The Dam Busters | Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      The Dam Busters

      1955 1 hr. 59 min. War History Drama Action List
      100% 12 Reviews Tomatometer 84% 2,500+ Ratings Audience Score After inventing the "bouncing bomb," which can skip across water until it encounters a dam to explode, Dr. Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) struggles for years to develop his new device for use in World War II. Once the bombs are ready to be tested, Wing Commander Guy Gibson's (Richard Todd) squadron must be specially trained to drop the sensitive weapons on Germany's Ruhr Dams. Based on true events, this British film features a legendary grand finale of special effects. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

      View All (205) audience reviews
      Sharon S This is based on the true story of the RAF's 617 Squadron - The Dambusters. The film takes you from the inception of the bouncing bomb and the creation of the squadron to undertake the task of bombing the German dams during the second world war. Michael Redgrave is superb as Barns Wallace the inventor, along side Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson. The music gets at the emotions aswell. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/01/23 Full Review saul e What I love about this movie (despite the dogs name) is that it really a 100% accurate war movie. I don't think the film is dated and still an enjoyable war movie Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Fantastic film. Fairly close to alot of the events and a fitting tribute to Barnes Wallis. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member It's a classic, about an important raid of ww2. Abit dated by today's standards perhaps but it's an important part of the history. Although it doesn't exactly posses that star quality. There are other ww2 films that you could watch that are much better. Like 'The great escape' But it's not a bad watch to see how they did it. Although not all the information is in this film and when it was made much of it was still classified The music and the damn busters theme is probably the most notable part of the film. All in all, it's not a bad film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review andy f One of the greatest world war 2 movies. It avoids too much sentimentality and brings to life not only the spirit of these great men, but if also vividly captures the tension of the mission. Exceptional. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review William L Going through classic films, I often find myself agreeing with critics in most circumstances, but not so with The Dam Busters. While beloved in British households, the film has aged very poorly and is an absolute slog; I can only imagine a shared sense of patriotism was responsible for buoying the film's reputation to the modern day. Slow, unengaging, and unexciting, the films seems to have a winning premise (the development of a technological advancement that few believe in, and the clandestine training of a specialty unit to deploy it against the Nazi war machine), but develops little empathy for its characters and focuses far too much time on individual scenes than necessary; fifteen minutes or so could have been shaved off relatively easily. The special effects may have been strong for the time, and can hardly be criticized in that regard as the production team did the best with what was available, though they are noticeably antiquated. Can hardly call this one a film for the ages. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/31/20 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      More Like This

      View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
      67% 56% Force 10 From Navarone 87% 90% The Longest Day TRAILER for The Longest Day 75% 71% Morituri 81% 90% The Dirty Dozen 96% 91% Zulu Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

      Movie News & Guides

      View All Movie News & Guides

      This movie is featured in the following articles.

      6 Classic Movies That Clearly Inspired Star Wars Peter Jackson Backs "Dambusters" Remake

      Photos

      View All The Dam Busters photos

      The Dam Busters

      The Dam Busters (1955) The Dam Busters (1955) The Dam Busters (1955) The Dam Busters (1955) View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (12) Critics Reviews
      Jean Yothers Orlando Sentinel Michael Redgrave is fine as the dedicated scientist who invents the bomb, and Richard Todd is lust right in the role of an RAF wine commander. Sep 27, 2021 Full Review Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: 4/5 Aug 2, 2005 Full Review Almar Haflidason BBC.com Rated: 5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Alistair Lawrence Common Sense Media So while some social norms, as well as ideas of what cinematic action sequences should entail, have evolved, The Dam Busters remains a well-crafted portrayal that does justice to the memory of its heroes. Rated: 4/5 Nov 6, 2023 Full Review Roger Moore Movie Nation Very British, very "Italian Job" without the laughs. Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 28, 2021 Full Review Neely Swanson Easy Reader (California) It is a great example of a story told chronologically that remains interesting throughout. Mar 23, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis After inventing the "bouncing bomb," which can skip across water until it encounters a dam to explode, Dr. Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave) struggles for years to develop his new device for use in World War II. Once the bombs are ready to be tested, Wing Commander Guy Gibson's (Richard Todd) squadron must be specially trained to drop the sensitive weapons on Germany's Ruhr Dams. Based on true events, this British film features a legendary grand finale of special effects.
      Director
      Michael Anderson
      Screenwriter
      R.C. Sherriff
      Production Co
      Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC)
      Genre
      War, History, Drama, Action
      Original Language
      English (United Kingdom)