Customer Reviews

Mosquito Squadron

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

MOSQUITO SQUADRON is quite British and a very entertaining World War II action adventure tale that focuses both on story and military air bombing strategies of the era. Starring David McCallum as Quint Munroe a Canadian-born RAF pilot he leads an exellent cast that includes Charles Gray as Air Commodore Hufford, Vladek Sheybal as Lieutenant Schack and Robert Urquhart as Major Kemble. Directed by Boris Sagal this film features brilliant cinematography by Paul Beeson (RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), an outstanding score composed by Frank Cordell (KHARTOUM) and effective special effects Les Bowie (X THE UNKNOWN). David McCallum is a brilliant and interesting actor who gives new meaning to underplaying a role and still being the focal point of the viewer. This is a little overlooked gem of a film. I highly recommend it.

Mosquito Squadron is a good rip-roaring adventure of a war movie to watch on a rainy summer day. David McCallum is great in his role of Quint Monroe, a RAF pilot who fights one war in Europe and a personal one in his heart. During a bombing raid, Monroe's best friend, the squad's CO is shot down by German fighters who jumped them. Monroe tells his friend's wife, Beth, that her husband has been killed, sparking a romance that they had before the war. While Monroe is trying to get over the loss of his friend, the RAF Command learn that the Germans are close to completing their new V-3 rocket at a secret testing center near a ruined church. When Monroe and the squad get ready to bomb the church, a new threat comes their way, the Germans are holding a group of British POWs hostage, including Monroe's friend, who didn't die. Monroe becomes conflicted with himself, he must bomb the church before the rockets can be fired at London, but he also wants to save his friend and the other POW from massacare. Monroe manages to cool down and stages a daring raid on the prison with the help of the French Resistance and other RAF squadrons. One of Monroe's planes will bomb a section of the wall which the French will be able to make a daring raid on the prison compound and free the POWs. Will Monroe and the Mosquito Squadron pull the raid off? Will he be able to save his friend?
I have this movie on DVD and it plays great. If you liked the Battle of Britain with Micheal Caine and Trevor Howard, and 633 Squadron with Cliff Robertson and George Chakiris, you'll love Mosquito Squadron. Give this movie a try, you won't be disappointed.

I loved 633 Squadron so much I decided to give this movie a shot. You can imagine my disappointment when I saw many of the same flying scenes borrowed from 633 squadron. I am a fan of David McCallum but this movie has trouble redeeming itself amongst good war movies.

It is a decent movie but if you are an avid fan of movies like 633 Squadron, Battle of Britain, and Memphis Belle, you probably will be disappointed. I'm afraid after one viewing I donated my DVD to the library.

The DVD quality is good and picture and sound quality are solid. I just wish that MGM had not tried to make the original movie so cheaply and borrowed so much from 633 Squadron and they had added some more well known actors and actresses to make it stand out.

MOSQUITO SQUADRON is a very good WW2 aviation movie. David McCallum is one of my favorite actors. I grew up with him on THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. where he was just perfect for that role as he is in this movie. David McCallum leads this squadron to victory in is own great style. Despite comparisons to 633 SQUADRON this film stands on its own. I wish David could have made more films like this that showed what a great actor he is.

Havent seen the DVD, but seen the movie on TV several times in the 70s, wasnt overly impressed then, so would be less so now.
If youve seen 633 Squadron, then watch this, yes, youve seen most of the aerial action in THAT better movie. This time is a hybrid mission involving rockets or rocket-fuel like '633, but with a potentially thrilling resistance-fighter jailbreak facilitated by the Mosquitoes blowing-down the walls with dambuster-style Upkeep/Highball bouncing-bombs as a bonus target: might seem they are borrowing from here and there of previous movies, but there really was an epic RAF operation against Amiens Prison housing French Resistance fighters during the war, known aptly as Operation Jericho, ( the walls came tumbling down)so its ok to overlap other movies when it also reflects fact, of course.

Anyway, its too low-budgety to do much, saves heaps with using the 633 Squadron sequences, much as movies like 'Midway' used the wonderful combat sequences from 'Tora Tora Tora', and has a melodrama that the dreadful 'Pearl Harbor' probably ripped off, the pilot disappears in combat, certainly KIA, brave late pilots buddy hooks-up late pilots foxy squeeze,they both feel bad about it, but they do it anyway, then dead-hero inconveniently has not been killed, is alive, shaken but not stirred,POW, but now pilot feeling bad about being busy with not-so-dead buddies lady, also has to fly-off and probably off the presumed-dead buddy for real this time himself as inevitable collateral damage with the Nazi target he has to drop bombs on to win the ruddy war.

If you like 633 Squadron, this is definately inferior but with many melodramatic similiarities,Cliff Robertson in '633 also had to grease one of the friendlies thanks to those horrid Germans, it lacks 633s stratosperic atmospheric soaring Ron Goodwin theme-music, and really, I wouldnt drop the dough unless you just cant get enough of the admittedly exciting and beautiful Mosquito bomber in any vehicle.

This movie is not supposed to be a carbon copy of its highly successful predecessor, "633 Squadron", yet, to one's horror, one discovers that the opening footage of the V-1 launch, flight and ultimate destruction in a London street, has been lifted straight from "Operation Crossbow" - and I only discovered THAT years after watching this movie several times on television.
One can take proverbial potshots (like the Germans at the Mosquito bombers flying at zero feet) at David McCallum for what people have described as his wooden, deadpan portrayal of Squadron Leader Quint Monroe, who appears relatively unemotional when reporting the "death in action" of his previous commanding officer, "Scotty" (David Buck), to his superior officer.
However, that would be an unfair criticism of McCallum: it would be unrealistic if he were to portray Monroe in a way that suggested that he had to adopt a certain persona just to please the audience (or the studio people) by playing a given stereotype. RAF fighter pilots were, in the eyes of the public, supposed to be suave and debonair, yet, as this film and "Battle of Britain" prove, they were ordinary people doing extraordinarily stressful jobs in extraordinary times. Hence, their emotions should reflect the environment of the characters the actors portray.
The most convincing portrayal is that of Charles Gray as the air commodore who tells Monroe to "chuck a bomb" in a tunnel next to a commandered French chateau in order to destroy V-3s (as they were referred to) being constructed in an underground chamber. My favourite line in the movie was when Monroe gave his reaction to the difficulty of the mission at the briefing: "[It's] like spitting into an air commodore's eye from an express train, sir." People who watched "Crossbow" will remember that there was, indeed, a vast studio set resembling such a chamber, yet no such thing is seen in this movie, so, although there was no copying here, it is nevertheless a disappointment.
Having said that, perhaps the budget was somewhat tight, considering that it costs money to have preserved Mosquito bombers (or anything of WWII vintage) flying in movies, and so the cheapest solution for the scene, in which Monroe (McCallum) and Scotty's widow (Suzanne Neve) are in a car, is to have McCallum barely budge the steering wheel while Neve's hair is hardly ruffled while their car is in front of a screen showing a winding road probably filmed from the back of a lorry (one wonders if the camera actually fell off it!).
The most tension-filled scenes are the ones filmed in the chateau grounds where the priest, an intelligence agent, informs the RAF prisoners being used as human shields that Mosquitoes will conduct a bombing raid soon. The prisoners include the supposedly "dead" Scott, only Monroe knows he is alive because of a film "sent" by Luftwaffe fighters which shoot up the airfield (in this case, RAF Bovington) for good measure. Even so, he has orders to obey: destroy the rockets - even if it means that "Scotty" - and a great many fellow comrades - might be killed for real this time around.
Like practically all British war films of the 1960s, one can be sure that there will be certain elements: a romance that doesn't quite work well, a war mission with lots of people being killed, the mission finally succeeding and (with the exception of "633 Squadron", perhaps) most, if not all, of the heroes returning home. This film has all these elements, yet it has been knocked - perhaps unfairly - by many people for the so-called "wooden" acting. Nevertheless, it is entertaining and watchable, even if it isn't in the same league as "633 Squadron" and "Battle of Britain".

Being a huge fan of the De Havilland Mosquito, when I saw this on Netflix, I immediately ordered it. I mean, Mossies, and Ilya Kuryakin(David McCallum)? Gotta do it.
One of the opening scenes portrayed "London", but as a V-1 Doodle Bug flying bomb nears the end of its flight, there's a nuclear cooling tower....and the movie didn't improve. Surprisingly, the romance aspect of the film was one of the highlights....not a good sign. At least the makers of this film had the sense to borrow copious footage from the far superior "633 Squadron".
By the way, when in England, be sure to visit the De Havilland Museum at Lincoln Colney, just outside St. Albans, Herts. It's well worth the visit.

Another great World War II film on DVD! I thought this was a great film even tough it looked a little modern in some parts. The great cast and determination to get the mission done was really important to the power of this film.

I found this movie on Netflix. I was totally unaware that it existed. Normally I am not a fan of war movies. In criticism the film does have a couple of low budget tricks. The plot and the acting are extremely good.It will hold your attention to the explosive end. Fascinating subject matter. David McCallum excellently underplays his role.

*spoiler warning*

The two-engine De Havilland Mosquito played multiple roles for the RAF during WWII. It was a night fighter and a fast, light-bomber. In this film a photo recon mission uncovers a Nazi secret weapons development site. RAF air marshalls order a squadron of Mosquitoes to carry out a precision bombing raid to take it out. To do this they have to drop a "bouncing bomb". This isn't a joke, these bombs were actually developed to do things like take out hydro-electric dams and do other special jobs. BTW - the story of the development of this type of bomb and its use against dams is depicted in the fine WWII film The Dam Busters. That film is really worth it.

In this film David McCallum (of TV's "The Man From Uncle" fame) leads a cast of RAF pilots tasked to take out the Nazi R&D site. The Nazis learn of this plan and bring in a large number of RAF POWs to act as a human shield. The squadron is ordered to move forward anyway.

OK, I am a sucker for WWII movies, especially aerial and naval films, so I went into this one with high hopes. There is some great footage of these WWII vintage planes being put through their paces. There is also some vintage footage of the bouncing bomb tests from WWII. That is all awesome. Some of the special effects are not that great, but that can be forgiven since this film was made 40 years ago. What is less forgivable is the painful acting that takes up most of the ground time in the film. McCallum's main dialog seems to be prolonged stares, and people seem to be able to read his mind?! The romantic sub-plot is OK, but adds little to the film's overall plot.

All in all this is a movie about great planes and a good mission, but with some really poor acting. So, to sum up, it was OK, and I don't think I'll be watching it again (unlike a similar era film that I watch a few times a year, Battle of Britain).

It was, like I said, OK. It's not bad, it's just not all that good. So, 3 stars.