The British movie 633 Squadron is an entertaining air combat movie. It has a little bit of everything in it. It is part adventure story, war movie , suicide mission and romance. Although it is not great it has a lot of potential and would be a great choice for a remake. None of the actors is remarkable, exchanging them wouldn’t do any harm and the special effects could do with some revamping as well. Still if you have a special interest in aircraft you might want to watch it as it gives you the possibility of seeing a real Mosquito (as far as I know only one is the real thing, the others were remade). The Mosquito was a funny, enduring little plane and is one of the rare made of wood. When it entered production in was one of the fastest operating aircraft.
“In 1940 I could at least fly as far as Glasgow in most of my aircraft, but not now! It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again…” (Hermann Göring)
The story of 633 Squadron resembles the story of the much better movie The Dam Busters. A group of pilots has to go on a secret mission and drop bombs on a German rocket fuel factory that is based in Norway. The Norwegian resistance does also play a part in it and the squadron leader falls in love with the sister of one of their members. The squadron is a typical war movie squadron that pushes diversity to the limits. We see British, Irish, Scottish, Australian and Indian members. The accents are quite enjoyable if you go for that kind of detail. The mission itself is quite gripping and suspenseful. The losses were, as could be expected, extremely high.
633 Squadron is loosely based on a true story which makes it interesting to watch, still I would say if you want to see two really great British WWII air combat movies, go for The Battle of Britain or the aforementioned The Dam Busters.
All About War Movies 
The Mosquitoes used in the movie are of the B.Mk.IX or XVI versions with bulged bomb bays to accommodate 4,000 lbs ‘Cookies’. The bombardiers’ clear noses were painted over and a quartet of ‘machine guns’ (but not the four 20mm cannon) added to make the aircraft look like FB.Mk.VIs.
Thanks for the info. I am defintely a layperson…
A nice vid of probably my favourite plane, should be #1 in this list though
Thanks a lot. Just watched it. It really was an ingenious little plane.
How can you forget the best thing about the movie? The great score! I know “The Dam Busters” is the better movie and has a famous theme, but I prefer the theme from 633. Absolutely stirring!
I agree with your analysis. It is an entertaining movie that does not quite work. The forcing of George Chakiris into the cast to woo a teenybopper audience was a mistake. The models are ridiculous looking. Not a big fan of CGI, but this movie would benefit from it.
If they do a remake, I have only one request – bigger role for the female Gestapo agent! Angelina Jolie, please.
I didn’t mention the score because that is not my kind of score. And I didn’t mention the Gestapo woman because apparently there is some dominatrix fantasies cicrcling around that role. It is a cult role. I would cut it out in a remake. You wanted to gets rid of the dog’s name in The Dam Busters, now lets get rid of punishing females in uniforms.
I thought I was the only one who noticed her. I just found it amazing they put a female in the role and then did not do anything with the character. Perhaps the whip scene was left on the cutting room floor. Or perhaps the director wanted to leave it up to the imagination – shame.
No, apparently the scene is discussed and is considered to be a real cult scene. I’m not sure it boosted her career. Never seen that woman again. But looking at it closely it’s a very odd role…
Well seeing what can be done nowadays they should remake it
I just don’t think they will. How’s The Tuskegee Airmen remake doing btw? I think they rather do reamke’s of more famous movies. I’m surprised they won’t try a remake of The Battle of Britain.
You know my feelings about remakes. We need more makes! There are plenty of great war stories waiting to be scripted. Why waste time and effort on a mediocre story that has been done before? As far as remaking BoB, the days of the all-star epics are gone. No studio would remake that movie. The last time we had a movie like that it was Thin Red Line and that was done because of Mallick’s involvement, so its an exception.
I have a vague (79 year old) memory of Ron Goodwin explainig that the rythm for the theme was based on the squadron number 633.
di di di di di di da da da da da da
6 3 3
Such an exiting, well written and arranged piece of memorable film music. Thanks Ron Goodwin.
The film is worth watching for the Mosqito flying shots and the and Ron Goodwin`s score.
I didn’t know that, thanks for telling me. That’s interesting. You have a good memory. The tune is quite catching. I agree, the movie has some great elements. I need to re-watch it one of these days.