Customer Reviews

Above and Beyond

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In 1940 Germany's submarine forces are winning the war in the Atlantic, and massive tonnage of allied shipping, including shipments of military aircraft, make it only to the bottom of the sea. This Canadian made-for-TV mini-series uses this dire situation as a backdrop.

Since submarine warfare is slowly strangling Britain's ability to defend herself something has to be done to get materials across the Atlantic. A bold military officer and his capable female assistant take on the responsibility of setting up a risky yet vital plan to fly planes across the north Altantic from Newfoundland to Britain.

When the officer and his assistant arrive at a small Newfoundland airfield, they face the challenges of recruiting and retaining pilots, and training them to fly across the north Altantic (a risky venture at best), and dealing with the local townsfolk.

We soon learn that the assistant has a history with the local airfield operator, and their past catches up to them as men and machines face perilous odds as they prepare to fly.

I found this show to depict an interesting and generally overlooked aspect of early WWII. It therefore deserves recognition. At the same time I found the acting and overall quality of the production to be only good, not great.

History buffs should enjoy this show, but the average viewer would probably find it to be rather tedious, since it is generally lacking in high-cost digital candy that flavors most movies these days.

I'd rate this 4-stars for the history buff/romance crowd, and perhaps 2- stars for the general audience. I guess I'll split that difference and award this a solid 3-stars.

I hope this is helpful. Have fun and fly safely!

What a wonderful delight. I am an avid history buff and was very surprised to find a huge story of WW2 that I knew nothing about. This movie details, with great charm, the perilous mission of flying new American made planes from Newfoundland to Ireland - a risky move that shortened the delivery time from 10 days to 10 hours. The venture was responsible for turning the tide of the war. The acting is first class and includes stellar performances by Kenneth Walsh, Richard E. Grant and the inimitable Joss Ackland as Churchill. Sluggish at times and with poor digital animation of the planes (they only found one Hudson plane so had to computer generate the rest). Aviation buffs may notice some errors, but it doesn't detract from the overall quality of the film. It will take two nights to watch, so be prepared with lots of popcorn. Truly one of the more interesting films I have ever watched and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Definitely a must for getting teens hooked on history - includes a love story for the girls and lots of macho danger and adventure for the boys.

If you buy this because you see Jason Priestley's name in the cast list, you may be both sadly disappointed (his part is very small) and pleasantly surprised. This two-part Canadian Miniseries tells how a place most residents of the USA (and Canada and England, for that matter) had never heard of in 1939 became the primary embarkation point for thousands of US and Canadian built fighters and bombers flown to England to help turn the tide of the Second World War. It's an interesting story, with a little human conflict, a little star-crossed love, and a lot of pride in what the human race can do when the chips are down.

Above and Beyond is about the critical period in World War II before the United States entered the war. Germany had just taken France. The U-boats were dominating shipping across the North Atlantic. The air war over Britain was pressing the British to the edge. Against this backdrop, a few brave souls in Canada and Britain work to fly planes across the Atlantic to avoid the U-Boats--something never previously attempted. This is their story.

What is different about this film is the focus on character development along with a simple plot. The primary location is a remote airport in Newfoundland where everyone knows everyone and displays a small-town ownership of problems and life in general. The key participants in this drama are special only in their willingness to rise to the improbably difficult task in front of them. The matter-of-fact sensibilities of the people as they confront serious logistical challenges reminds me of The Grey Fox (1982)--another really fine Canadian film.

I loved the film. I hope that you will too.

Stephen

We caught only a part of this movie on TV, so my husband asked if I could find it on DVD. This is a story of WWII that many of us in the States have never heard before. It is so refreshing to get a good movie without the historical aspect being terribly skewed to fit the hunger for "action" films. I enjoyed watching it, but my husband is the one who will not part with it, and says he will keep it for his library. His comment was that he wishes there were more films along the same lines. History, personal emotional upheavals, and last, but not least, some wonderful scenes of airplanes you now go to museums to see.

Above and Beyond was a DVD I bought from Amazon while in Latin America, to fill in long rainy tropical evenings. Most are watched over a few nights, especially double DVD episodes (on one disc) like this one - it went in one sitting!

The backdrop is WW2 and the devastation created by the U boats, the need for aircraft in wartime Europe and the losses incurred at the time.

So a true and reasonably accurate historical depiction, but what really brings this movie to life are the human stories that are expertly interwoven, how a simple stenographer is catapulted by the dictates of war into a position she did not choose and decidedly did not want, how the pilots were recruited and how their personal lives and trials are intertwined is not gimmicky for once, but well told, beleivably filmed and as a package draws the viewer completely into the period.

The politics of a remote civilian airfield being inundated by the powers that be, dictated by the US and potentially subsumed into the RAF while being in what is to become Canada form one of several subplots that are expertly woven into the film, in such a way that the viewer doesn't even realize until later how much they actually learned while being thoroughly entertained.

The only aspect I'd deduct for was the flying sequences, of which there weren't many shots taken of the outside of the aeroplanes, as the views when the aircraft were shown were obviously computer generated - not too tackily, but still obvious.

One of the unusual aspects for a modern war movie was the lack of blood and gore, though certainly referenced, it was as a backdrop, so there's absolutely no issue in this being a general family film.

As with any movie - it's very much about individual tastes, but in my opinion this ranks right beside "until we meet again" as an educational backdrop to a little know aspect of one of the greatest conflicts the world has ever known.

A very good movie about the second world war and how Canada helped the British by flying planes from Newfoundland. Did not know Newfoundland was not part of Canada during that time.

This is an interesting depiction of Atlantic Ferry Operations out of Newfoundland in WWII and the creation of Ferry Command. It is a two-part miniseries, with a run-time of 3 hours, but probably could have been edited to a good two-hour movie. It's a little slow at times and the editing is a little choppy.

The sub-plot love triangle between the main character Shelagh, her ex-boyfriend Airport Manager, and new boyfriend devil-may-care pilot sort of gets reduced to a workaholic woman trying to decide which one she has time for.

There are some historical inaccuracies which only a true aviation buff would notice (the DC-3 modified with turboprop engines made me cringe, and I'm also not sure why US Army Air Corps officers would show up in an AVRO Lancaster), and some modern-day expressions creep into the dialogue (did they really say "We're screwed" in WWII?). The CGI special effects were mostly okay, but a couple of scenes where they pan into a wide shot of the airport looked just like a flight simulator video game. If they couldn't get in a helicopter and film a real airport, they should have just chosen something else to do.

The show-case aircraft in the movie is the Lockheed Hudson, which is touted as a great airplane, but so many things go wrong with these brand new planes in the first ferry flight, that you have to wonder! I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that they would have had oxygen masks for the crew rather than just a rubber hose to stick in their mouths. It's hard to tell if that's a point of historical accuracy or they were just doing it on the cheap! (a walk-around oxygen bottle would have made sense as well)

The cast is first-rate with Liane Balaban, Allan Hawco, and Richard E. Grant standing out. Joss Ackland does a convincing Churchill, and Kenneth Welsh interestingly portrays Lord Beaverbrook.

The DVD has only Night one and Night two, so you have to fast forward to view an individual scene, which is a little annoying. All in all, above average for a TV miniseries (or two-night movie). Not a rollercoaster ride action-wise (the movie mostly gets off the ground only when the planes do), but history buffs will appreciate the telling of a little-known story.

This Canadian mini-series centers around a little-remembered aspect of World War II. The British face a Nazi onslaught and are desperately short of planes. Canadian newspaper magnate turned cabinet member Lord Beaverbrook conceives a bold plan to fly them across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland. "But that's impossible," everyone exclaims. Not so. With a motely crew of civilian volunteers including Americans, it can and will be done.
The first half of this mini-series moved along briskly. We're introduced to some of the flyers and their intrepid commander and the girl who will organize the operation and provide the love interest. Joss Ackland provides the Chrchill impersonation, complete with growling voice and huge cigar.
Unfortunately, the dramatic tension is not sustained in Part II. Once the pilots show they can indeed cross the Atlantic, the plot veers to infighting over who will control the operation and a poorly conceived love triangle that totally lacks any snap, crackle or pop.

Great history of little known Canadian war effort with nice romance, good cinematography, decent acting. Loved it for is historical facts. The rest of the movie was good.