[Canucklehead]

Originally Posted by MoMo

I missed this BBC posting on Friday. This is a seven minute sequence of video (no commentary) shot inside the BBMF Lancaster as it makes its three passes over the Derwent reservoir. It’s mainly taken from inside the bomb aimer’s front blister, and gives you a real sense of what it is like to fly at a hundred feet altitude across a lake. When you consider that at the Möhne Dam, on the real raid, they were flying forty feet lower, they didn’t know the terrain and there were three anti-aircraft gun emplacements firing at them. Now you get some idea of what it was like!

Towards the end, the camera operator moves up to shoot some footage from the cockpit. It’s interesting to see how cramped it was. Tall pilots like David Maltby and Joe McCarthy must have found it a squeeze to get into a space this small. It was a lot easier for someone short, like Guy Gibson.

BBC NEWS | UK | Flying with the 'Dambusters'

That's pretty cool. Thanks a tonne for that link Momo. I think I'll have to start saving for the Les Knight Lancaster later this year.

[Cardinal]

Incredible! The original pilots and crew must have had 'cajones' of titanium, given that they were also flying very low, at night and being shot at ...

(I'm inspired to get the Dambusters Lanc on pre-order after watching this - let's hope Corgi survives and delivers .)

[Cruver Collecter]

Method os sighting the bomb was kind of neat on this attack too.

[Captain Eddie]

For whatever the reason, the link WORKED for me this morning. Way COOL video. Feel like I've flown in a Lancaster!

[Kaptin_Kirk]

Cool video! I felt as if I was there.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Now that's what it feels like to ride on the POTR Lancaster "Dambusters Style".......I notice how peaceful the country side looks over there too
Nice...
JP

[Cruver Collecter]

Impressive front row seat video. Just curious, how long have plans for this movie been in the works?

[MoMo]

This is the original first posting on this thread made in September, 2006 ( just for you Cruver ) :

Movies and models and bouncing bombs!

Perhaps we need a poll! I see that some movie company is shooting a remake of one of my all time favourite movies from the 50s, " The Dam Busters "

I remember watching it in the fetid atmosphere of the local flea-pit, The Calder, and being thrilled as I went in for the bomb run with Guy Gibson in his Lancaster bomber. I empathised with Barnes Wallis as he waited for the news that the dams had been breached.

The new movie, I believe is being made in New Zealand now that all the dwarves and elves have gone back home accompanied by numerous hobbits ( it's the same director maybe? ) But where are they going to get those Lancs? The original film was full of brilliant shots of Lancasters flying low-level over lakes ( or lochs ) and the sound of the four Merlins screaming as they brushed the tree-tops was iconic.

I guess that it will all be worked out in cyberspace and we'll be treated to Lancasters flying at impossible angles, generated by computer.

Who out there would rather see the the two or three remaining Lancs which can still fly?

The Dambusters was influential in George Lukas's first Star Wars film. The ending was inspired by the attacks on the Rhur dams. Read ' Deathstar' for 'Dams'

NOW TO THE QUESTIONS : what is your favourite, all-time war movie? Have you modelled the hardware or bought the hardware? Planes? Tanks? Ships?

I once considered building the cable lift and shloss from ' Where Eagles Dare', but time and cost prohibited that. Anyway, I was a student then and the diorama would have been more like ' Where Beagles Stare'

If anyone out there hears anything about the Lancaster Fest, please post.

Tally ho, Chaps, and good hunting!

MoMo

[MoMo]

Weta Workshop will create the physical effects and miniatures necessary to fully realise the Peter Jackson produced film ‘The Dam Busters’. The film is based on the book The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill and the 1955 Associated British Picture Corporation motion picture and will be directed by Christian Rivers.

The Wingnut Films production will be produced by Jan Blenkin, Carolynne Cunningham and Peter Jackson, with Sir David Frost and Ken Kamins serving as Executive Producers. “This is one of the most remarkable true stories to come out of World War II”, said Peter. “When Michael Anderson made his thrilling version of this story in 1955, many details of the dams raid were still a closely guarded secret. It has since been declassified by the British Government, making the dynamics of the story and the people involved even more intriguing."

"That, combined with our ability to harness state-of-the-art computer generated visual effects, will enable us to bring the events of these desperate days of 1943 to life in a very visceral way. This is an astonishing story that continues to be revered in British Commonwealth history, and our hope is to make their exploits known to more of the world and extend their legacy to a generation that might not otherwise recognise their inspiration and sacrifice.”

The Dam Busters is an inspirational story of heroism and one of the most daring missions in aeronautic military history. “Peter Jackson is the ideal producer for a remake of The Dam Busters”, said Sir David Frost. “Not only because of his film-making genius, but also because of his aeronautical expertise and his unique understanding of the human pressures wrought by war.”

Academy Award® Winner Christian Rivers will direct the film. Rivers has worked with Jackson for over 17 years. First as a storyboard artist while still at school, then as an animator, pre-vis supervisor and second unit director, culminating in his work as animation director on Jackson’s King Kong, which won him a 2006 Academy Award® for Best Visual Effects (an honor Rivers shared with Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul and Richard Taylor).

Rivers said the story had a special place during his childhood. “I grew up with The Dam Busters mythology as part of my heritage” he said. “I remember seeing it for the first time on television in England with my grandfather. I’ll never forget marveling at the image of the bouncing bomb punching across the water. This is one of the most revered stories of British ingenuity and heroism. We intend to be true to the values of the era in which these events took place.”

---

[MoMo]

Christian Rivers and Peter Jackson....................at the controls :