It's sad that folks on my side of the Atlantic pond don't know about Douglas Bader and the inspirational figure that he is. Talk about overcoming handicaps, the challenge he met would have defeated most any other person.Kenneth More was at his career height in the British cinema when he played Bader in the biographical picture Reach For The Sky. We meet Bader first as a brash young recruit in the Royal Air Force who thinks he's going to teach the pros about flying. A nasty crackup by a reckless Bader leaves him with both legs amputated.But that's not going to keep Bader from a career in the Royal Air Force. The crash took place in the middle 30s giving him just enough time to mend and train to become a squadron commander in the RAF with more than his kills in the sky of the Luftwaffe before he was shot down over occupied France and made a prisoner for four years.Wikipedia paints a slightly different of a far more earthy Bader, one that would be known for his salty language which the British cinema even without the Hollywood Code would be loath to show. Probably if Reach For The Sky was made today with someone like Russell Crowe in the lead we'd get Bader warts and all.Even laundered Reach For The Sky is a fine tribute to one who would be a hero in any country. The United Kingdom was lucky to have Douglas Bader answer his country's call in their finest hour.

The story of the British air ace Douglas Bader,an inspiring film after all these years.Douglas Bader was an extremely fit sporting young man,who at the peak of his physical prowess lost his legs in a plane crash.The first part of the film establishes his determination not to be beaten by his handicap.Golf proves away to challenge himself,he also finds a wife.Bored with his life in an office,the out break of WW2 gives him the chance to fly again.Determined to get in the RAF he has medicals and gets back in.Bader is given a squadron of disillusioned flyer's,initially they oppose him, but having seen him fly they are won round.A difficult man Bader takes short cuts to get the equipment he needs for his squadron upsetting some of his superiors.However his tactics are brilliant and before long he is in charge of five squadrons inflicting heavy losses on the German air force during the battle of Britain.On one flight his plane is shot down,Bader escapes by leaving one of his false legs behind.The RAF drops of a spare,in spite of all his difficulties he manages to escape three times .Bader never let a chance go to bait the German guards even inspecting them before heading to Colditz castle.The performance from Kenneth More in the title roll is excellent,given good support from Muriel Pavlov and Nigel Green.I would like a remake,as after all these yeatrs it could be more honest,brutal and would make a big star of the leading actor.

You could run out of clichés and superlatives to describe a man like Douglas Bader. Indomitable, a hero, an example to us all. Where to stop? This movie chronicles the wartime life of Bader the disabled pilot. Unlike most, he fought several wars. One was for his life after his legs were destroyed in a crash, another was to walk again without any visible support. A third was against the bureaucrats who insisted he would never fly again. And after all that, he took on the Luftwaffe. Whatever criticisms may be levied against his personal character, this man was such a tower of strength that those who seek to denigrate him stand like resentful pygmies in his shadow. I, for one, cannot begin to imagine the hardships he experienced from the loss of his athletic prowess to the agony of his time in hospital. Compared to them, shooting at German planes must have seemed like child's play. Though that experience alone was enough to break the spirit of many a whole-bodied man. There really was only one actor to play his part in a movie and Kenneth More was he. You might say he was born to it. I don't know how close he came to the real character of Bader, but neither he nor the movie seems to shy away either from his reckless courage or his self-centredness. We see  glimpses of the latter on the golf course when he won't give up, and has his wife - played by the excellent Muriel Pavlow - running and fetching the ball like a dog. At other times, he is tearing around in a Bentley with almost no regard for his passengers or the public alike. Even after he has been liberated from Germany, he can't give up the fight, and thoughtlessly pursues his dreams of combat east. Never once do we see him consult his wife's interests. Bader was a driven man. If not he would never have survived the crash, never have walked again without a stick, never have got into the air again. Single-minded? you bet. And you take it or leave it. This movie was made in 1956. As it's a post-war production there's no propaganda drum to beat. It can and does stick pretty-well to the story, and captures all of the social and cultural attitudes of the time like a miniature documentary. The combat scenes are also very well done.There was a time in this country when men like Bader set a standard to which most people at least aspired. It was the sort of foolhardy courage and selfless determination for which the Victoria Cross was struck.But not any more. Today's Britain really is 'Little Britain', and in more ways than one. It's people have slipped into a cynical, self-indulgent pathos. It has become fashionable to denigrate our true heroes for the simple reason that nowadays few could even begin to measure up to the standards of personal pride, civil responsibility, and social obligation that were once benchmarks of national behaviour. Today a hero is someone who can withstand abuse on reality TV shows. They can sing a 2-minute song more tunefully than their competitors. Or they can score goals in a football team. For all of these things they are applauded, honoured, and paid millions. If you're a foul-mouthed cook you can poison the nation's ears if not its bellies, if you're a one-legged, gold-digging woman you are entitled to millions of pounds towards which you have made not a penny's contribution. Today, a crippled warrior can expect less sympathy or compensation than an insulted criminal.There's no room for the right stuff in this country any more. Today we don't reach for the sky; we stoop to mediocrity. The money's better, it's a lot safer, and we don't make others feel inadequate.

The facts of Douglas Bader's life were accurately portrayed in this excellent movie. It is a great movie to watch when you are feeling lousy, and life has got you down. Douglas Bader had an amazing spirit, and lived life to the fullest. Eventhough his lost both of his legs in a flying accident. That did not stop him from becoming a war hero. Who contributed a lot to destroy Nazism, and to preserve our free way of life. I salute Douglas Bader, and this excellent movie about his life.