I found the secondary sub-plots and "personal dramas" to be hokey and formulaic, to wit, the Susannah York character Maggie is horrified and transfixed by the appearance of a badly burned pilot, only to hear moments later (in screen time) that her own pilot boyfriend has been badly burned. Nevertheless, what struck me much more than any of the performances, effects, or writing, was the simple fact that the RAF adviser on this film was the exceptional Sir Douglas Bader, who was one of the most aggressive flyers in Fighter Command despite having lost both legs in a flight accident in the early thirties, while the Luftwaffe adviser on the film was the man who shot Bader down in 1941, Adolf Galland. Each man was a fighter ace, and each was among the most famous and respected pilots on his respective side at the time of the war itself. That is to say that these men were not only in the Battle of Britain, but played significant roles in it and were privy to, if not party to, many of the tactical and strategic decisions and debates depicted in the film. In fact, the sardonic request to Goering to "give me a squadron of Spitfires," voiced by Major Falke in the film, was spoken by Galland in real life. No quantity of flashy CG effects could outweigh the guaranteed authenticity of having the real thing on hand.
An amusing side point: The roll of nationalities at the end of the film concluded with one "Israeli" pilot, a mild anachronism as there was no Israel until 1948. At the time of the war, he would have been referred to as a Jewish Palestinian, or simply a Palestinian, but of course the film was produced shortly after the Israeli victory in the Six Day War (1967), and the term Palestinian was coming to refer uniquely to those Arabs inhabiting the territories captured by Israel in that war.
Anyhow, in summary, while I found much of the melodrama to be overplayed and unnecessary, the central action of the film, both at Headquarters and in the air, vibrates with an authenticity which is ever more difficult to reproduce as the remainder of the wartime generation ages and dwindles, particularly those who were old enough to be in staff and leadership positions during the war.
An amusing side point: The roll of nationalities at the end of the film concluded with one "Israeli" pilot, a mild anachronism as there was no Israel until 1948. At the time of the war, he would have been referred to as a Jewish Palestinian, or simply a Palestinian, but of course the film was produced shortly after the Israeli victory in the Six Day War (1967), and the term Palestinian was coming to refer uniquely to those Arabs inhabiting the territories captured by Israel in that war.
Anyhow, in summary, while I found much of the melodrama to be overplayed and unnecessary, the central action of the film, both at Headquarters and in the air, vibrates with an authenticity which is ever more difficult to reproduce as the remainder of the wartime generation ages and dwindles, particularly those who were old enough to be in staff and leadership positions during the war.