In World War II there were so many forgotten heroes.
It's 1950 and the height of the cold war in Communist-ruled, post-war Czechoslovakia. Ex-RAF Czech pilot Frantisek Sláma (Ondrej Vetchý) - a man in his early forties - is confined to a labour camp as an "enemy of the people", because he had flown for the RAF during WWII. The new totalitarian communist regime deemed him contaminated by the western ideals of democracy and freedom and as such a potential threat to the state.
Flashback to March 1939, just before world peace is irredeemably shattered. Franta congratulates his protégé, fresh-faced young trainee pilot Karel Vojtisek (Krystof Hádek), for passing his flying test. Soon afterwards, Franta and Karel escape Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and reach England, where they join the RAF. Both men fall in love with the same woman, Susan (Tara Fitzgerald). For Karel, Susan was his first love. The men's friendship is tested to its limit.
Special Agent Matti
Wow, World War II from behind the Iron Curtain.
Dark blue world offers you a look at what life was like for people who were trapped in those eastern European countries that got invaded by both sides during the war. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Meanwhile, Pearl Harbour gets played out in England (two pilot friends falling in love with the same woman during wartime with tragic results) except there's a difference in the ages of the actors (not everyone who fought during the war was 19). Krystof Hádek is irrepressibly cute in that toussle-haired, Aryan kind of way and brings a nice touch of naïveté to his impassioned character. Ondrej Vetchý is handsome in that beloved uncle/hero of the revolution way, which makes Tara Fitzgerald's task suitably difficult: all the passion of a gorgeous young stud or the deep, rich warmth of a grown man. I know which one I'd pick (not that anyone offered).
So the story is not so original but the action is great: dogfights, attack runs, crash landings, explosions, bullets, death, injuries, maiming... everything you could ask for from a war film. There are also many moments of humour and fear as it's hard to tell just who will die until the film's near the end. If you like war movies, Dark blue world is meat and potatoes. Watch it in conjunction with Enigma and you've got a damned good couple of Euro-war films.
M (Low level violence)
114 minutes (1:54 hours)
Film: 18 April 2002
DVD rental: 26 February 2003
VHS rental: 26 February 2003