The exploits of 303 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain. The squadron consisted of Polish pilots, many of whom were veterans of the air battles involved in Germany’s invasion of Poland.
“Mission of Honor” sounds like an old war video game for Nintendo 64. If you’ve read my previous war movie reviews, you’ll know that with the oversaturated market of war fantasies, my bar is set very high. Give me an original story or stunning spectacle, otherwise, I’m pretty much mentally checked out. I was intrigued when my editor extraordinaire (Thank you, thank you very much – Ed.) sent me this WWII Dog-fighting centered movie.
Iwan Rheon is the lead and I must say it’s kind of tough to fall for his leading man charm. Rheon previously played Ramsay Bolton, one of the most dastardly characters in TV history on “Game of Thrones.” To put it lightly he did lots of horrible things and it’s really jarring to root for him. In “Mission of Honor,” he plays Jan Zumbach, a Polish pilot who rushes to join the Royal Air Force. Rheon impressively has a pretty clean accent, confidently switching from Polish, to French with the majority of his dialogue being in English. The rest of the cast is mostly made up of British actors doing sub-par Eastern European impressions. With his capable linguistics, he helps recruit more Polish countrymen and Czechs to join the squadron. They unite to form the 303 Squadron and become a major thorn for the German Air Force.
The aesthetic has a cozy BBC Sunday programming feel to it. I really enjoyed the earthy tones of the cinematographer and set designers’ color palette. For a low budget movie, the planes and special effects are fine but don’t expect the visceral jolt of “Dunkirk.” The writing leaves much to be desired, many characters feel written from other popular WW II movies and overused tropes. I did love the classic war room machinations, smartly dressed men and women moving models to illustrate the squadron’s progress and losses. The editing, unfortunately, leaves action scenes feeling scattered, possibly in an attempt to obscure the low budget during some explosive set pieces. I don’t want to totally shoot down “Mission of Honor” but I wouldn’t volunteer to watch it again.
Now available on Blu-ray & DVD
