Breaking the Sound Barrier (The Sound Barrier) (1952)
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 9/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 275
Movie Info
Breaking the Sound Barrier juxtaposes the history of jet aviation with an intensely personal fictional story. Ralph Richardson plays a wealthy aircraft manufacturer, stubbornly determined to develop a jet that will travel faster than the speed of sound. Richardson's seemingly cavalier attitude toward the pilots who have died on behalf of his dream--including his own son (Denholm Elliott)--has turned his daughter (Ann Todd) against him. When the daughter's fighter-pilot husband (Nigel Patrick)
Jul 22, 1952 Wide
May 27, 2008
Cast
-
Ralph Richardson
John Richfield -
Ann Todd
Susan Garthwaite -
Nigel Patrick
Tony Garthwaite -
John Justin
Philip Peel -
Dinah Sheridan
Jess Peel -
Joseph Tomelty
Will Sparks -
Denholm Elliott
Christopher Ridgefie... -
Jack Allen
Windy Williams -
Ralph Michael
Fletcher -
Donald Harron
ATA officer -
Vincent Holman
Factor -
Jolyon Jackley
Baby John -
Leslie Phillips
Controller -
-
Anthony Snell
Peter Makepeace
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All Critics (10) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (2)
The aerodynamic issues in the movie may now be antiquated, but the excitement and beauty of early jet aviation are still irresistible.
Top CriticThis must be said about this picture: it soars far above its clumsy tag and it comes pretty close to being the most exalting of contemporary films.
Unfortunately, Terence Rattigan's script, while solidly structured, never probes beyond the basic conceit that an obsession which works towards the glory of mankind in general may wreak havoc on private lives.
Public excitement over jet travel helped make David Lean's 1952 British feature a big hit, though its science doesn't wash and its majestic aerial sequences are uneasily wedded to a starchy familial drama.
Technically, artistically and emotionally, this is a topflight British offering.
It's an interesting scientific-military soap opera, acted with stiff upper-lip restraint by a great cast, but Lean's visual sense really comes into play in the aerial sequences.
A great British film that celebrates technological achievement while also questioning the virtues of such achievement.
Richardson, in his understated way, is powerful, if not frightening, as an airplane manufacturer obsessed with breaking the sound barrier.
Ralph Richardson gives a brilliant performance in this British fact-based drama directed by David Lean.
It's both Lean's technical know-how and his ability to make the melodrama moving that makes this a superior film of this ilk.
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Foreign Titles
- Breaking the Sound Barrier (DE)
- The Sound Barrier (UK)
