Reviews

The movie is largely based on Martin Gilbert's 'Finest Hour'. Many lines of dialogue are taken verbatim. If you want to get a view of Churchill this is the book to read. Churchill's pugnaciousness, burning charisma and appalling political track record come over well.

As a dramatic representation of perhaps 10% of the book it does well overall.

The key roles of the major players: Churchill, Halifax, Chamberlain are accurate.

The bunker, in which much of the movie is set is filmed in the actual place and is open to the public. It drips with history.

The underground railway scene in which Churchill decides to fight on is totally fictitious. It is very unlikely that Churchill ever rode the London 'tube' in his life.

He was born into the aristocracy: his grandfather was the Duke of Marlborough. These people do not listen to people who travel on the tube! They are servants at best and cannon fodder at worst. The notion of people on the tube and Churchill quoting 'Horatio on the Bridge' at each other is laughable.

I am left wondering why the film's producers would go to great lengths to show historical accuracy for most of the film and then let it down with complete rubbish at the end.

This inevitably raises the question 'if this scene is fictitious, what else is?'

My wife and I were spellbound. This has engaging characters; a subtle plot and excellent performances.

The reason that the plot is so mesmerising is that it is so feasible. It is totally believable that a young boy could panic and do something, which he then sees is stupid. It is totally believable that the family and step family will act as they did. The intra-family tensions have an inevitability,which mirrors real life.

As the two sides of the family start to fragment under the pressure of suspicion the feeling is that, like a Greek tragedy, they may not want to do so but nothing can stop it happening.

There is excellent directing and first rate performances both from the lead actors and the young actors who play the family.

I saw it as a single piece, rather than the original two. It is better viewed as a single whole! We would absolutely recommend this!