Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb

Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb | A must see for any remotely interested in WW2

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Enola Gay: The Men...

	Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb Interglobal Home Video, 1980 average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Well-intentioned history lesson; the decision to drop the atom bomb, the secrecy surrounding the mission, and the men who flew it. Summary written by Bruce Bozarth

The Mission That Won the War

By late 1944, American scientists working in New Mexico had progressed in their attempt to develop the world's first atomic bomb. With their progress rapidly progressing, the military chose a pilot to deliver the new bomb to a target city over Japan. That pilot was Col. Paul Tibbets (Patrick Duffy). Tibbets was given freedom to choose his own pilots and crew for the mission, and the training was to take place at a remote site called Wendover, Utah. Tibbets chose Tom Ferebee (Gary Frank) to be the bombardier, Dutch Van Kirk (Stephen Burleigh) was selected as navigator, and Bob Lewis (Gregory Harrison) was the co-pilot. All of these men served with Tibbets over the skies in Europe.

Deak Parsons (Robert Pine) served as the weapons specialist. On loan from the navy, Parsons was one of the best at his job. Jake Beser (Billy Crystal) was the electronics expert in charge of monitoring Japanese radio traffic en route to the target.

With the hand-picked crew in place, the training began at Wendover. Daily bombing practice runs were made in an effort to drop a fake bomb inside a circle painted on the ground. At first, no hits were made, but Tibbets recognized that Ferebee was moving his body as he released the bomb. A brace was put on Ferebee's bombsight to hold his body steady. After this alteration was made, every bomb drop thereafter was successful.

Meanwhile, Paul's wife Lucy (Kim Darby) moved in with him on the base. She has never been happy with Paul's military life, and she tries continually throughout the film to get Paul to open up about his mission, or even have a simple night out together. Each time, her efforts are interrupted. The tension and distance between the two is evident throughout the film.

After weeks of long training, Tibbets and his crew are finally ready to fly to Tinian island in the Marianas. This is to be their base of operations in the Pacific. At the time, Tinian airfield was one of the busiest airfields in the world. The 509th bomb group had arrived for their mission to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. The mission was set for the first week in August, 1945. Five planes would go on the mission; 3 weather aircraft to chart the weather over three potential target cities, the attack plane itself, and a laboratory plane to measure the effects of the blast.

In the early morning hours of August 6, 1945, Tibbets and his crew took off from Tinian on their way to Japan. En route, the weather plane over Hiroshima reported very few clouds, and advised that Hiroshima be the target. The rest is history.

This is an excellent movie. The events portrayed are historically correct, and the acting is very good. I'm a big fan of historical movies, and this movie rates as one of the very best. Watch this excellent film and learn about the mission that won the war.

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A must see for any remotely interested in WW2

If you have even the slightest interest in WW2 and the atomic bomb this film is a 'must see'. Well produced history lesson. What I can't understand is why it isn't on DVD yet ???? Far lesser titles are released every day, so why not a landmark movie like this ? Come on folks.

A Billy Crystal Historical Drama!!Rerelease on DVD!!!!!!

This is a great early Billy Crystal historical Drama concerning the secrecy of the dropping of the first atomic bomb.It's a must see and should be rereleased on affordable vhs/dvd!!

Disappointed with the movie

Granted the story about the first atomic bomb and of the men who carried and dropped the bomb is a very important and interesting part of world history; I found this version to have taken some very disappointing liberties. The movie portrayed these very experienced and elite men of the Army Air Force - "The Cream of The Crop" of the U.S. aviators; to be nothing more than a bunch of juvenile, partying; group of con-artists, felons, pranksters, and jokers. It reflected very poorly of the World War 2 fighting men.

In addition this version took some major liberties with the true chain of events from how LTC Paul Tibbets was first selected, the forming of the 509th Bomb Group, the training and development of how the bomb was to be carried and dropped, and how there was 4 actual cities chosen as possible targets and why Hiroshima was selected.

A far better movie of this story is the 1952 version, "Above and Beyond" with Robert Taylor.

This version was a big disappointment!!!!!

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