Customer Reviews

Sink the Bismark [VHS]

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The British have made war and historical movies with an unrivaled consistency of quality, and Sink the Bismarck is no exception. The details are meticulous, the casting first-rate (except for a hokey voice-impersonation of Churchill), and the battle sequences marked by accuracy and fine special effects.

This otherwise fine film is marred, however, by the false depiction of one of the major characters, Admiral Lutjens, commander of the Bismarck. In the film, he is stereotyped as the typical Nazi - a Hitler sycophant, careerist and wild-eyed fanatic. This was most certainly not the historical Lutjens, who was by no means a Nazi fanatic. Lutjens was a naval hero from World War I, who served out of duty and dedication, not Nazi conviction. (Lutjens protected Jews under his command, and members of his family were in trouble for their anti-Nazi views.) This is at complete odds with his depiction in Sink the Bismarck, which I find inexcusable, given that the above information was certainly available to the production. In fact, an accurate depiction of Lutjens would have, in my opinion, added interest to the plot.

Nevertheless, Sink the Bismarck is eminently watchable and a fine addition to any war movie collection, if you bear in mind the above caveat.

I'm not entirely sure why I like this movie so very much, but I have loved it from the very first time I saw it more than 20 years ago and still watch it often. It is a dramatization of the true story of the short-lived first cruise of the German battleship "Bismarck", of the destruction it wrought and of the hunt to find and ultimately destroy it. Yes, there are some inaccuracies in the details of which ships took part in the hunt, as well as in the portrayal of German Admiral Gunther Lutjens, but the fact that this is a British movie, made while the scars of war were still a strongly living memory, should be borne in mind in this regard.

Among the things that make it worth viewing are: the presence of Edward R. Morrow recreating the atmosphere of his wartime London radio reports, the recreation of the Naval command center underneath the Admiralty building and the highly believable performance of Kenneth More (himself a wartime naval officer) as the deeply wounded Captain Shepherd. Dana Wynter also gives a delicately nuanced performance as Second Officer Anne Davis. The moment when she enters Shepherd's office and realizes that he is crying is beautifully done.

The highly restrained romantic undercurrent doesn't interfere with the main story line and is very believable for wartime professionals. One comes away from this movie knowing that a great menace to the eventual survival of Britain has been eliminated and that there may be hope for both the UK and for two lonely people.

The inclusion in the new DVD of some newreel footage of the actual event is a nice little bonus. The subject of the hunt for and destruction of the "Bismarck" has also recently been the subject of some recent documentaries. The story retains its impact, even after more than 60 years.

I watched an advance review copy of this DVD tonight and really enjoyed it. In addition to the movie, the DVD features not only the trailer for the main feature, but also a vintage 1941 MovieTone newsreel of the real battle to sink the Bismark and trailers for the other movies in the upcoming spate of "Fox War Classics" ("The Blue Max", "The Enemy Below", "Heaven Knows Mr. Allison", "The Desert Fox" and "13 Rue Madeleine."
Based on a book of the same name, which was in turn based on the real incidents in World War 2, the movie "Sink the Bismarck" retells the tale of the dogged effort by the British Royal Navy to track down and attempt to destroy the German battle cruiser Bismarck.
Much of the movie takes place at the Admiralty in London where the superb British actor Kenneth Moore surveys the ships as would a chess player on a large board, in an attempt to second guess and outmaneuver the German vessel.
The DVD is in fine shape and I did not notice any artifacts or nicks. Considering the age of the picture it is surprising that it should be so well prsented here, so full marks must go to 20th Century Fox. I have seen this movie before on television and I do not believe I have ever seen it looking as crisp and focused as it does on this DVD.
Altogether, this is easy to recommend especially considering the low price.

p.s. Viewers in the United States should also seek out, and watch, the superb 2-hour History Channel documentary of the same name. It would make an excellent companion-piece to this movie if the producers should decide to release it as a DVD.

Sink the Bismarck is the story of the tremendous effort expended by Great Britain to locate and sink one ship in May 1941. The all out effort to find this ship and sink it is well dramatised as are the two battles which Bismarck and the Royal Navy fought. Kenneth More is excellent as the Captain in charge of coordinating the efforts to locate the German ship. I suspect More was able to model his charecter on people whom he had met during his own service in the Royal Navy during World War II. His manerisms are exactly suited to the role he plays. Overall a well done film that does justice to the historical events of May 1941. For a movie made in 1960, it has aged gracefully.

Honorable Men in Desperate Battle

In May 1941, Britain stood alone against Nazi tyranny. The German blitz had devastated much of the English industrial base. The lifeline to America across the North Atlantic was critical to England's survival. In an effort to cut this lifeline, Hitler built the Bismarck, the fastest and most powerful battleship the world had ever seen. "Sink the Bismarck" is the story of a desperate 6-day naval engagement to find and destroy the German battleship. The British initially dispatched the pride of the Royal Navy, the H.M.S. Hood, to intercept the Bismarck. A single shell from the Bismarck penetrated a magazine on the Hood, instantly destroying the British ship.

The film depicts the subsequent efforts of the Royal Navy to locate and attack the Bismarck with overwhelming fire power. As often happens in war, the most unpredictable bad luck was counterbalanced by miraculous good fortune. The film evokes the grim resolution, the desperate gambles, and the professional skills of the British command to bring the Bismarck to bay. Kenneth More is well-cast in the role of Captain Jonathan Shepard, a man who conveys both iron will to duty, yet vulnerability to personal human loss in his pursuit of the Bismarck. The film teems with excitement and suspense as it records one of the great naval battles ever fought.

This fine film, made in 1960, does a fine job of re-creating the events surrounding the search for and eventual destruction of the pride of the German navy: the Bismarck. Veteran British actor Kenneth More stars as Captain Jonathan Shepard, a new officer who gets placed in charge of the hunt for the Bismarck in Britain's Naval Operations center. Shepard has a personal stake in seeing the Bismarck sunk. Bismarck's commander, Admiral Gunter Lutjens, played by Karel Stepanek, sunk Shepard's vessel earlier in the war. Dana Wynter stars as 2nd officer Anne Davis, an assistant to Capt. Shepard. A fictional implied but never shown romance develops between Shepard and Davis throughout the course of the film. Carl Mohner stars as Bismarck's Captain Lindemann.

The battle scenes are excellent. One must remember when viewing this film that the special effects are from the 1960's, but that does nothing to detract from the excitement of the ship-to-ship combat scenes. The fight between the HMS Hood and Bismarck is the high point of the film. It was exciting to see the ships being straddled by the other's shells, and seeing the Hood blow up was especially thrilling.

The historical correctness of the film was excellent except for a few minor details. For example, during the attack on the Bismarck by the British Swordfish torpedo planes, the movie shows two being destroyed when in reality none were lost. Also, the movie depicts a British destroyer being sunk by Bismarck. This is also incorrect as the Hood was the only British loss. Finally, the movie depicts Admiral Lutjens as being a staunt supporter of the Nazi party. This is also false. Lutjens was against Naziism, and refused to give the Nazi salute, instead preferring to use the old German navy salute. The movie also depicted a rather close relationship between Lutjens and Lindemann. This was also not the case. In reality, the two German commanders disagreed on many topics, and at one point during the heat of battle, Lindemann said to Lutjens that he refused to sit by while his ship was shot out from underneath him. Aside from these points, the historical aspect of the movie is very well done.

I highly recommend this film. The acting is excellent and the battle scenes will keep you on the edge of your seat. Watch this great movie and experience the hunt for the most feared ship in the German navy.

This movie is a good telling of the Bismarck's ill-fated cruise in May 1941. There are a few fictional elements added: two Swordfish being shot down (in reality none were lost), a British destroyer being sunk on the last night (only British loss was Hood), and Lutjens being a Nazi (Admrial Raeder actually sacked officers who were Nazis and made sure officers with Jewish blood were protected). The SFX are acceptable for the time the movie was made (1960), but it's easy to tell that the ships are models in a studio tank. With the discovery of the Hood's wreck and James Cameron's dive on the Bismarck wreck this movie comes back into focus. This is one movie that OUGHT to be remade today-and with today's SFX, it would be easy to show the ships-Bismarck, Prinz Eugen, Hood, Prince of Wales, King George V, Rodney, Norfolk, Suffolk, Dorsetshire, Victorious, Ark Royal, Sheffield, and the Tribal-class DDs of the 4th DD Flotilla (under a man whose career deserves a movie of his own-then CAPT Philip Vian).
All that's missing from this movie is Johnny Horton's song.

SINK THE BISMARCK was produced as a factual account of the epic battle, overlaid with a thin patina of fiction involving a couple of the characters in order to put the events into human perspective. Specifically, Kenneth More stars as Captain Shepard, the new Director of Operations in the Admiralty's War Room, and Dana Wynter as his assistant, Lt. Anne Davis. It's Shepard's enormous bad luck that the German's decide to send the new battleship Bismarck on its first combat sortie (Operation Rheinübung) into the Atlantic during his initial day on the job. And, though Wynter is positively stunning in her "Wren" (WRNS, Women's Royal Naval Service) uniform, the acting, at least in the War Room, shows a distinct British reserve unlikely to elicit more than a tepid "Good show, what" from any viewer. But, after all, the story is principally about the great ships involved, and ships' models don't get considered for Oscars.

As far as it goes, the film's narrative is commendably consistent with the facts surrounding the Bismarck's departure from its home waters, its detection between Iceland and Greenland, the catastrophic destruction of HMS Hood, the pursuit by assorted ships of the Royal Navy, the Bismarck's ultimately fatal crippling by air attack, and the last battle when the Home Fleet finally brought its quarry to bay. However, there were several departures from accuracy as perceived in a recent PBS television presentation concerning deep dives to the wrecks of the Hood and the Bismarck, and other sources:

1. In the film, two British Swordfish torpedo bombers were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire during two attacks on the Bismarck. In fact, none of the planes were lost, a fact I find amazing since the obsolete biplanes appeared so slow that they could have been brought down by well thrown rocks.

2. The film has a destroyer, the HMS Solent, being sunk by the Bismarck late in the pursuit. In fact, no other ship other than the Hood was sunk by the German battleship during the chase. Moreover, I could find no record of such a named ship in other descriptions of the battle where all ships are accounted for.

3. The German fleet commander Admiral Lütjens (Karel Stepanek) aboard the Bismarck is portrayed as an ardent Nazi, who stands in awe when Hitler sends him birthday congratulations. In fact, according to the Admiral's son in the PBS presentation, Lütjens had so little regard for Hitler that he (Lütjens) refused to give him (Hitler) the Nazi salute, but rather the traditional military salute of the German Navy.

SINK THE BISMARCK also gives the false impression that the Bismarck's end was fairly quick. Rather, the last battle lasted for 74 minutes, during which time four heavy British warships pounded their prey with 2,876 shells. Lastly, and most sadly, the film fails to show the roughly 700 German sailors (of the 800 that got off the Bismarck alive) that the Royal Navy left in the water to die. The British ships had to suspend rescue operations prematurely in fear of the German U-boats reported to be in the area. On the other hand, the film does leave the audience with the apparently accurate view that the Bismarck, by then a burning hulk, was sent to the bottom by destroyer-launched surface torpedoes. It's been reported that the ship's commander, Captain Lindemann, had ordered the vessel to be scuttled when its guns were rendered inoperative, and this is what ultimately sent the battleship to the bottom. Video of the hull taken by the submersible sent to the wreck in 2001 supports the contention that the torpedoes inflicted enough damage to do the job with or without Lindemann's help.

SINK THE BISMARCK is an above average depiction of that once-upon-a-time in naval warfare when the big ships could, and did, duel it out with heavy guns within sight of each other. The fact that this film is also the only one that I know of which deals those events of May 1941 certainly doesn't hinder my award of 4 stars. It's worth seeing by World War II buffs.

The movie accurately depicts Operation "Exercise Rhine", and the British reaction to it. Exciting, and very entertaining, though sterotyping the German Fleet Commander (Gunter Lutjens) as a fanatical nazi was very inaccurate, and to me, the most dissapointing aspect of an otherwise accurate account. Admiral Lutjens was a person who did not care for the Nazis or Adolf Hitler, but loved Germany and the Kriegsmarine. On the other hand, the depiction of the Bismarck's Captain (Ernst Lindemann) as a conscientous, dedicated career officer was very accurate.
The models were well done and the combat scenes were also well portrayed. Well worth watching.

IN A NUTSHELL: PRETTY CLOSE TO REALITY

"Sink The Bismarck!" is a true story about the desperate efforts made to quash what was seen as a larger than life threat to the British Empire, and the free world in the spring of 1941. Almost all of the film's action sequences are accurate, though the story used the "composite character" [Kenneth More] as a device to provide coherence, and organization to a fast paced chunk of world history that occurred in the icy and remote North Atlantic.

WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT: THE BISMARCK - WHAT A SHIP!

In the spring of 1941, the Bismarck was the most modern, well armed, and armored battleship up until that time. After World War 1, through a series of naval disarmament treaties, the world was left with a less potent fleet than it had during World War 1. This made a modern, and massive dreadnought like the Bismarck, all the more threatening. The "Hood", a battlecruiser that was England's largest warship at the time, was designed and built during and after World War 1, coming into service around 1921, or 20 years prior to the Bismarck. It was an excellent ship, designed for speed first, around 32 knots, striking power second, by 8, 15 inch guns, and armored protection third. This lack of armored protection for the Hood was somewhat mitigated in its updated design, following the loss of several British battlecruisers at Jutland in 1916. H.M.S. Invincible, Queen Mary and Indefatigable were all destroyed by huge explosions by plunging German shells that had easily penetrated their thin deck and turret armour which detonated their magazines. A fourth battle cruiser, H.M.S. Lion, was almost sunk as well. The result was a better protected, though larger, battlecruiser that had morphed into a "fast-battleship". Clearly the Hood was the best and most modern warship when she was designed and built, but recall that just prior to this time, the historic "Dreadnought" herself was obsolete and scraped within 11 years of her launching.

In short, the Bismarck was a phenomenal ship whose advanced designed, and massive fighting qualities were highlighted, and augmented by the lack of such ships by the British navy, who was fighting alone at the time against the Axis.

BACK TO THE FILM: "SINK THE BISMARCK"

There are action sequences that begin with the mighty Bismarck and the Hipper Class heavy cruiser, Prince Eugen leaving the foggy Norwegian Fiords. From there we have the historic battles that ensue, beginning with the sinking of the Hood, and ending with the sinking of the Bismarck, all within about a week's time. The story is kept logical, and coherent by using the British Admiralty, and the Chief of Staff, played by Kenneth More, to keep us informed on the British front. On the German front, we go aboard the Bismarck and see the dialogues mostly between the Captain and Admiral Lutgens. Most of this is probably fictionalized, but the actual battles, and chronology are surprisingly close to the historic record.

BOTTOM LINE:

A very interesting, and entertaining film that I have watched and enjoyed several times a year since it was released 45 years ago. I must admit, I feel quite sad when ships are sunk regardless of which side they are on. The loss of life, and degree of suffering that went on as a result of the sinking of the two great ships, is probably the least depicted part of the story, as nearly 3,000 seamen died rather horribly.