Happy Star Wars Day!

[WF7A]

I agree! Dambusters is top-notch film (and I, too, like it better than Star Wars.) I heard a rumor about a remake; what a supremely bad idea--there's no way it can be better than the original.

[KD0CAC]

I worked for George and then a general contractor off & on for a few yrs. , building his new place in Marin county back in the mid 80s - Skywalker Ranch , even had his own fire department with Skywalker on the door of the fire truck .
I have lots of pictures , but will not post because there were a lot of issues back then .
He was great to work for .
While I was there , as I remember , they were doing the Ewok movie , and for a few days these little furry creatures were running around
Quite the place , main house was 68,000 sq. ft. under roof .

[N8CPA]

For all the hype, IMHO nothing is Star Wars is nearly as good as this film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCRIsjJFRNo

which really happened.

Supposedly a remake is in the works.

George Lucas himself has credited "The Dambusters" as inspiration for the death star scene, right down to the dialogue.

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What should be made is an all-up film about the August 1, 1943 raid on Ploesti.

73 de Jim, N2EY

That has long been one of my favorite WWII movies. And I recognized it as the inspiration for that scene the first time I saw Star Wars. But I could not remember the name of the source movie when my family discussed it after seeing Star Wars. All I could do was ask, "Didn't anyone else see that movie on the Late Show about the RAF having to skip the bombs to blow up that dam?" No one else had ever seen it.

Seeing that clip is first time I've seen it since learning Morse. .. .. .. .. .. .. .-.-. "That is all."

[N8CPA]

Dupe. That is all, really.

[W7JZE]

For all the hype, IMHO nothing is Star Wars is nearly as good as this film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCRIsjJFRNo

which really happened.

Supposedly a remake is in the works.

George Lucas himself has credited "The Dambusters" as inspiration for the death star scene, right down to the dialogue.

---

What should be made is an all-up film about the August 1, 1943 raid on Ploesti.

73 de Jim, N2EY

Did you catch the CW at ~3:20? Seems like real CW letters and a correctly used prosign, "AR" (end of message) . No words, but maybe the message was supposed to be in 'code'. Easy copy, except when the actor talks over it, hence my "?" below on the "L". Here is what I get:

GONEN GL(?) II AR

What do you copy?

[N2EY]

Did you catch the CW at ~3:20? Seems like real CW letters and a correctly used prosign, "AR" (end of message) . No words, but maybe the message was supposed to be in 'code'. Easy copy, except when the actor talks over it, hence my "?" below on the "L". Here is what I get:

GONEN GL(?) II AR

What do you copy?

It's the actual code words. "Goner" was the word, not "gonen".

What they did was to assign code words to a particular message. IIRC, "Goner" meant "dam breached". That way, the message got through but only those who knew the meaning of the code word understood it.

They didn't just skip the bombs, though. The bombs were special - round rather than shaped like a finned bomb. There was a motor arrangement which spun the dern thing up to a couple of hundred rpm so that it was spinning when it left the plane, which helped it skip over the water and roll down the wall of the dam.

So all they had to do was take the big Lancasters, with their 4 Merlin engines, down to about 50 feet over the water, fly in a straight line towards the dam, and release the bomb at precisely the right moment, using a device that looked like a demented coat hanger. All this while the bomb was spinning away in the bomb bay, creating a gyroscopic effect. While the enemy was shooting at them with all they had.

Because it was a low-level raid, they went in at low level too. And just to make it more of a sporting course, do it all at night.

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One of the things that makes films like "The Dambusters" and "A Night To Remember" so great IMHO is the British sense of restraint rather than overacting. They say so much more with a few words and a look.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[N2EY]

I agree! Dambusters is top-notch film (and I, too, like it better than Star Wars.) I heard a rumor about a remake; what a supremely bad idea--there's no way it can be better than the original.

I think a remake could be done well. All depends on who did it. Trouble is, today they'd probably pull out all the special-effects stops and neglect the story.

73 de Jim, N2EY

[N0SYA]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...k4wq5H7XM&NR=1

[G0GQK]

They practiced a long time flying Lancasters fifty feet above a dam somewhere in Wales if my memory serves me right. They had a lamp of some sort shining down to the water to have the correct height. A few years ago they made a TV beer advert featuring this war time operation and it was made as a comedy. Can't remember the details but the look on the face of the German soldier standing on the dam as this Lancaster came hammering down the water towards him was hilarious. it might have been Heineken ! Is that German ?

Typical British humour of course, we have the ability to make jokes about everything, like Blackadder as an officer in the trenches in World War I. Its what makes us so loveable !

[W4HAY]

The dark side goes retro...