Mosquito Squadron (1970)

70%....The final sequence has been cited as an influence on George Lucas's Death Star sequences in Star Wars. Starring David McCallum. WWII story that has lots of very well done action scenes. Air combat fans will rejoice in seeing vintage RAF twin engine bombers fly over the dreaded Germans. This one left me with two thoughts. First its a fly boy (aviator) dream of a flick. This film has more realistic bombing runs than most, but the cockpit camera shots are pretty lame. These guys could be in thier living room at home for all we know as the background flys by. But the vintage aircraft, uniforms, almost every detail of air combat is first rate. The lead star has a life long friend that was thought dead on a mission. The lead actor (no less than David McCallum of TV's Man from U.N.C.L.E. plus The Great Escape) leads his group of fighter bombers on near impossible missions. There was a unique device called the Bouncing Betty used during WWII that was profiled in The Dam Busters, a movie about breaking down dams in Germany. The concept is used here to bounce a bomb into a cave that houses the dreaded Buzz Bombs used by Germany to fly over London. Of course the mission is given little chance of success, but the problem is that the entire area will then be carpet bombed to the ground, including about a hundred R.A.F. air force pilots held prisoner there. The subplot for the film is this: Our lead star thinks his boyhood friend is dead, as does the wife. But guess what? The man is NOT dead, but has survived to be a prisoner in the very area to be bombed to the ground! Unfortunately, a love relationship develops between our lead actor and the "widow" of his boyhood friend. This makes the film extremely dicey, as the Germans don't care who gets killed in this war of roulette. During a Second World War Royal Air Force (oddly wearing Canadian sleeve patches) attack against German V-1 rocket installations, the de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber aircraft of Squadron Leader David Scott (David Buck) is shot down and supposedly killed. His friend, Squadron Leader Quint Munroe (David McCallum) comforts Scott's wife, and a romance soon develops. One reviewer laments: "Director Boris Sagal (The Omega Man) helms with all the verve and panache of your average TV movie of the week. David McCallum, who successfully transitioned from '60s teen idol to solid character actor (mostly in television productions), is a bland and uninvolving lead here, for the most part expressionless. The anachronistic haircuts don't help matters, either - McCallum sports his Ilya Kuryakin/Beatles 'do even though this is supposed to be WWII." Suggested for R.A.F. aerial combat fans of World War II and guilt filled, romance lovers everywhere. ((((((((((((((((((((((((((0)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) Youtube.com has clips and the trailer if you care to see them. NOTES about the film: 1 Most reviewers concentrated on the low-budget production values but the banal script and second-rate acting troupe was also mentioned. 2 Although not a sequel, the film is similar to the 1964 film "633 Squadron" and is influenced by it, even using footage from the earlier film. Directed by Boris Sagal Written by Donald S. Sanford[1] Joyce Perry Starring David McCallum Suzanne Neve Charles Gray Music by Frank Cordell Distributed by United Artists Release date(s) January 1969 Running time 86 min.