303 Squadron Movie, Polish Hurricane Pilots

[williamj]

 

 

Another love story with planes in it.....    

[williamj]

 No..it sure isn't.. Had a few good moments there.

[MikeMaben]

4 hours ago, williamj said:

 

 

Another love story with planes in it.....    

 

  

 

 

[Tony T]

Good yarn with lots of clichés and obviously not a lavish production, but I'll watch anything with Stephanie Martini in it. 

The underlying message of the poor treatment of some of the Poles at war's end disturbed me. I met two Polish fliers in the 1960a-1970s who had made a home in Britain so some stayed and made a success of life here.

 

Tony 

 

 

[LSP_Ray]

Haven't seen it yet, but sounds very similar to Dark Blue World, about Czech pilots in the RAF.

[K5IKL]

Was it Mission Of Honor?  Daughter sent me the trailer on it.  Suppose to be one coming out in 

Nov. called "303 Squadron" and its trailer is different.

 

Cheers,

Jerry

[R Palimaka]

It's a little confusing. There were two movies released last year about 303 Squadron in the Battle of Britain, and one of them changed titles after release.

 

One was filmed in the UK and was originally called "Hurricane". That was the one starring Milo Gibson and Stephanie Martini. It was later changed to "Mission of Honour".

 

The other was filmed in Poland and was simply called "303 Squadron" (or "Dywizjon 303" in Poland)  Almost all the actors in that one were Polish.

 

Neither one had a very large budget and it showed in the aerial sequences.

 

I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of 303 Squadron in Warsaw in August. My dad is one of the last surviving members of the squadron, and he was invited to be a guest of honour. It was a pretty surreal experience, on the red carpet with the stars of the film and all kinds of generals and in front of TV crews and reporters. Dad was treated like a hero, and didn't seem nervous at all...took part in interviews like he did it every day! Three generations...me, my son and my dad with my youngest brother.

 

 

Richard

[BiggTim]

1 hour ago, R Palimaka said:

It's a little confusing. There were two movies released last year about 303 Squadron in the Battle of Britain, and one of them changed titles after release.

 

One was filmed in the UK and was originally called "Hurricane". That was the one starring Milo Gibson and Stephanie Martini. It was later changed to "Mission of Honour".

 

The other was filmed in Poland and was simply called "303 Squadron" (or "Dywizjon 303" in Poland)  Almost all the actors in that one were Polish.

 

Neither one had a very large budget and it showed in the aerial sequences.

 

I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of 303 Squadron in Warsaw in August. My dad is one of the last surviving members of the squadron, and he was invited to be a guest of honour. It was a pretty surreal experience, on the red carpet with the stars of the film and all kinds of generals and in front of TV crews and reporters. Dad was treated like a hero, and didn't seem nervous at all...took part in interviews like he did it every day! Three generations...me, my son and my dad with my youngest brother.

 

Richard

That is EXTREMELY cool!!! What an experience, and an interesting legacy your dad has given you!

 

https://www.theobserver.ca/news/local-news/port-lambton-veteran-makes-a-splash-at-film-premiere

 

Tim

Edited March 28, 2019 by BiggTim

[R Palimaka]

1 hour ago, BiggTim said:

That is EXTREMELY cool!!! What an experience, and an interesting legacy your dad has given you!

 

https://www.theobserver.ca/news/local-news/port-lambton-veteran-makes-a-splash-at-film-premiere

 

Tim

 

Thank you Tim!  He is quite a force, and has accomplished and experienced so much in his 93 years. Thanks also for posting that article! I'd forgotten about that...you had to have done some digging. 

 

Richard

[BiggTim]

I also found the article by the 303 Squadron vodka makers where they gave him the Squadron Leaders boxed set as a gift! Very cool, and well deserved.

[ade rowlands]

I found 'Hurricane' to be a little disappointing. Like the story of the Tuskegee Airmen the story of the Polish Squadrons is a story that NEEDS to be told but told properly. Sadly I think this means its only ever going to appeal to us who are really interested in the story and history in the first place and not to the general movie going public. So the story will always be condensed and embellished and have all the cliches thrown at it to entertain the masses for the 90 minutes to 2 hours it takes these days. We'll only ever learn about the proper story from documentaries, books and articles I think. Speaking of, if you can find it there a documentary called 'Bloody Foreigners' made a few years ago that does a good job of telling the story and a number of years ago I read a book called 'For your Freedom and ours' the in depth story of 303 Squadron and its people. I can still remember the feelings of shame and guilt and anger of their treatment at the end of the war that I felt on finishing the book.