Rating (2 out of 5)
Summary: “Castles in the Sky” (on Prime) contains all the components for a great World War II BBC film. Unfortunately, multiple montages, an uncomfortable phone dancing scene, and worst Churchhill ever make “Castles in the Sky” an uncomfortable and uninspiring film.
Plot: The British government is concerned about the Germany military build-up and ask for a death ray to knock planes down. Robert Watson Watt (Eddie Izard) informs the best they can manage is a warning device to advising them of attacking planes. They rush to create radar before the Germans attack.
What I Liked: The introduction scene presented ministers reviewing top secret photos and meeting together to discuss actions to prepare for the German onslaught drew the audience into the problem quickly and entertainingly.
What I Didn’t Like: Towards the end of the movie, Robert and his wife Margaret (Laura Fraser) listen to the radio and dance together. We didn’t need a faux phone sex scene, we needed more story about creating radar and the team. The faux phone sex scene disturbed me.
“Castles in the Sky” wins an award for worst Churchill (Tim McInnery) ever in the history of the BBC or the world. We all laughed out loud when he started speaking.
Not only did we get one geeks solving the problem montage, but we received two. Two!! One montage per more movie is enough. My other complaint was you didn’t get to observe what all the men brought to the team. Instead, they delivered a game of cricket in the marsh, drinking games at the pub. Cut these scenes and the montages and give the audience more about how the team solved the problems or relationship between each other.
In addition, they started with the timeline, clearly presenting the top-secret photos taken in 1935. We had to rewind to mark the date. Unfortunately, no more markers are shown to the audience until you see the date for the Battle of Britain. The years would have increased the understanding of their accomplishment.
Albert Rowe (Julian Rhind-Tutt) gave Robert his pen when he signs the secrecy agreement at the beginning of the film. At end of the movie when the war has started and he isn’t allowed into the control room for the blitz. Albert takes the pen away, from Robert in some symbolic act. Please!!!