SQUADRON 303 (2018)

 

                    For some reason, 2018 was a big year for movies about the Polish squadron in the RAF during the Battle of Britain. Two movies came out that year on the same subject.  Earlier, I reviewed “Mission of Honor”, which confusingly was also called “Hurricane:  Squadron 303”.  This movie is called “Squadron 303” or “Dywizjon 303”.  The two movies even share some characters (based on real pilots) and have similar plots.  And they share reliance on CGI.

                    Speaking of which, the movie puts you immediately in a CGI dogfight.  This is intercut with footage of the war in 1940 overlaid with a Churchill speech.  The theme that is established is that the Brits need these Poles.  But they are in no hurry to use them.  As per the other movie, and “Battle of Britain” before both, the RAF is skeptical about the abilities of the Poles.  The movie makes a point of the fact that it is putting British pilots in the air with very little flying time whereas all of the Poles are veteran pilots.  Those newbies are being shot down quickly, so the British are going to have to reconsider their patience with the Poles.  And, of course, the Poles prove their ability by breaking training flights to shoot down Messerschmitts.  One of them that does this is a hot shot named Zumbach.  He will be the focus of the film.  The movie flashes back two years to him and his relationship with a comely aeronautic engineer named Jagoda.  He ends up having to leave her behind when he flies off to England after Poland falls.  He doesn’t stay lonely because the movie provides him with a hot WREN named Victoria.  She has been assigned the task of cozying up to a different pilot for the good publicity if and when he gets killed fighting for Britain.  But she falls in love with the wrong man.  While this soap opera is developing, we get tastes of combat.  There is some intercutting with the Germans, starting with a pompous, cigar-smoking Goering.  He is overconfident, as is a Nazi ace who stands in for Adolf Galland.   This builds to the big dogfight which is a ripoff of the famed one in “Battle of Britain”.  This one also has just the musical score, which is not surprisingly inferior to the 1969 movie.  As is the footage that is intertwined.  But I don’t have a problem with a low budget movie not collecting some vintage Hurricanes as long as the CGI is not used to defy the laws of aeronautics or is cheesy looking.  Let’s face it, CGI is getting better and it will have a very positive impact on aviation films in the future.  They ain’t gonna start making more Hurricanes.

                    It amazes me that the two Polish squadron movies came out in the same year and with similar plots.  Both seem to have been attempts to flesh out the story told in “Battle of Britain”.  I’m not sure this movie improves on those few minutes.  Obviously, we get a more detailed look at the pilots and something of their back-stories.  And a romance.  The problem is the flash backs are not spaced well and some go nowhere.  For instance, the subplot involving Jagoda feels aborted.  The movie needed to be a half hour longer to do justice to their backgrounds, training, and then participation in the battle. 

                    The movie is not terrible for a low budget affair.  The acting and dialogue are not distracting.  It has no “Repeat, please”, but you do get “[Tighten those belts], I don’t want to be jangling like a dick in loose pants.”  Even the cockpit chatter is not banal.  This is not “Red Tails”.  There’s no taunting between Zumbach and the cocky Nazi (who cheesily gets his just rewards, by the way).  The movie does fly when it’s in the cockpits.  There is a fair amount of dogfighting and it is spaced well.  It has to be to break up the trips to the pub to drink and dance.  In the air, the movie makes good use of CGI and does not veer into Luke Skywalker territory.  It is one of the better WWII combat movies when it comes to realistic tactics.  The Poles fly in the three plane vics that were common back then.  But the dogfights still end up being individual affairs with little reference to wingmen.  You do get a feel for how difficult it was to line up a bogey for targeting.  But our heroes always manage to do this.  While you get the basics of what the Poles went through, the movie does a poor job of giving the viewer an idea of what is happening in the battle.  However, no one is going to watch this movie before watching “Battle of Britain” so look at it as a spinoff.  And like most spinoffs, it pales when compared to the parent.  Still, it does not embarrass itself on the ground or in the air and it does have enough to keep aviation film fans satisfied. 

                    As far as historical accuracy, it is nice to see that the film highlights three of the greatest Polish aces.  Wiford Urbanowicz was a leader of the squadron and the second highest Polish ace in the war, Jan Zumbach had 8 kills in the Battle of Britain and went on to command the squadron, and Josef Frantisek was the highest non-British ace in the battle.  The movie goes out of its way to accurately portray Frantisek (who was Czech) as not a team player, but a brilliant pilot.  It got to the point where Urbanowicz just let him be a lone wolf.

                    “Squadron 303” is slightly better than “Mission of Honor” and the similar “Dark Blue World” (which is about the Czech pilots).  It is worth the watch if you want a time waster that soars a little.  And let’s give it up for the workhorse of the Battle of Britain – the Hawker Hurricane.  And the Poles who flew it.

GRADE  =  C