historical bs but entertaining

Rating: 6/10 (11 January 2018)

This is an entertaining movie (with flaws) but historically BS. The story is out of context, historically silly, and negligently incorrect. Before applauding the movie, read some books written by respected authors of the time, and/or respected and accepted historians. This movie just repeats the same tired old stereotypes of noble england and their virtuous cause. Same story, nothing new; historically inaccurate. This movie though takes it to a laughable extreme. Take for example, at the end of the movie, churchill gives a speech saying something like the new world will restore the old world meaning even if england is invaded and subdued, the rest of the empire will resurrect it. He may have given such a speech, I don't know, however you can check for yourself, most of the empire broke off from the old order within 20 years after the end of wwii. In modern times, the brits have been responsible for more colonism and subjugation than any other country besides russia and wherever they've been, they've left behind a mess. Many parts of the world are still in turmoil since the brits exited. The most egregious example has to be pakistan/india where a nuclear war between the two countries could break out at any time. But, the repeated message throughout the movie is the noble purpose to which churchill is striving for, i.e. preventing nazi domination, yet of course no mention of the colonism and subjugation they've imposed on others for hundreds of years. Churchill is a worthwhile subject for a movie but they should have concentrated on the man, not his mission. His placement in society and his flaws instead of his ambitions and quirky character traits.
The movie also portrays churchill as deeply disliked and surrounded by enemies at the start of the war. They've made him out to be a comic book character by glossing over the important stuff. Actually, churchill was a firebrand before becoming pm. True, he wasn't universally liked by his peers or the public. He was deeply critical of chamberlain and his government and spent years before the war not just critiquing the govt but actively trying to get england prepared for war, in very concrete ways which sometimes bordered on treason. Like in america, the public was deeply against war but once it started, and again like america (and most countries really), public opinion changed quickly. But what's not covered in the movie is that it was months after the polish invasion, before hitler invaded to the west. Both the french and the english did little during this time to prepare. Afterall, the french had the largest army in the world and a line of defense that was supposedly impenetrable, so both countries were criminally complacent. When the blitzkreig hit, it caught their armies completely off balance and it was clear that england needed a war time leader. Churchill was chosen because he was the leading firebrand against the germans and deeply popular among the pro war factions. Who else to lead the country which was at war already? Churchill, not halifax, was the obvious choice. The decision was made, he became pm and the idea that the govt would collapse and go back to chamberlain or halifax is nonsense. There may have been talks of appeasement and negotiation thru the italians, but I doubt very much that churchill worried much about the collapse of his govt or that anything he was doing was at all wrong since he had been preparing for this role for many years. In many respects it was a role he had been preparing for, and wanted, all his life. You have to have drama to be entertaining but when you insert the wrong dramatic elements, it doesn't change history, but it does change how many people remember history and that is wrong and irresponsible for whatever entertainment value you get out of it. The self-critical, indecisive churchill portrayed in the movie didn't exist.
The movie was entertaining but not great film making. There are a lot of stupid elements and plot points that make no sense and were idiotic. Like why are so many characters talking with a lisp? I know churchill had a kind of a lisp, which john lithgow portrays brilliantly in the crown, but throughout the movie you have many characters, including churchill talking with a lisp in one scene, and then the lisp mysteriously disappears in another. Maybe they all had lisps, I dunno, but completely irrelevant to the story and historically unimportant.
And on an unrelated note, as with all the preceding movies like this, there's no mention of ireland. You know, the island to the left that was at war with england for hundreds of years. Period movies like this never mention ireland or what role it played during the war. On the other hand, england is always portrayed as this poor little island country withstanding the onslaught of the nazis on their own. At least geographically speaking, they weren't alone and given irelands size and proximity, it played a very important role in the survival of england that has been overlooked for 80 years. Yes, it was neutral during the war but it still played an important part in the war that's been overlooked.