vs Preston North End

DVD: The January Man

Various Artists - Transambient 2