"P-51's! Cadillacs of the sky!"

Rating: 9/10 (16 March 2009)

I first saw this film when I was maybe 9 or 10 and it made a huge impression on me. Everything about the film is just perfect - the way it looks and feels, the acting and the script, the beautiful music. I was, and still am, a bit of WWII plane enthusiast in my youth, and the scene where the P-51 fly's past Jim on the rooftop was just so awesome to behold! Spielberg is a master who can easily balance high drama with spectacle. Bale and Malkovich are both excellent and Nigel Havers is also very good as the interment camp doctor. My favourite parts of the film are when Jim returns to his house and stays there all by himself, and the whole second half of the film in the internment camp. Highly recommended and worth checking out. This is one of Spielberg's lesser known films but it is an absolute gem.