I was "turned on" to this movie by my flight instructor and now I wonder how the heck it was out there for nearly five years before I finally discovered it. If you have any love of flying at all, especially an attachment to the planes of WWII, this is an absolute must see, vastly superior to the pathetic "Pearl Harbor" and up there in rivalry with the famed "Battle of Britain" filmed more than thirty years ago. There are moments when you feel as if you are flying wingman, literally dodging the shell casings of your leader as you roll in on a Me 109 or He 111.

As an historian this film deeply touched me as well for it is about the plight endured by tens of thousands of gallant Poles, Hungarians, Slovaks and Czechs who in 1939-1940 fled their homelands, made it to England, fought with utmost bravery for the survival of western civilization, and then were so callously abandoned by "us" after the war when they were arrested by the communists upon their return to their native lands. I have stood atop Monte Cassino in Italy and was moved to tears by the cemetery for the Polish troops that stormed that mountain that British and Americans could not take. I have traveled as well to Prague (the most beautiful of cities) and studied their history. Their story of abandonment, I believe, should be a lesson to us even today about obligations to gallant allies.

But back to the film. If you love flying, see this. If you are interested in the aircraft of WWII most definitely see it. Without doubt the most brutal, direct, and frightfully swift air combat scenes ever replicated for film. And yes, if you even are seeking a touching romance, there is that as well in heartbreaking detail.

Bill Forstchen Professor of History Co-owner of a WWII replica "warbird" P-51 Mustang "Gloria Ann"

Calling this movie a hidden gem is nothing close to reality. I thought Dark Blue World was just an average movie with a quite weak storyline. For a war movie, and in this case about aviation, the air battles were pretty boring, certainly not spectacular like they should have been if you wanted a great movie. The romantic part of the story was also not very appealing to watch. Add on that the lack of information on how one of the main characters got caught and got in prison and you get an average war movie. Lately I saw much better war movies that deserve a good rating because they're just way better than this one. I think about Anthropoid, The Brest Fortress, Dunkirk, Allied, Kajaki, all those war movies are you could say hidden gems for some. Watch those instead of Dark Blue World.

I find DARK BLUE WORLD explains very well the story of the Czech pilots role in the II World War. It is well packed in a love story à la "Pearl Harbor" which is by far better than DBW. It is perhaps very pretty seen for its low budget. On the other side I missed the real emotions which fail by the poor performance of the actors and characters involved in this romantic war movie. The air battles could have been developed with more suspense but they were realistic at least. The best thing I liked was the very fine picture. PEARL HARBOR is much more spectacular. 6/10.