Simviation Forums

Deary me. After U-571 and Ben Affleck winning the BoB in Pearl Harbo(u)r, Hollywood has done it again! This time it's Top Gun, and that even had a British director!

Only joking.

Seriously though, this is a good article in today's Telegraph, describing the role played by Royal Navy instructors setting up the USNFWS in the late-60s, when the USN were having a tough time in Vietnam - particularly with the Phantom. It's from a decent author to - Rowland White, who is best known for his bestselling story of the Black Buck raid of XM607 during the Falklands.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5032158/American-Top-Gun-fighter-pilot-academy-set-up-by-British.html

I hope the book is better written than that article which I find extremely difficult to read.

I hope the book is better written than that article which I find extremely difficult to read.

It's the Telegraph - what do you expect? Just be thankful it wasn't one of the higher quality dailies! There's a danger the person writing the article has a degree - in something - not necessarily English.

As for the book, his previous was Vulcan 607, of which I haven't heard a bad word, and thoroughly enjoyed reading myself.

There was also an accompanying article about Hollywood and its portrayal of history via the silver screen.   Flexing the truth

Matt

[quote]There was also an accompanying article about Hollywood and its portrayal of history via the silver screen.

Makes you wonder what Hollywood will do with the Dambusters remake. Could a B-17 have lifted Upkeep? Brad Pitt for Gibson maybe?

Makes you wonder what Hollywood will do with the Dambusters remake. Could a B-17 have lifted Upkeep? Brad Pitt for Gibson maybe?

Or the Cockleshell Hero's..................Chuck Norris in a Ridged Raider

Matt

Makes you wonder what Hollywood will do with the Dambusters remake. Could a B-17 have lifted Upkeep? Brad Pitt for Gibson maybe?

That's not Hollywood though, and is being made by someone with an historic appreciation.

Makes you wonder what Hollywood will do with the Dambusters remake. Could a B-17 have lifted Upkeep? Brad Pitt for Gibson maybe?

That's not Hollywood though, and is being made by someone with an historic appreciation.

Apparently Mel Gibson originally acquired the rights with the idea of directing it so a Hollywood version was not so far-fetched. People tend to forget that there were a lot of Commonwealth aircrew in RAF Bomber Command & 617 Squadron had its fair share of Australians, Canadians & New Zealanders. Apologies to any that I've left out.

Is there any news on progress? The last I heard was back in 2006. Peter Jackson will be the producer with his protege Christian Rivers directing. Sir David Frost was involved as executive producer & Stephen Fry writing the script.

It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Very difficult to improve on a classic even if the original was in black & white. That adds to the authenticity for me. I read somewhere that they had already started work on full-sized Lancaster replicas. The main difference will be that they had real Lancasters available for the original film. CGI is very clever now but it cannot take the place of the real thing.

Unfortunately I suspect the whole project will be overshadowed by controversy over the name of W/Cdr Guy Gibson's dog. Whatever they decide to do it's a no-win situation.

Makes you wonder what Hollywood will do with the Dambusters remake. Could a B-17 have lifted Upkeep? Brad Pitt for Gibson maybe?

That's not Hollywood though, and is being made by someone with an historic appreciation.

Is there any news on progress? The last I heard was back in 2006. Peter Jackson will be the producer with his protege Christian Rivers directing. Sir David Frost was involved as executive producer & Stephen Fry writing the script.

It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Very difficult to improve on a classic even if the original was in black & white. That adds to the authenticity for me. I read somewhere that they had already started work on full-sized Lancaster replicas. The main difference will be that they had real Lancasters available for the original film. CGI is very clever now but it cannot take the place of the real thing.

Unfortunately I suspect the whole project will be overshadowed by controversy over the name of W/Cdr Guy Gibson's dog. Whatever they decide to do it's a no-win situation.

I had a look at Weta studios' website the other day, and there's no mention of it there, although there were reports of production having started (large scale lanc reproductions etc). Hopefully they'll achieve a good balance of CGI, and real live footage.