Brucey D In the opening months of WWII, the formidable 'pocket battleship' Admiral Graf Spee is raiding commercial shipping in the south Atlantic. The film depicts events before, during, and after an engagement with three Royal Navy cruisers, leading to the eventual sinking of the Graf Spee.The term 'pocket battleship' was coined by the Royal Navy to describe the three 'Deutschland' class cruisers of the Reichsmarine, constructed between 1933 and 1936. These ships were nominally designed within the 10000t limit of the Versailles treaty; however in reality they were all in excess of this. The Graf Spee was the third and heaviest of its class, and is estimated to have been over 16000t at full load.Using innovative design and manufacturing methods, these ships were built to save weight where possible, in order that heavier armament and better armour plating could be carried. The net result was that these 'panzerschiffe' had the displacement of a cruiser, yet carried more armour and had guns that were the match for most battleships with double the displacement.Thus the Graf Spee, with its 11" primary armament, outgunned the Royal Navy squadron significantly; the biggest guns, on the 'Exeter', were similar in quantity but only 8", and had a maximum range some five miles less. The 6" gun secondary armament on the Graf Spee was similarly a match both in quantity and quality for the other two Royal Navy ships.The tactics used were to an extent dictated by the range discrepancy; the Royal Navy had decided to close to their gun's range "as soon as the beast was sighted", in two groups, and thus force a highly dangerous, but hopefully decisive action.Fought at a time when the 'Phoney War' was underway elsewhere, this was the first major naval battle of WWII; and (asides from the use of spotter planes) was fought without the benefit of radar and other modern developments. Arguably it could be regarded as 'the last sea battle of the first World War' both in equipment and tactics.The events of the battle were originally not considered to be a good narrative basis for a film. However the account of Cpt Dove, who was a prisoner on the Graf Spee at the time of the battle, together with the game of diplomatic bluff played out in Montevideo, added enough breadth and interest for Powell and Pressburger to craft their fine film.The film has an excellent cast, some wonderful cinematography of real (and in some cases THE real) ships in the battle, and I found it quite captivating. Presumably restored in recent times, it both looks and sounds fantastic.The events depicted differ little from what actually happened, and give a sympathetic portrayal of Cpt Langsdorff of the Graf Spee, whose conduct was admired on all sides. Later in WWII there was far less scope for gentlemanly behaviour at sea; the tactics of 'total war' lead to enormous losses on all sides.Doubtless if this film was remade by Hollywood today, it would have all kinds of spurious (and highly fictional) sub-plots, perhaps even a different narrative altogether, and instead of real ships and occasional models, it would be chock-full of CGI instead. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer the former to the latter; if enough CGI is used, you might as well be watching a cartoon....So in my mind this film stands on its merits, not just as a period piece, but in absolute terms. Films of this type and this calibre are simply no longer made, so this is 'must see stuff' for any film enthusiast.

Leofwine_draca A straightforward WW2 naval battle flick, designed to show the courage and mettle of British officers in their battle against overwhelming Nazi firepower. THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE tells the true story of the German warship the Graf Spee, which proved invincible when up against Allied vessels until a bit of trickery and sheer determination saw it finally meet its match in the form of not one, not two, but three British ships off the coast of Uruguay.The film has the distinction of being filmed by Powell and Pressburger, two of the most famous directors in history, and thus it looks fantastic: colourful, full-blooded, with expert attention to detail and battle scenes that really look like the real thing. It's in the cast that this really excels, though; the production team have assembled one of the greatest all-star casts ever, and thus the film is dominated by strong performances from the likes of John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Lee, and many more besides. There are even smaller parts for future greats like John Le Mesurier, Christopher Lee, and Patrick Macnee.

flyingcoonhound If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. If you ever are suffering from insomnia just throw this in the DVD player. This review is as entertaining as the movie.

MartinHafer This film is about the final days of the German pocket battleship (like a heavy cruiser), GRAF SPEE. This ship did a lot of damage to British shipping during the early days of the war until she was ultimately hunted down by a small armada of smaller and very vulnerable naval vessels.I enjoyed this film very much because I am a history teacher and love realistic war films. Unfortunately, while this film was big on realism, it also will probably seem a tad dull to the average person because it did stress realism and not huge name actors and unnecessary action. While there were many fine British actors in important roles (Anthony Quayle, Bernard Lee and Peter Finch, among others), to the average American audience they probably will seem more like sea men versus actors. This and the script really worked together to produce a film that seemed almost like a documentary in how it tried very hard to get the details right--and as a WWII buff, this impressed me very much.There are a few omissions or mistakes in the film, but they aren't all that important. First, of course the Spee had been sunk, so an American ship filled in--and this is certainly forgivable. Second, oddly, in the original version, the movie is called "The Battle of the River Plate" but there was no River Plate. The word was "Plata"--meaning Silver River when correctly translated into English. Finally, and I can understand why they didn't mention this, shortly after the German Captain scuttled his ship he committed suicide. However, I did appreciate how the film portrayed him as an ultimately decent and competent man--a nice requiem for a fallen enemy who was just doing his duty.Overall, not a film for the casual viewer but certainly one for history and naval buffs out there. Great stuff.