Memphis Belle is based on the true story of the "Memphis Belle", one the first B-17's to complete its 25 bombing mission quota during the 2nd World War, thus enabling the crew to be retried and return home with honors. This is a fictionalized version of that story, the true story had been told in film before as a period documentary by multi Oscar winning filmmaker William Wyler, that film is called Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944). This film was produced by Wyler's daughter Catherine. Unlike a lot of World War II bomber movies this film is about only one mission, the Belle's 25th, and the day immediately proceeding it. The film boasts an impressive cast of then rising stars, such as Matthew Modine, Sean Astin, Reed Diamond, Billie Zane, and Harry Connick Jr., and successfully emphasizes just how young the crews on those plains were.
There is nicely effectively scene midway through the film were an Army PR man (played by John Lithgow), anxious to use the crew of the Memphis Belle for propaganda purposes and to sell war bonds, reads through letters sent from family members of dead flyers to the CO of the bombing base in England (David Strathairn, in a good role for him). That scene brings a wonderful context to the proceedings and uses real war footage to tell the tale of lives lost. The special effects in this film contain not quite convincing process shots, which I think actually adds to the film by imparting a surreal air to the proceedings. I found the movie quite effective, and came to realize that I had actually seen the end of this before, probably some time around 1992, it had stuck in my mind since then but I couldn't place where it was from. This is the kind of movie that could serve as a nice introduction to the 2nd World War for younger viewers. ***1/2
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