History Film / MemphisBelle

* AFatherToHisMen: Dennis likes to think of himself as this. The others respect that he gives it his all, but they also mostly think he's a bit of a dork. Colonel Harriman, the 91st's CO, acts distant but cares very deeply for the men of his Group.

''Memphis Belle'' is a 1990 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie directed by Michael Caton-Jones, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely inspired by the real-life story of the first bomber crew in the US 8th Air Force to complete a full tour of 25 missions over occupied Europe]]. Although some elements of the plot are accurate (''Memphis Belle'', tail number 41-24485, was assigned to the 324th Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), whose insignia are prominently displayed), the characters are fictional and the mission depicted is based on several different air strikes in 1943-44.

*** The film is set in May, 1943, and the first Mustang capable of carrying out the high-altitude fighter escort role, the P-51B, weren't delivered until November of that year (the P-51 and P-51A were introduced earlier, but both equipped with Allison engines that lacked high-altitude performance, making them unsuitable for bomber escort duties and they were instead utilized as low/medium-altitude fighters and ground attack platforms). The Mustangs used for the film were P-51Ds, which didn't arrive in Europe until 1944.

** The B-17s in the film are all B-17Gs, mocked up to look like B-17Fs. The film crew did a convincing job of it too, but they still forgot to get rid of the bubble on the nose (in front of the windscreen, which was used for night navigation so the navigator could see the stars), which marks all the bombers as very late model B-17Fs. They also forgot about the ''Memphis Belle's'' two additional machine guns in the bombardier's station.

''Memphis Belle'' is a 1990 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie directed by Michael Caton-Jones, based on the real-life story of the first bomber crew in the US 8th Air Force to complete a full tour of 25 missions over occupied Europe.

* AFatherToHisMen: Dennis likes to think of himself as this. The others respect that he gives it his all, but they also mostly think he's a bit of a dork.

* JustPlaneWrong: The fighters shown escorting the B-17s early in the raid are P-51 Mustangs. Mustangs certainly ''did'' escort the bomber raids, but:
** The film is set in May, 1943, and the first Mustang capable of carrying out the high-altitude fighter escort role, the P-51B, weren't delivered until November of that year (the P-51 and P-51A were introduced earlier, but both equipped with Allison engines that lacked high-altitude performance, making them unsuitable for bomber escort duties and they were instead utilized as low/medium-altitude fighters and ground attack platforms).
** The Mustangs used for the film were P-51Ds, which didn't arrive in Europe until 1944.
** ''The entire reason the Mustang assumed escort duties in the first place'' was because they had the range to escort the bombers all the way into Germany and back. A mission to Bremen would have been well within the fighter's combat radius. The fighter escorts having to turn back because of their lack of fuel is much more characteristic of the P-47 Thunderbolt (which ''is'' the aircraft assigned escort duties during the film's time frame).
** This however isn't entirely the fault of the film crew. At the time of filming, very ''very'' P-47s even existed in any condition let alone flying condition. And those that did were of the later models with the bubble canopy. Very few P-47s survived after the war as many P-51s went to fight on in other air forces that were needing planes quickly (and didn't want left-over BF-109s of Spitfires), or to carry on in air racing. Only recently have enough P-47s been restored that if a remake were to be done, it could be possible to have the right escorts... but there most likely wouldn't be enough B-17s, though CGI would likely make this a moot point.

''Memphis Belle'' is a 1990 WorldWarII movie directed by Michael Caton-Jones, based on the real-life story of the first bomber crew in the US 8th Air Force to complete a full tour of 25 missions over occupied Europe.

* WorldWarTwo: The movie depicts, with reasonable accuracy, an US Army Air Force strike of the Second World War's Combined Bomber Offensive. It is one of very few films to successfully portray this campaign with real aircraft; other notable examples include ''12 O'clock High'', ''The War Lover'', and ''The Dam Busters''.

* AirstrikeImpossible: Bremen is known to be a murderously well-defended target. And when poor visibility prevents them from being able to make the drop on the first try, they decide to swing around and try again, which in RealLife usually meant an even worse run through prepared defenses, the equivalent of taking a second kick at a hornets' nest.

-->'''Dennis Dearborn:''' Luke, ''[[ShutUpHannibal shut up!]]''

* BecomingTheBoast / ClosestThingWeGot: Turns out Val only completed two weeks of Medical school--but he's the only one who can save a seriously wounded Danny...

* ChekhovsGun: 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.

** This however isn't entirely the fault of the film crew. At the time of filming, very ''very'' P-47s even existed in any condition let alone flying condition. And those that did were of the later models with the bubble canopy. Very few P-47s survived after the war as many P-51s went to fight on in other air forces that were needing planes quickly (and didn't want left-over BF-109s of Spitfires), or to carry on in air racing. Only recently have enough P-47s been restored that if a remake were to be done, it could be possible to have the right escorts... but there most likely wouldn't be enough B-17s.
*** Issues that I might add, can be rectified with the appropriate application of CGI.

* TheMenFirst: Colonel Craig Harriman might be a [[TheStoic stoic commanding officer]]--but after Army PR Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Derringer accuses him of caring only for results and not the crews, he finally [[NotSoStoic loses his temper]], then has Derringer read from a [[TheDeadHaveNames box of letters ... responses to letters that Harriman personally wrote to the family of men who died under his command.]]

* StockFootage: To add to the drama, footage of bombers being shot down is shown while Derringer reads letters from the families of dead crewmen.
** Also the footage of the bombs detonating on the ground uses period footage of bombing raids.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Originally titled ''Southern Belle'', the script was altered to reflect the real ''Memphis Belle'' after Catherine Wyler signed on as producer. Her father, William Wyler, filmed a documentary for the Army Air Force in 1943 in anticipation of the ''Belle's'' crew being the first in the 8th Air Force to complete their tour-of-duty. The character of Derringer is loosely based on William Wyler. Rather than an accurate portrayal of the real ''Memphis Belle'' - whose final mission ''was'' a milk run - the movie is an amalgamation of actual wartime experiences, all combined into a single mission.
* 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.
* WorldWarTwo: The movie depicts, with reasonable accuracy, an US Army Air Force strike of the Second World War's Combined Bomber Offensive. It is one of very few films to successfully portray this campaign with real aircraft; other notable examples include ''12 O'clock High'', ''The War Lover'', and ''The Dam Busters''.

** ''The entire reason the Mustang assumed escort duties in the first place'' was because they had the range to escort the bombers all the way into Germany and back. A mission to Bremen would have been well within the fighter's combat radius. The fighter escorts having to turn back because of their lack of fuel is much more characteristic of the P-47 Thunderbolt (which ''is'' the aircraft assigned escort duties during the film's time frame0.

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

''Memphis Belle'' is a 1990 war movie based on the real-life story of the first bomber crew in the US 8th Air Force to complete a full tour of 25 missions over occupied Europe.

Watching their progress is Army Public Relations man Lt. Colonel Derringer, who plans to take the men on a publicity tour of the USA when they return. The officers have been told, but the pilot--strait-laced Dennis Dearborn (Matthew Modine) opts not to tell the men, to keep their minds on the job.

* Lt Val Kozlowski: Bombardier (Billy Zane)--Smooth-talker who claims he's been to medical school

* Sgt Virgil Hoogesteyer: Top Turret/Flight Engineer (Reed Diamond)--"The Virgin", obsessed with hamburgers.
* Sgt "Rascal" Moore: Ball Turret (Sean Astin)--Obsessed with sex. Teases Virgil.

* Sgt Clay Busby: Tail Gunner (Harry Connick, Jr)--Hick farmboy with a hell of a singing voice.

* ActingForTwo: By the planes. There weren't that many B-17s still flying when this movie was made, so they painted different markings on the left and right sides, so that they could play one plane when filmed from the left, and a different plane when filmed from the right.
** SpecialEffectsFailure: In some scenes, especially the takeoff sequence, both sets of nose art are visible on camera at the same time.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Luke wants to have a go at firing the guns, and succeeds in shooting down a German fighter--which inadvertently crashes into the rookie crew's bomber. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU5TKCxZ0s4 Like this.]]

* [[HeyItsThatGuy Hey, It's That Guy!]]: The Lieutenant Colonel from Public Relations is secretly [[ThirdRockFromTheSun an alien from another planet]]
** Rascal has [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings traded in his pots and pans]] for a pair of .50 Caliber machine guns.
** Clay flew another plane (and did a lot less singing) [[Film/IndependenceDay when the aliens invaded]].
** Danny helps save someone else's life in ''Film/PulpFiction'', and may be most famous as [[TheOtherMarty THE Other Marty]].
** Virgil takes a turn as a villain in ''{{Dollhouse}}''.
** A certain ''Series/StargateSG1'' actor (Ben Browder) makes an early cameo.

* AirstrikeImpossible: Bremen is known to be a murderously well-defended target.

** Clay flew anothr plane (and did a lot less singing) [[Film/IndependenceDay when the aliens invaded]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Luke wants to have a go at firing the guns, and succeeds in shooting down a German fighter--which crashes into the rookie crew's bomber. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU5TKCxZ0s4 Like this.]]

* FieldPromotion: the ''Memphis Belle'' finds herself leading the whole Bomb Group when the three planes ahead of her are shot down.
* GuyInBack: eight of them, but most notably Clay, stuck right at the far end of the plane.