Rent Spitfire Over Berlin (2022)

Lame, wooden, badly-written WWII RAF drama - Spitfire Over Berlin review by PV

OK so I always have a soft spot for low budget British films - and those made by the fwar film company TIN HAT productions set up by Callum Burn (born 1992) and his dad Andrew (each get 10+ multitasking mentions on the credits) cost £80,000 or so. It is possible, The very decent horror film CANARIES cost less than £30,000.

But, and it is a BIG but, it all looks very cheap and underproduced, with a risible script, even if the film is just over 70 minutes. The acting (which includes Callum and his dad plus those who acted in their other warplane films) is so wooden it could make a spoon to stir it up a bit - which is badly needed.

Worst of all is the script. Writers and authors spend hours, months, years revising and rewriting and perfecting novels and scripts and screenplays, getting professional advice and editing often. That does not seem to have happened here. The flimsy script could maybe carry a short film of 30 minutes.

The by-numbers script is designed to be low budget as most 'action' takes place in a cockpit. I was a bit baffled plot-wise as there seemed to be NO taking photos of Germany happening at all, and that is the whole point of the mission and this unit in the RAF - which deserves a decent film or at least a part in a war film, as it is a little-known unit.

Best watch BATTLE OF BRITAIN the wonderful 1969 movie then. Or Dark Blue World.; or Reach for the Sky. Or Angels One Five (1954); or Piece of Cake, 1988 TV drama.

I wanted to give this 2 stars but just could not bear to in the end. Maybe 1.5 stars for effort.