History Film / MemphisBelle

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel:
** A crippled bomber crash lands and explodes on the tarmac in the opening sequence. The crew can be seen trying to escape the bomber just before the explosion.
** The lead bomber, ''Windy City'', catches fire and explodes directly in front of the ''Memphis Belle''. After they fly through the debris, entrails are found greased on the windows of the front of the bomber.
** The deputy-lead bomber, ''C-Cup'', falls out of formation when its nose is blasted off. Its bombardier is seen falling out of the front of the bomber - his parachute not yet attached.
** A crew on their first mission, ''Mother & Country'', is ripped in half by a crashing fighter. Daly, who had befriended his counterpart on the rookie crew, channels his radio to be sure his friend is alive. Instead, Daly listens as the rookie crewmen screams falling to his death.

** Rascal has [[LordOfTheRings traded in his pots and pans]] for a pair of .50 Caliber machine guns.

** Danny helps save someone else's life in ''PulpFiction'', and may be most famous as [[TheOtherMarty THE Other Marty]].

* WarIsHell: While quaint in comparison to war movies such as Saving Private Ryan - the 1990s being a time where war movies weren't quite so cynical - the sequence where letters are read over actual combat footage is particularly moving.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Veterans complained that the crew in the movie talked too much, act unprofessionally, and showed too much concern for their fate. In reality, bomber crews were notoriously fatalistic, having determined that after reaching the halfway point in their tours-of-duty, they were living on borrowed time.

* TheHomewardJourney

** The first was pure RuleOfDrama; a bomber that arrived, badly shot up, with only one wheel down, executed a successful crash landing then exploded, killing all aboard. Likely it was arriving empty with fuel tanks dry; as later shown, a crippled bomber would ditch its guns, ammo and excess fuel to lighten the load. It may have broken up and burned on the tarmac (which would have been even MORE dramatic), but there would be nothing left aboard that ''could'' explode. (Unless they failed to jettison all their bombs, but in that case, they'd have ditched the airplane altogether). Served as a ChekhovsGun to the ''Memphis Belle'' crew, though, when they were caught in a similar situation upon return.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Veterans complained of the ''Mother and Country'' scene listed in High Octane Nightmare Fuel tab--the death-rate on missions was so high that most developed a fatalistic attitude towards their death.
** Was fully on display in the ''Memphis Belle'' after the ''Windy City'' exploded; the crew thought that a quick death was preferable to the alternatives.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The movie is a fictionalization of a 1943 documentary about the ''Memphis Belle'' and her crew--in addition to [[RomanAClef using fictional names for the crew]], the movie combines a number of events from throughout the B-17's career. The film's mission objective and location, for example, is based on the 20th (or 21st/22nd, depending on the source) mission that the ''bomber'' flew (the crew themselves flew four additional missions in other B-17s).
* WarIsHell
* WorldWarTwo

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* Lt Phil Lowenthal: Navigator (D.B. Sweeney)--Morbidly convinced he's going to die.

* ChekovsGun: In addition to the [[MadeOfExplodium crash landing, exploding bomber]] at the beginning, there's the ''C-Cup'' losing a crewman, who falls out of the shattered nose with no parachute. Rascal is ordered to put his safety strap on in the ball turret: that saves his life when the turret is shot off, just like the ''C-Cup'' nose was.

** The first was pure RuleOfDrama; a bomber that arrived, badly shot up, with only one wheel down, executed a successful crash landing then exploded, killing all aboard. Likely it was arriving empty with fuel tanks dry; as later shown, a crippled bomber would ditch its guns, ammo and excess fuel to lighten the load. It may have broken up and burned on the tarmac (which would have been even MORE dramatic), but there would be nothing left aboard that ''could'' explode. (Unless they failed to jettison all their bombs, but in that case, they'd have ditched the airplane altogether). Served as a ChekovsGun to the ''Memphis Belle'' crew, though, when they were caught in a similar situation upon return.

** The first was pure RuleOfDrama; a bomber that arrived, badly shot up, with only one wheel down, executed a successful crash landing then exploded, killing all aboard. Likely it was arriving empty with fuel tanks dry; as later shown, a crippled bomber would ditch its guns, ammo and excess fuel to lighten the load. It may have broken up and burned on the tarmac (which would have been even MORE dramatic), but there would be nothing left aboard that ''could'' explode. Served as a ChekovsGun to the ''Memphis Belle'' crew, though, when they were caught in a similar situation upon return.

-->'''Virgil Hoogesteyer:''' Anyway, Danny, then I'm going to open a whole bunch of restaurants, exactly like the first one. So you can go to Detroit and get the exact same hamburger you got in Baltimore--
-->'''Danny Daly:''' Virge, nobody wants the same old food everywhere they go.
-->'''Virgil Hoogesteyer:''' Sure they do! It's comforting!

* ChekovsGun: In addition to the [[MadeOfExplodium crash landing, exploding bomber]] at the beginning, there's the ''C-Cup'' losing its nose gunner, who falls out of the shattered turret with no parachute. Rascal is ordered to put his safety strap on in the ball turret: that saves his life when the turret is shot off, just like the ''C-Cup'' turret.

** The second was much more justified: the ''Windy City'', which exploded in midair after being hit by a fighter. It was visibly shot up on the fuselage and on the fuel tanks, and fire was visible inside. Since it was carrying a full fuel, bomb and ammo load, an interior fuel fire would have been catastrophic, and that likely destroyed the plane.

** The second was much more justified: the ''Windy City'', which had its engines and fuel tank shot up, then exploded in midair. It was visibly shot up on the fuselage and on the fuel tanks, and fire was visible inside. Since it was carrying a full fuel, bomb and ammo load, an interior fuel fire would have been catastrophic, and that likely destroyed the plane.

** The second was much more justified: the ''Windy City'', which had its engines and fuel tank shot up, then exploded in midair. Since it was carrying a full fuel, bomb and ammo load, an interior fuel fire would have been catastrophic, and that likely destroyed the plane.

** The first was pure RuleOfDrama; a bomber that arrived, badly shot up, with only one wheel down, executed a successful crash landing then exploded, killing all aboard. Likely it was arriving empty with fuel tanks dry; as later shown, a crippled bomber would ditch its guns, ammo and excess fuel to lighten the load. It may have broken up and burned on the tarmac (which would have been even MORE dramatic), but there was almost nothing left aboard TO explode. Served as a ChekovsGun to the ''Memphis Belle'' crew, though, when they were caught in a similar situation upon return.

** The second was the much more justified: ''Windy City'', which had its engines and fuel tank shot up, then exploded in midair. Since it was carrying a full fuel, bomb and ammo load, an interior fuel fire would have been catastrophic, and that likely destroyed the plane.

** The first was pure RuleOfDrama; a bomber that arrived, badly shot up, with only one wheel down, executed a successful crash landing then exploded, killing all aboard. Likely it was arriving empty with fuel tanks dry; as later shown, a crippled bomber would ditch its guns, ammo and excess fuel to lighten the load. It may have burned on the tarmac, but there was almost nothing left aboard TO explode. Served as a ChekovsGun to the crew, though, when the Memphis Belle was caught in a similar situation upon return.

** The second was the much more justified:Windy City, which had its engines and fuel tank shot up, then exploded in midair. Since it was carrying a full fuel, bomb and ammo load, an interior fuel fire would have been catastrophic, and that likely destroyed the plane.

** The second was the much more justified:Windy City, which had its engines and fuel tank shot up, then exploded in midair. Since it was carrying a full fuel, bomb and ammo load, *ANY* interior fire would have been catastrophic, and that likely destroyed the plain.

** The first was pure RuleOfDrama; a bomber that arrived, badly shot up, with only one wheel down, executed a successful crash landing then exploded, killing all aboard. Likely it was arriving empty with fuel tanks dry; as later shown, a crippled bomber would ditch its guns, ammo and excess fuel to lighten the load. It may have burned on the tarmac, but there was almost nothing left aboard TO explode. Served as a ChekovsGun to the crew, though, when [[spoiler:the Memphis Belle was caught in a similar situation upon return.]]
** The second was the much more justified [[spoiler:Windy City]], which had its engines and fuel tank shot up, then exploded in midair. Since it was carrying a full fuel, bomb and ammo load, *ANY* interior fire would have been catastrophic, and that likely destroyed the plain.

* MadeofExplodium: Twice:
** The first was pure RuleofDrama; a bomber that arrived, badly shot up, with only one wheel down, executed a successful crash landing then exploded, killing all aboard. Likely it was arriving empty with fuel tanks dry; as later shown, a crippled bomber would ditch its guns, ammo and excess fuel to lighten the load. It may have burned on the tarmac, but there was almost nothing left aboard TO explode. Served as a ChekovsGun to the crew, though, when [[spoiler:the Memphis Belle was caught in a similar situation upon return.]]